I had planned to do a quick overview of some of the new-to-me vendors at RootsTech 2022. However, I’ve counted almost 30, so instead the Expo Hall will be a two parter with just short intros about each company/organization and a link to their websites.

To access any promotions available during the contest, you must be registered for RootsTech to visit the Expo Hall. Registration is free and it’s not to late!

here is the first half of the group, in ABC order:

A Life Story – Capture your life stories on video with the Legacy Story Project

AHSGR – American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. Self explanatory.

Audiobiography – Capture a story in a person’s own voice and save as a podcast and as an interactive book.

Brandenburgische Genealogische – Get help researching in the historical Mark Brandenburg. Website is in German, but use Google translate to navigate.

Cite-Builder – This vendor intrigued me enough that I am trying out the premium version. There is a free version available. I’m still looking for an alternative to these genealogy software source templates that make me pull out my hair and want to throw the computer out the window. This is an inexpensive investment that has promise.

ConnectMyVariant, University of Washington – The website explains “Prevention through connection. Connect with relatives. Reduce inherited disease risk.”

Families in British India Society (FIBIS) – Self explanatory

Fareloom – Explore the connection between food and family history.

French Federation of Genealogy – Website and talks are in French. Self explanatory

GenerationStory – This is an app for digital storytelling technology to preserve images of family, heirlooms and collections

HopeAgain Foundation– An organization that supports American veterans

Intelligent Image Management – This company offers large-scale historical data processing.

LenaSalina Legacy Preservation – Family historians and genealogists learn how to create a family archive for long-term preservation.

This is just a very quick overview of half of the new-to-me vendors in the Expo Hall this year. All of them have some type of discounts or product promotions on offer, so be sure to give yourself lots of time to browse all the booths.

Part 2 will post tomorrow morning.

Earlier today, I posted a quick guide to navigating the now-live RootsTech 2022 conference website.

Now, we’ll take a quick look at the Expo Hall. There is a definite reason why I am beginning with the sponsors and vendors rather than the conference sessions.

It’s simple – the sessions are/will be recorded and can be accessed at our leisure for at least one year.

On the other hand, the Expo Hall offers an opportunity to shop till you drop – but only until 5:00 p.m. MST on Saturday, 5 March 2022.

The vendors offer excellent pricing on a wide selection of products, but the discount prices also end at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Therefore, it’s important to browse early, decide which products you absolutely need and which possibly new-to-you products you’d like to think about.

The Expo Hall is packed full this year with 104 booths. That’s a lot of browsing.

In addition to the booths, Priceline has sponsored a terrific contest this year – US $10,000 Travel Giveaway! (For eligible U.S. residents only)

All you have to do to enter is visit 20 or more booths and click around the booth to explore. One click will do it. Apparently, there is a counter attached to each attendee, as I’ve been visiting booths and when I opened the Priceline rules, it shows that I have visited 13 booths.

There is too much vendor news to cover in one post, so I will begin with several old friends – organizations/companies with which I am already familiar.

My next post will highlight new-to-me companies.

Links go to the actual websites, not to the booths in RootsTech because you must be registered for the conference to visit the booths.

1950 U.S. Census Community Project – This booth is sponsored by FamilySearch. There are several presentations about the upcoming census release. If you scroll to the bottom of the booth, there is an opportunity to help FamilySearch index the new census. Many hands make light work, as my mother used to say, so please considering volunteering. I helped with the 1940 census. You can choose as many pages or as few as you like and there is support for questions, etc.

AmericanAncestors – Join during RootsTech and enjoy $25 off your membership. If you have a lot of early New England family lines, you will find tons of resources in many online databases.

DNA Painter – Jonny Perl won the Innovation contest at RootsTech several years ago. He offers many free tools to work with DNA and family history. Get $10 off a DNA Painter subscription allowing access to more advanced methodologies.

Essex Society for Family History – Last year, I came across this society, based in England. I have many ancestral lines that begin in Essex and, in fact, all over England.  The conference special is a 2 year membership for £8. Regular membership is £ for one year. They offer a varied program of webinars, but what I find special about them is that many have a focus on local history, how people lived in certain time periods and topics like the history of coaches (as in stagecoaches). Webinars are recorded, although I often join in to live talks, which happen at 7:00 a.m. MST. The website offers many resources to help with Essex, England research. This is the best purchase I made at last year’s conference!

Genealogical.com – This company publishes well done books relating to all facts of family history research. Specials at RootsTech include subscription to access 700+ ebooks online ($49.95 for three months or $99.95 for a full year) plus 20% discount on purchases of hard copy and ebooks. Disclaimer: In the past, I have received free copies of books to review.

IAJGS – The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies is an excellent resource for those researching Jewish ancestry. The booth includes product demos, classes, tips and tricks plus downloadable resources.

Legacy Family Tree Webinars – For at home genealogy education, Legacy Family Tree Webinars can’t be beat. I love their presentations. During RootsTech, purchase a yearly subscription for 50% off the regular price – available until Saturday for only $24.98.

Virtual Genealogical Association – VGA is a totally virtual genealogy society with members everywhere. In addition to monthly programs, VGA offers hangouts and get-togethers, all online. There is also a Facebook group for members to connect. Membership is well worth it at $20 peryear, but during RootsTech 2022, take off another $5 – only $15 for a one year membership.

Your DNA Guide – Diahan Southard is a DNA expert who presents excellent, easy to follow talks about every aspect of DNA and genealogical research. The booth has informative videos, tips and tricks, a live session and discounts of 25% off her book and $30 off a private consultation.

Next up, we’ll browse the Expo Hall to learn about new vendors this year.

 

 

 

The big day is here – RootsTech 2022 – Choose Connection is now open!

If you haven’t registered, it’s not too late. It’s 100% virtual and 100% FREE! It doesn’t get any better than that.

The Expo Hall preview is happening right now, followed by the first General Session at 10:00 MST. At 11:00 a.m., all class sessions will also go live.

Here are a few tips for navigating the website. If you attended last year, it’s not all that different. If you are a first timer, it’s easy!

Log in to your account and the home page will open. See the rootstech symbol in the top left corner? That will always take you to the home page if you lose your way and want to start over.

Now, look across the the header to the tabs. The first choice is also HOME. If you scroll down this page, there are other landing pages to guide you. You can browse the conference by choosing any of those info boxes.

If you are a first timer, scroll way down the home page to GETTING STARTED.

These options offer a quick overview of what to expect.

However, I prefer to use the tabs at the top of the screen. Besides HOME, you see MAIN STAGE, SESSIONS, EXPO HALL and CONNECTION.

If you click on the MENU button at the top right, a drop down list opens.

Between the top toolbar and the drop down list, you can see the many ways to learn more about what’s happening.

The general sessions are live, but will be recorded. They all happen on the Main Stage.

The Sessions tab will have its own Getting Started page, where classes can be filtered by speaker, language, topic and more.

It is also possible to further filter choices by the countries of interest:

A list of 253 countries can be browsed. I checked a few that tie into my family tree. Be aware that when you click on the country, it seems to disappear from the list. However, when you go back to the top, your choices are all there with checked boxes.

These tips should be enough to send you on your way into a fun learning experience.

I will be blogging through all three days of RootsTech 2022. The next post will be later today with an overview of the Expo Hall.

Have a great time and CONNECT!