And The Winner Is....

The winner of my 2019 RootsTech Pass Giveaway is Anne Farrar! Congratulations, Anne! I look forward to seeing you in Salt Lake City. We will have to meet up and take a photo of the two of us together. 

Didn't win? No worries. Here are some other giveaway contests to enter: 
http://conferencekeeper.org/genealogy-contests/

When you get to RootsTech, look for me in the RootsTech app and let's connect!

The APP is Here

The RootsTech App is ready for download!

The app allows you to view the conference schedule, familiarize yourself with the speakers, make a list of vendors and exhibitors to visit in the Expo Hall. The app also allows you to connect with others who are attending the conference. 

The RootsTech mobile app is a great way for you to keep up to date with all that is happening before and during the conference. It will become your "go-to" to keep you organized and on schedule when you are at the conference. 

If you have a previous version of the app, you can simply update. If this is your first time, head to your app store for either iOS or Android and download. Play around and get familiar with the app before the conference. 

Look for me in the attendees list and let's connect!

See you in Salt Lake City for the largest family history conference, February 27th- Mar 2, 2019. 

Saroo Brierley at RootsTech 2019

The first celebrity keynote speaker for RootsTech has been announced. Friday's special speaker is Saroo Brierley. Many will know about Saroo from his book, A Long Way Home, or from the movie based on his book, Lion. 

At age 5, Saroo was sent from India to Australia where he was adopted. His adoptive mother helped to keep his memories alive and as he got older, Saroo used Google Earth to remember his homeland and other technology to eventually reunite with his birth family. 

This promises to be a talk that will require hankies and it is most likely that there won't be a dry eye in the house as we listen to Saroo's riveting story of finding his family of origin. Here is a sneak peak:

To register for RootsTech: https://www.rootstech.org/

Scottish ViC Line up

Scottish ViC (virtual conference) 

Saturday January 26th, 2019 

ONLINE

  

After having had the opportunity to attend several talks and conferences in Scotland with my tour participants, I made the realization that the topics presented over there are quite different to the topics those same speakers might offer in North America. Clearly, the needs of the researchers in Scotland is different, thus the different focus of the topics by the speakers. My tour participants have greatly benefitted from that level of learning and in a desire to offer that same level of learning to others in North America and Australasia. 

From this desire evolved the Scottish ViC. This is the only virtual conference dedicated to Scottish research, and to offer topics others would not normally have the chance to learn about.

  

The virtual conference starts at 8:00 am (Eastern) with presentations being delivered in pre-recorded webinar format. Presentations are made available on a scheduled basis, just like talks at an in-person conference. After one presentation ends, another becomes available. Immediately following each presentation, the presenters will be available in the closed Facebook group for the ViC for a live Q&A. Questions can also be emailed for those not comfortable with Facebook.

  

The presentations will remain available until midnight (eastern) on January 31st. This allows people in different time zones to be able to watch the presentations during normal waking hours.  In addition to the presentations, there is a virtual marketplace in which vendors offer special discounts on their products or services to the attendees which might enhance or benefit their genealogy research.

  

This year’s speakers and topics:

                      Keynote address: The Highlander and the Lad o' Pairts: 

                      Patterns of Scottish Migration to Canada 

presented by Dr Kevin James, Scottish History Professor of the University of Guelph’s Scottish Studies Program

Genealogy in the High Court of Justiciary 

presented by retired archivist Margaret Fox. Margaret formerly worked as an archivist at the National Records of Scotland and has an intimate knowledge of these records.

Using Sheriff Court Records for Genealogy Research 

presented by genealogist Emma Maxwell. Emma and her husband Graham have indexed thousands of records at the National Records of Scotland and made these indexes freely available on their website, Scottishindexes. Scottishindexes will be offering a discount to attendees of the ViC.

Genealogy Gems in Scottish Poor Law Records 

presented by Dr Irene O’Brien, senior archivist at the Glasgow City Archives. Glasgow has, perhaps, the richest collection of poor law records in the country and Dr O’Brien has an intimate knowledge of how these records can help reconstruct an ancestor’s life.

An Introduction to LivingDNA

by co-founder David Nicholson. LivingDNA differs from the other DNA companies in that they can pinpoint the region of Scotland in your DNA. LivingDNA will also be offering a discount on their kits.

Family History Resources Available at the National Library of Scotland 

presented by Enquiries Assistant Elaine Brown. Elaine has a rich knowledge of the resources that can help to build the social history of your ancestors and the wealth of resources available at the National Library of Scotland to assist you with your family history research.

Online Resources for Scottish Genealogy

presented by genealogy educator Christine Woodcock. The resources offered in this webinar are some of the lesser known websites and resources that will help to move your research forward.

  

 As with any conference, there will be a marketplace where vendors will offer products or services will assist family historians with their research. 

A list of vendors can be found at: https://www.genealogyvic.com/virtual-vendors.html

 The registration fees are just $99 canadian, which translates to about $65 usd.

 To register: https://www.genealogyvic.com/home.html