My first year at RootsTech was fantastic! It’s so fun to be in a place full of thousands of people who all share the same passion for discovery, history, stories, healing and connection. Hands down, the best part was reconnecting with friends, meeting Instagram friends in real life for the first time, and meeting new friends as well.
Along with the connections made, I also had a great time in the classes and learned so much about telling our stories, preserving our history, and strengthening our connections with our families.
I can’t wait to share more with you, but first I wanted to share some of my favorite RootsTech 2020 insights, discoveries and moments with you!
If you have your favorite moments that I didn’t cover please share them in the comments below!
Friends!
As I said, my number 1 highlight was meeting old and new friends!
Speakers!
Leigh Anne Tuohy
The real-life mom from the Blind Side movie shared her story and spoke on the power of family, stories and kindness. Some of my favorite quotes from her:
“Stories matter. Families matter. Value everyone you come in contact with.”
“Can you imagine if someone as valuable as Michael Oher almost fell through the cracks, who gets left behind? That should keep everyone up at night.”
David kennerly
David Hume Kennerly has photographed every US President since Richard Nixon, was there the night Bobby Kennedy was shot, and photographed the battlefields of the Vietnam War as well as nearly every major historical event since the 60’s. James Earl Jones said of him, “David Hume Kennerly is like Forrest Gump, except he was really there.” As a photography and history lover hearing him speak was right up my alley. I also got to do an interview him and he was incredibly kind and down to earth. I could have listened to him share his story for hours. Here are some of my favorite things he shared:
Classes!
I attended so many classes full of incredible information that was right up my alley. My favorite part was that with the number of classes available there is something for everyone no matter your skill level or specific interests. Here were some of my favorite quotes from the classes I attended:
Extras!
As if friends, speakers and classes weren’t enough to make RootsTech exciting and busy there are also a lot of other activities to participate in and make the time there even more fun and exciting.
Interactive exhibits
RootsTech has a lot of interactive exhibits in the halls and expo hall and there are many other really fun interactive exhibits at the Family Search library just down the street. This year there was this great wall where you could add your story, a 3D experience walking through the Mayflower and many other exciting experiences to try.
Expo hall
The expo hall includes not only interactive exhibits, but also has hundreds of vendors all in the family history space. One of the coolest new things I found are these QR code stickers from Audiobiograpy
family search library
This was my first time at the family history library. I went expecting to spend an hour or so and ended up in a time warp and was there for nearly four without even realizing it – and I barely scratched the surface!
Along with great interactive exhibits (great for kids!) there are records you can only access from a Family Search location, as well as physical books and microfiche to search through. Next time I’ll plan to spend an entire day here!
I was able to look through physical books and find county marriage records that included information for my great-great grandmother who I have been searching for more information on for over a decade!
Did you attend RootsTech this year? What was your favorite part?
If not, what else would you like to hear about my expereince?