Connect. Belong.

There are lots of fun signs and decorative works celebrating RootsTech this year. Attendees can choose pieces of yarn to pick adjectives that describe themselves, wrapping the yard around pins that might say things like left handed or brown hair, with all the others who chose the same adjectives wrapping their yarn, too. The final effect is a complex yarn design with lots of wraps around single pins visually displaying ways we are all connected. Fun idea!

The Power Hour sessions began at 8 for the early birds. The hallway was fairly quiet and I think many might have slept in after a busy day yesterday. The session I had chosen turned out to be a sponsored talk by a company and, too often, it is more about selling the product than it is about research techniques.

Rather than run to another class already going, I took the opportunity to take some photos to post. First, the Ask Me staff is fabulous. They are everywhere, literally every few feet offering help and asking questions. Signage is everywhere, too.

For those arriving today, there was a pleasant surprise waiting. Not a registration line in sight. If the attendee had their badges mailed, all that was left to do was take a lanyard and pick up a MyHeritage bag.

I sat down in the room for my second session before the first one in the room had ended and listened to some entertaining family stories that the speaker was sharing.

Class #2 was Finding 17th Century English Ancestors Problems and Solutions by Else Churchill, Society of Genealogists. As my British roots were all established in the colonies by 1675, this session was way up on my “to do” list.

Her talk was centered around the immigration chronology of the 1600s. From there, she delved into resources and collections that might extend knowledge of our ancestors and their origins.

This class was recommended for advanced researchers – it was – and I loved it. I learned about all sorts of new record sets that might contain information about my ancestors, The ancestral town of origin needs to have first been identified, but I know of more than 100 of my own towns and villages.

Else Churchill did a terrific job teaching the ins and outs of 17th century English records.

My first afternoon session was by Tim Jansen on Maximizing Your Use of GEDmatch.

Most of the audience, who filled the ballroom, already use GEDmatch. An overview of Genesis was provided, with the basic, free, tools discussed. Premium features were also covered.   While I use Genesis now and then, I am more of a dabbler. The speaker went into enough detail so that I could keep up and understand what he was explaining. However, I did learn more about its features.

The session was well organized and seemed to be at an appropriate level of difficulty based on audience reaction and interaction.

I made it to one afternoon session, returning to hear Else Churchill once again – Under-used English Records – Quarter Sessions. This session was, like the morning session, filled with details about new-to-me resources.

I hoped to make one or two more sessions, but instead spent my time speaking with vendors about new products and services. Look for more on that next week when I post the Expo Hall visits next week.

I’m ready for Day 3 tomorrow, but time is flying by.