RootsTech 2012: Should You Go?, Our Presentations, & Special Price

Special Discounted Price

RootsTech is coming right up! It’s the 2nd – 4th of Feb, so less than 2 weeks away.

Krystal from the RootsTech 2012 Outreach Team contacted me and wanted us to pass on a special deal for Mormon Life Hacker readers: $129 tickets! Regular price is $189 for the full conference, or $79 daily passes. Students are only $35 with valid school ID. That gets you:

• A three-day pass to the RootsTech conference
• Access to the Expo Hall
• A ticket to the Thursday and Friday evening events
• An opportunity to sign up for prize drawings
• A conference bag
• Participation in collaborative sessions.

Here’s how to get this deal: Just register online at RootsTech.org and use the code TECH129. It’s valid through Jan 30th.

Should YOU Go to RootsTech?

A lot of people think RootsTech is all about Genealogy, and it is, but there’s a lot more to it then that. You definitely don’t have to be a family historian to attend. Nor do you need to feel like you’ve got to have a keen interest in it to attend. The name, I think, suggests the truth “roots” or the genealogy part is a modifier of “tech,” in the same way that when we say “blue-green” it means it’s a blueish green, but it’s still green. Blue is just the modifier. So it’s a tech conference first and last, but with a genealogy bent. The official word from RootsTech is:

This cutting edge conference has something for everyone, whether you are a software developer, a genealogist, a society member, technologist or a genealogy hobbyist. No matter your technology background, this uniquely designed conference offers customized experiences to help you become a valuable part of finding solutions that will bring technology and genealogy together. RootsTech also gives you a firsthand look into what new technological tools are available to power up your research experiences.

I’m not big into genealogy myself, but ended up presenting last year on websites for living families through a twist of fate. I had so much fun and learned so much (most of it about things that were genealogy related but extremely applicable and useful outside of that realm) that I applied to present again. So if you’re a developer, you should go; if you’re interested in family history, in the least, you should go; if you just like to learn about all the latest and greatest in tech, you should go; or even if you live on the Wasatch front, and want to rub shoulders with great people and learn about all kinds of new possibilities, yes, you should go!

MLH Editor’s Presentations

Mormon Life Hacker editors Kurt Francom and Tevya Washburn (me) will be presenting there. So make sure to attend our sessions as they’ll definitely come from a life hacker’s perspective. But more importantly, make sure you introduce yourselves and tell us you’re an MLH reader. We’d love to meet you and get to know some of you in person.

The Powers of Evernote: Photos, URL’s, Censuses, Geo-location, and Stories

• Thurs, Feb 2nd @ 3pm in Room 255B
• Session TU063
• Evernote is the best resource available for both note taking and sourcing. Browser plugins make it easy to save any web content, with the source URL. Evernote desktop is awesome for taking notes on webinars, and also for scanning documents and pictures directly into Evernote. The mobile app lets you take notes, record images of anything you see, record audio notes, and much more! And all of it is carefully indexed and backed-up to the cloud. Plus Evernote is free, with a paid option available for serious users. Because of all these features, Evernote is a perfect app for genealogy!

Awesome Family Websites: Record Your Living Family History

• Fri, Feb 3rd @ 9:45am in Room 255D
• Session TU062
• Family history is done for both the living and the dead. This class will cover specific options of family websites that allow your living family to communicate privately with each other, all the while creating a family history by recording those communications. We will demonstrate one of these options, and how you can easily manage it. We will then look at several examples of extended families and how their relationships changed since implementing a private family website. Finally, we’ll look at some options to incorporate sharing and collaborating on genealogical records amongst your family, or any group you choose.

We hope to see you there and would love to meet you! Let us know if you have any questions in the comments.

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Related posts:

1. Watch Presentations From RootsTech, Free
2. Family History Conference at BYU the End of July
3. Watch RootsTech Live & follow MLH @ RootsTech!
4. Giveaway Winners Announcement!

About the author

Tevya Washburn

Designer & creator of the new 'Mormon Life Hacker'. Tevya keeps a personal blog, & another called Sacred Symbolic, about learning through symbolism.

Connect: Twitter, Google+, Mormon.org
Job: Partner at FiddlerStudios web services, instructor at Start WordPress
Calling: Sunday School Teacher 14-15yr olds