RootsTech 2017
If you are still thinking about attending RootsTech 2017 in Salt Lake City, the deadline of 14 October 2016 for Early Bird registration is almost here.
Yes, it does require a significant money investment – conference registration, travel, lodging, meals and miscellaneous expenses (like purchases in the exhibit hall – but RootsTech is the premier genealogical conference in the world, given its connection with technology. There isn’t another conference like it anywhere.
This will be my fourth year heading to Salt Lake City in February 2017. Why am I spending my (limited) retirement dollars to attend once again?
Well, I have a list of reasons and we’ll work our way up to #1:
7. Innovators Showdown gives me the chance to see firsthand what up-and-coming products are all about. I have to admit I don’t attend the summit portion of the conference. However, the showdown determines the winners, who are also available to meet and greet in the Expo Hall.
6. Visiting the Expo Hall is a learning experience in itself. Meeting the vendors is one of my favorite activities because almost as much can be learned from them as from the speakers. Interested in all the new products on the market? Want to know about changes and upgrades to existing products? The RootsTech vendor hall seems to be the size of a football field when walking around and I’ve never been to any other conference with as many exhibitors.
5. Making new friends, renewing old friendships and perhaps even discovering some new cousins. One can’t help but hope that at a conference of this magnitude that you will be lucky enough to stumble across some new distant cousins. Of course, getting together with old friends and creating new genea-friendships is a given!
4. When I get back home from RootsTech, I always feel like I am just starting out on my genealogical research journey. I have renewed enthusiasm and determination to break down more brick walls and discover new ancestors.
3. Fabulous sessions, which include the opportunity to participate in hands-on labs. Yes, there are choices to be made, and yes, there are schedule conflicts, and yes, occasionally a session is cancelled due to illness or travel-weather conditions, but there is such a wide range of topics that it would be very unusual for someone to find they had nothing to do during any block of time.
2. I have to be honest – it’s one block away from the Family History Library and I always make time for some research.
and my #1 reason for going back year after year:
- Fabulous top notch, cream of the crop speakers. Yes, there are terrific speakers at every genealogy conference, but this conference is so big that it attracts so many of them to one place at the same time. RootsTech attendees learn so much in so little time and go home with enriched knowledge. It’s like a school year of learning packed into four days!
What is the +1 Reason? Because it is a ton of fun!
There you have it. RootsTech 2017 is worth every penny of the cost. I’m not the only one who believes that either based on statistics from last year’s attendance, with 26,000 people representing all fifty states and 40 countries around the world converging in Salt Lake City.
So, we are back to my first premise. If you think you might want to attend RootsTech 2017, take advantage of the Early Bird price of $159, which covers all four days of the conference and register now before the price goes up! I promise you, you won’t be sorry.