Tuesday, February 16, 2021

RootsTech Connect 2021 - The Website Unveiled (On Video)

 As a RootsTech Connect 2021 Ambassador I was privileged to participate in a Zoom discussion today with FamilySearch/Rootstech leaders and about 75 other Ambassadors.  The RootsTech leaders - Steve Rockwell, Paul Nauta and Jen Allen - walked us through the plans for the RootsTech Connect 2021 Conference to be held Live on 25 to 27 February 2021, and especially how the https://rootstech.org website will be used.  They said the website would be LIVE on Wednesday, 24 February. 

The FamilySearch YouTube channel has the next Road to RootsTech video which shows the upcoming RootsTech website:


We received a lot more information from the meeting, and a lot of it is in the video above.  Some of my notes are:

The Website (https://rootstech.org) will be the starting point for over 315,000 attendees from 224 countries. 

*  The home page will have the Live "Main Stage" presentations at the top of the page from start to finish of the conference, with 13 Keynote speakers, almost all of which will be repeated once.  There will be content from the Conference sponsors between Keynote talks.  This starts at 9 p.m. Mountain Time, Wednesday, 24 February (it's already 25 February in the western Pacific!).  The schedule for the Main Stage presentations is here.

*  "The Sessions and Guide Me" page link will be on the Home Page.  The final Sessions list is here.  There will be a total of 1,026 sessions - 746 classes (most 20 minutes, some up to 60 minutes), 280 Tip and Tricks (5 to 10 minutes).  There is no set schedule for a session.  

The "Explore Sessions" page will provide an index to the classes - by topic, by speaker, by region, and by language. All of the sessions are pre-recorded, but some will have a live chat schedule.  There will be a link to all of the sessions, and each session will include a link to the syllabus for that session, if it's available.  

The Sessions will be available to watch for twelve months through this web page.  For FREE, on demand!  If you are a registered attendee, you will be able to create your own playlist of sessions.

The "Guide Me" page will provide collections of popular topics so the user does not have to scroll through a list of 1,000 topics.

*  The virtual "Expo Hall" will be open 24 hours throughout the conference, with 20 sponsors and 72 Exhibitors.  The user can chat with exhibitors, watch product demos, and explore the latest innovations.  Some exhibitors may have live demonstrations or links to demonstrations of their products.  The Expo Hall will be open at 5 p.m. Mountain Time on Wednesday, 24 February.

*  The virtual "Chat" page will have FamilySearch volunteers available to "Ask us Anything" about genealogy and family history.  

There will be a series of Chat Rooms for the Main Stage events, sessions, and groups (e.g., Genea-Bloggers, UK Genealogists, etc.).

*  The "Relatives at RootsTech" web page will let you see who is your relative attending RootsTech.  This will work only during the live conference (25 to 27 February).  You can see which attendees are related to you, and a chart showing how you are related.  You can direct message your friends and relatives.

*  Official RootsTech Connect 2021 attendees (register NOW at https://rootstech.org) will have access to all of these technology and features. Some technology will not work if you don't log into the website.  

*  The video above covers everything I've written about above - and with more detail.  I suggest you watch it!

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Disclosure:  I am a RootsTech Connect 2021 Ambassador and have committed to providing regular publicity about the conference.  I have received free registration, snacks, meals and other benefits from FamilySearch over the 11 years of RootsTech.

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Copyright (c) 2021, Randall J. Seaver

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