It has been a couple of months since I returned from RootsTech and things have been very busy since I got home hence the delay in my RootsTech posts.
I arrived in Salt Lake City on Sunday evening. Imagine my surprise when before we even left Toronto we were told we would be 45 minutes early into Salt Lake City. The winds were with us but the pilot said he would have to slow down the trip as a gate wouldn’t be ready for us so we were 25 minutes early which was still good. Salt Lake City Airport on a Sunday evening was packed and people were arriving from around the world.
Monday was my first full day in Salt Lake City and I found the grocery store to get a few necessities in for the early morning starts later in the week. Then it was off to the Family History Library. I had decided to search the early Irish civil registrations that aren’t available yet on irishgenealogy.ie and are available digitally only at a Family History Library. I was working on two surname studies on my Toppin and Moon families. These lines have been hard to nail down and I thought a surname study might help. They are not common names in Ireland so hopefully I can find something to help with my own lines. Haven’t had a chance to sort through what I brought home yet but they are waiting for me.
Monday night was dinner at the Blue Lemon with a large group of Commonwealth Nations genealogists. It is always a fun night catching up with everyone we only connect with on social media. We were sharing travel stories, Family History Library experiences and other family history tales. I got to meet up with the winner of my RootsTech Pass!
Tuesday morning was spent at the Family History Library and then I went to line up for registration. There were long lines for registration but the RootsTech people were doing their best.
We were told that those who signed up early would get a free gift which was the whole RootsTech syllabus on a memory stick! This was great! I have downloaded mine to several places to save for future reference.
Once registration was complete it was back to the Family History Library to finish up my research.
Tuesday evening was the Media Dinner at the Salt Palace Convention Centre. The RootsTech Ambassadors come from all walks of life not just genealogy so it was fun to meet so many new people. I also decided to sit at a table where I didn’t know very many people which was even more fun. I met people from Michigan who I will meet again in May at the National Genealogical Society Conference. I got to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen yet and made some great new friends.
We were told about the Photo Story competition and they showed the pictures up on the screen during our meal. One of my friends saw the picture of her family up on the screen so a large whoop went up from the table.
Relative Race gave us a preview of the first episode of season 3 that was to air on the following Sunday evening. Did you know you can watch this show online? You can watch it here.
There were prize draws at the table and it was just a fun evening of learning, preparation and camaraderie.
Then it was back to my room to get some rest before the start of the first day of RootsTech. It started a day early this year and there were some new methods used as well.
© 2018 Blair Archival Research – All Rights Reserved