If you were lucky enough to attend all the days of RootsTech in person, you were most probably richly fed. For those of us who were unable to attend, the online options were satisfying and filled the need this year. I was able to watch all keynote addresses and found what was offered to be moving and well worth my time.
Thursday morning Brandon Stanton shared his story about how he got involved in the lives and stories of thousands of New Yorkers. The interesting thing he shared was that once he posted pictures, an interest was born; but when he added short stories about the people or their story about their lives, interest soared. Pictures weren’t enough for his followers; they wanted the stories that went with the pictures. Once stories were added, the subjects of his pictures became real people. It just supported the idea that your pictures are good, but the stories are what people really want.
Scott Hamilton gave a very emotional presentation on Friday morning. I was watching the presentation while eating breakfast, and my husband soon joined me. Hamilton’s story was touching, and his life is certainly an inspiration for all of us. Several things he shared brought out his philosophy about our past. He said that we should celebrate and honor our past. Without our past, our present has no meaning, and our future is worthless. He talked about several men and women who have influenced him in making him who he is today. While he is adopted, he never looked at that as if it were a bad thing.
Saturday morning included presentations by Natalia Lafourcade and Henry Lewis Gates, Jr. Both speakers shared their family stories and the emotions they felt were evident. Lafourcade knew little about her heritage, but FamilySearch had found several stories about her family to share with her. There was a family story she had been told about a French pirate in her ancestry which was clarified for her: no pirate, but definite French heritage. Gates was able to share his ancestry story since he is heavily involved in family history work. His use of DNA has helped thousands connect with ancestors. Of special interest in his presentation was a project that he has piloted with middle school kids. He showed a video of the project which combines the science of DNA and discovering family history to help kids make connections in knowing who they are.
Saturday afternoon’s Family Discovery Day presentation by President and Sister Oaks spotlighted how family history can become relative in the lives of our families, and the value which this work has to both youth and adults. This was an especially interesting presentation because it included a video spotlight on our Family History Center’s involvement with the youth. On the whole it was well worth watching the keynote presentations. You can watch all of these speakers and several other sessions from each day of the conference at https://www.rootstech.org/.
RootsTech 2018 Videos If you were unable to attend RootsTech 2018, you can now view selected class recordings by going to https://www.rootstech.org/rootstech-2018-videos and selecting the day you would like to view. Once you click on the day, you can see which sessions are available for viewing. Scroll down the page and you can also access the LDS sessions of RootsTech. Of special interest is the Family Discovery Day General session which was presented by President and Sister Oaks. They talked about youth doing family history work, and the youth from our center were featured in their presentation. There are 9 videos to choose from. Plan now to attend next year’s RootsTech conference, 27 February- 2 March 2019. –Liz Keddington