Ready Set Go! Rootstech Connect 2021

Image: Pic Collage

I posted Here about the building Rootstech Connect excitement. Ever since writing that post, I’ve been counting down the days until day 1 of the biggest global genealogy conference in the world. That day is now only a couple of days away.

Getting Ready

I have officially registered for Rootstech, even though it’s not absolutely necessary. Registering makes it possible for a more personal conference experience, and also allows me to make a play list of my ‘must see’ sessions. Another advantage of registering is to have access to conference handouts. It is possible, however to watch the conference sessions without the necessity of registration.

Over the past few weeks, Rootstech have been releasing videos in their Roads To Rootstech series. These have been really helpful in understanding the logistics of this first virtual conference. I’ve been able to sense the excitement building in each video. My excitement has also been building with each video watched.

A couple of nights ago, Rootstech Ambassador, Jill Ball from GeniAus held a zoom meeting for Australians Attending Rootstech, with admins on the Facebook page assisting. By the end of the zoom meeting, I felt that I knew all that I needed to know about Rootstech Connect 2021.

I have downloaded and studied the 18 page list of sessions and highlighted those that interest me. Usually, when attending Rootstech in person, it’s impossible to watch every session as there are many streams running concurrently. In 2016, when I was lucky enough to attend Rootstech, I found it really difficult to decide which sessions to attend, when really, I wanted to attend them all. The great news that Rootstech have announced, is that sessions will stay up on the website for all of 2021, making it possible to watch each and every session that takes your fancy.

I’ve re-arranged responsiblities and let everyone know that I’m not available for the days of the conference. I’ve been looking forward to this conference since Rootstech announced, in 2020, that it would be virtual, so nothing is going to come between me and Rootstech in 2021. Bring it on. I’m ready.

My Plan

My plan to use the live conference time to watch the keynote speakers, who come from all walks of life, and are usually high profile in their communities or their area of expertise. When I attended in 2016, the keynote speakers all put a huge focus on family, in their presentations. I enjoyed every one of them, some even producing tears. My understanding is that many of the keynote sessions will be available to watch after the conference is over, but not all. As well as the keynotes, I plan to watch as many presentations as possible during conference. I love the idea of having the conference experience by devoting whole days to the program.

On conference days, I’ll be going for a long walk early, as for most of the day I’ll be sitting. After the walk, it will be conference time, I plan to give myself short breaks every hour to stretch my legs, just as I would do if I was there in person, and moving from room to room.

Thanks

I must say a huge thankyou to the organisers of Rootstech for making this conference virtual and free. This has made it much more accessible to many people, who may not otherwise attend. The latest count is that there are 433,255 registrations from 235 countries and territories around the world. I find it really hard to get my head around those figures. My thoughts are with those behind the scenes as they are working around the clock to ensure the success of this massive virtual conference.

Are you going to Rootstech? Are you excited?

Image: Rootstech

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