The RootsTech 2024 Family History Conference is right around the corner! This year’s session will be held from February 29th to March 2nd at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City. The cost to attend is $109 for the full three days ($99 early bird pricing ends today) and $69 for one day. There is also an option to attend virtually which is free!
I have enjoyed attending RootsTech in person when my schedule allowed it. It was fun to go with friends or family members and mingle with people who shared the same love of family history. I enjoyed talking with the experts at the Expo Hall and getting one-on-one help with my family history questions. Most of all, being there made me 100% focused on my family history for a few days, which was very motivating and fun.
Over the past few years, I’ve enjoyed the option of attending the RootsTech Conference virtually. It’s a great opportunity for those who would like to attend but don’t have the time or means to be there in person. At no cost, the virtual conference gives you access to the keynote sessions, (which are always very inspirational) and over 200 breakout sessions.
Although attending virtually doesn’t give you access to as many sessions, plenty of excellent ones are available to watch covering a broad range of topics and localities. Sometimes it’s hard to choose which ones to watch! Fortunately, if you missed a class you wanted to see, you can view it on the website later if it was recorded.
“The theme for this year’s conference is “Remember,” which fits perfectly with our Granite Family History Center theme of “A Year of Remembering and Recording.” A beautiful video introduces this theme and can be viewed on this page from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Newsroom. It is very well done! I recommend watching the video to get you in the spirit of attending RootsTech this year. Even if you choose not to attend, the video will, hopefully, inspire you to want to preserve your personal history and of the history of those in your family.
There is also information on the Church Newsroom page about Family History Discovery Day, which will be held on Saturday, the last day of the conference. It has a Latter-Day Saint focus and is free for in person and virtual participants. This year, a video will be shown of President M. Russell Ballard reflecting on his personal history and experiences with doing family history. You can register for Family History Discovery Day on this page.
However you choose to attend, I hope you can find a way to participate in RootsTech this year. Go to rootstech.org for more information and to register today!
– Christy Pugh, Communications, Granite FamilySearch Center