This was the fifth year for The Family History Guide Association at RootsTech, and by all accounts, RootsTech 2020 was the best so far for us. Here are some brief descriptions of what the experience was like:

Demos

We gave over 1,000 demos of The Family History Guide at our workstations over the span of the conference, and they were well-received. Some were brand-new to the site, while many had heard of The Family History Guide but were not familiar with its new features.

There were over 30 volunteer booth workers manning the demo stations. A common them was the large number of guests who expressed their gratitude for The Family History Guide and the work we are doing to spread family history work. Among these were many trainers and family history consultants and leaders who are now excited about sharing The Family History Guide with the people they interact with.

Mini-Classes

In the Theater section of the booth we presented a variety of 20-minute sessions, on topics for general interest and for trainers. Attendees saw The Family History Guide in action on a big screen, and sound panels at the back of the theater kept the sound in and deflected outside noise. The Theater area also served as a great discussion and Q&A forum between classes.

One of the most popular activities in the Theater was the Family History Wheel of Fortune. The BYU Family History Technology Lab created a special version for us, where all the puzzle answers related to The Family History Guide. Quite a few families, youth, and kids participated, having fun solving puzzles and learning more about The Family History Guide.

Main Presentation

The main presentation was held in Ballroom B at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. It was delivered by Bob Taylor to a packed house, with over 1,000 estimated to be in attendance. The theme was “Learn, Search, and Succeed”, and there were many positive comments from attendees afterwards.

On a related note, well-known genealogist and blogger Thomas MacEntee had previously presented a RootsTech session on learning family history. The two tools he highly recommended were the FamilySearch Wiki and The Family History Guide.

Collaborations

One of the important benefits of our RootsTech experience was our opportunity to interact with industry leaders, media representatives, etc. Here are some examples:

• We will be collaborating with the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies and the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society for content updates to The Family History Guide.
• We have some upcoming opportunities for articles in a large newspaper and online magazine.
• We are exploring a partnership with a new research website that should be a major player in helping people do research and track results. More on that development later!

Videos

Here a few videos of the lively action around our booth at RootsTech 2020. If you missed RootsTech 2020 or weren’t able to stop by and visit, this will provide a glimpse.