Rootstech Connect 2021 Day 1

Image Credit: rootstech.org

Day 1

I’ve been to just one Rootstech confererence in Salt Lake City. That was in 2016, and it was as exciting and memorable as I hoped it would be. I’d been watching the excitement of my genie friends, since the very first Rootstech conference, and knew that I’d have to get there one day. I’m sure it was very disappointing to some regular attendees, when they heard that Rootstech would be virtual this year. But to me, it was just the news that I wanted to hear. As I’m in lockdown, and not working, due to the pandemic, I knew I would have the time to throw myself entirely into Rootstech this year. And that is exactly what I did on Day 1. Day 2 and 3 would be no different

Being at Rootstech in person is exciting and awe inspiring. However this virtual conference is everything and more than you would expect from an in person conference. The only thing that I miss is the connection with friends and meeting new friends. That has been possible at this vitural conference in the chat room, but I have been so busy watching sessions, that I just haven’t had the time to pop in there, The lack of connection has been of my own doing. I have had connection, however, on Twitter, as the genealogy and rootstech community has been very visible there during the conference. I’ve found this to be, as I usually do, a great way to interact.

Rootstech Connect Day One

The first thing to do on day one after a reccie tour of the website was to set up my playlist of sessions. That took quite a while, as I didn’t want to miss out on anything. I have no idea how many sessions are on my playlist, but there are many on many different topics. Making the playlist is one thing, but I had trouble deciding which session to watch first. Each time I chose a session it almost felt like choosing a favourite child. These sessions will be staying up after for months after the conference is over, so fortunately I will be able to watch them all, over a period of time. The possiblity of watching every session is one advantage of Rootstech being virtual.

After I felt the playlist was chock full of goodness, which by the way I can add to at any time, I popped over to check out the Virtual Expo Hall. After all, a wander around the expo hall is something that I would do to fill in time, before the first session of an in person conference. I had a quick browse, and popped back a few hours later for a more in depth look. The expo hall was every bit as good virtually. I would even say that it’s better, as there are no crowds to battle. I had fun collecting information about the many genealogical companies represented, to read later, when I have time, after the conference is over. I couldn’t see it all in one day so will be back on day 2.

It was then over to the sessions. After I watched the first few session, I thought that I needed a theme for the day, and decided on Aussie Day. From then, I watched all of the Australian sessions presented by Australian experts on a variet of topics. There were sessions on the goldrush, heritage studies, archives, births, deaths and marriages, electoral rolls and more. I loved Aussie Day and wondered what my theme could be for day 2.

As the day ended, I felt that I couldn’t have done any more to participate than I did on day 1. The tweet that I posted below sums up the day in just a few words. I had been sitting in front of the computer, taking in information, for 15 hours and needed sleep. After all, I needed to be fresh and lively for day two.

Getting into it with my Rootstech 2016 blogger beads never far away.

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