Well, last week was a whirlwind. I flew to Salt Lake City on Tuesday, arriving mid-evening. Wednesday saw me catching up with various friends new & old, doing a tech-check and attending the speakers dinner, followed by fun with DNA friends. Far too much fun for photos but you know who you are!
Thursday we were straight into the conference. I love to take a walk around the Expo Hall. It’s such a spectacle. I bought the new Forensic Genealogy book & got it signed by some of the authors. I love a good methodology text. Haven’t had a chance to do a full read yet but I check the section on obtaining Irish citizenship and am happy to say it’s completely accurate.
My first talk, ambitiously entitled “Everything you wanted to know about Irish research but were afraid to ask” went down very well & I fielded 30 mins of questions after the talk ended! Thanks to Penny Walters for being my photographer!
This one wasn’t recorded but I’ll be giving it again at the end of March for the Irish Interest Group (Lower North Island in New Zealand). Full details here. I’ll be on Zoom sadly!
In between the talks over the 3 days, I helped out at the stand for the International Institute of Genealogical Studies, where I’m Director of Irish Studies & Co-Director of the DNA dept. Here’s a fun photo with me and Angie Breidenbach, the school’s owner.
On days 2 and 3, I was up early for my 8am presentations, the last two of which were streamed & recorded.
With Ciara Chivers & Morag Peers, we discussed Scottish and Irish Genealogical Connections. A very lively chat ensued & we were highly amused about the discussions on our accents! Watch the talk here.
My last talk on the Virtual Treasury was also recorded & you can catch it here. There was standing room only at this talk and I was again mobbed by questions at the end. These two talks will be up on YouTube in due course as well.
I have been overwhelmed by fantastic feedback in person, online and by people who took the time to email me personally. It’s gratifying to know that it was worth all the effort of researching, writing and travelling to Rootstech. I was the only Irish professional genealogist at the conference. Yes, it’s a long way, but I would love to see others making the trip. I lost track of the number of times someone told me they loved my accent!
I also had great fun at the MyHeritage Friends party on Friday night with some truly unbelievable karaoke.
Of course, Rootstech is a time for learning too. I had time to attend some classes on the future of genealogy with Jarrett Ross, combining different types of DNA tests with Diahan Southard, hearing about the latest from Gedmatch and an inspiring talk from Mark Thompson on the potential uses of AI for genealogy. I’m still learning about this latter topic. You can catch his podcast with Steve Little on this (The Family History AI Show) wherever you listen to pods.
Overall, it was a great week. I headed home quickly, arriving on Monday morning and managed to teach my regular Malahide class that evening.
Here’s some things that could be improved at the conference: more food options. More mention of how long it takes to walk between areas of the very large Salt Palace. I’d really love if there was a book stall. One was mentioned on the exhibitors list but I never found it.
Now that I’m home, I’m looking forward to watching some of the recorded talks in my own time. Check out the library from this year and previous years here. Hopefully see you again next year, SLC!
Thanks for the review, Claire. Definitely worth thinking about going to a future Rootstech!
I particularly liked the talk you gave on the VTI – a great introduction. Your section on DNA in the panel on Irish/Scottish genealogy was enlightening, too.
Btw, when will people realise that our country is called ‘Ireland’ (or ‘Eire’) and NOT ‘Republic of Ireland’?? (The latter is a description, not a name…)