Now I’m home I can really blog about RootsTech and add photos. While I did solve some of the storage problems on my iPad, I bought a Kindle, there still wasn’t enough space for all the photos I wanted to show.
My last post, about RootsTech ended with Thursday, this one will be the rest of it.
Friday and I had three more sessions, plus plenty of time to catch-up with friends and shop.
My first session was German History Made Eas(ier) by Richard Walker. While he had based his talk on German ancestry in America, the points he raised work equally for us here in Australia. As with all research, Richard’s first point was to start with what you know. His course notes set out how to research this and gave lists of useful websites. This was an amazing talk and I wish I’d heard it BEFORE I started my German research.
My next session was in the afternoon and was one of the best I’ve heard on Family Search. Robert Kehrer presented Finding Elusive Records. This has given me new ways to use the FamilySearch website, to enhance my searching.
Last one for the day was Kip Sperry’s talk on Paleography: Tips for Reading Old Handwriting. Lots of useful links and hints, something we all need.
Saturday and I had one session and it was a disappointment. After the success of the previous talk about German records, they moved this talk to a bigger room. It was about German Census Records: A New Genealogy Source by Roger Minert. All it was, about was how he did the searching to find the records, where he and his wife stayed, how he applied for a research grant . The end was that he had written a book, due out in May, with all the information in it. A lot of very unhappy people, as the blurb didn’t say that.
Saturday afternoon Amanda and I did a tour out to the Great Salt Lake and then the After Party at Dear Myrtle’s. Good food and good company, a great way to end the week.
RootsTech is very well run, with food places, places to sit and eat or chat, plenty of loos and people to help you. The main vendor hall was massive, with around 150 vendors, catering for everyone. There was an area, with printer, for printing out the class syllabus. A Cyber Café, Discovery Zone, Demo Theatre, Media Hub. A business area, with photo copiers and PC’s, plus odds and ends. There were 212 speakers, with around 240 different sessions, ranging from Getting Started to Computer Labs. Something for everyone.
The bag given at registration. It was filled with information.
The backpack I purchased.
Cheat Sheets and Magazines I purchased. I also took out a subscription to Internet Genealogy.
My copies of the different class syllabi, from the classes I took.
Two books on German research, that will come in very handy.
Bye for now,
Lilian.
