Updates and News from RootsTech 2016

In the past, the #RootsTech Conferences featured genealogy industry leaders as the Keynote Speakers. During the past two years, RootsTech has evolved in the keynote speakers now feature celebrities including bloggers, writers, and even entertainers. By attending the keynotes participants could learn about new developments from the genealogical companies. Now, that same information will be available at the conference but it will be a little more difficult to discover.

I will be attending the conference beginning on Tuesday, February 2, 2016 at the Brigham Young University Family History Technology Workshop at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. At the Workshop, I will be making two presentations and doing a demonstration of The Family History Guide website/app. During the #RootsTech 2016 conference on Thursday, February 4th and Saturday, February 6th, I will be doing two short presentations at the MyHeritage.com booth on the Exhibit Floor. At times during the RootsTech 2016 Conference, I will also be signing copies of the twelve books we have published by Family History Expos during the past year at their booth near the FamilySearch.org booth and the Media Hub. If you buy a book and see me at the Conference, I would be glad to sign it for you if I am not at the Family History Expos booth when you come by.

Meanwhile, as usual, I will be talking, writing and passing along any new developments I learn about at the conference. I plan to attend the Innovators Summit on and the 2016 RootsTech Innovator Showdown on Friday at 10:30 in Hall D. If you cannot attend the Conference or miss some of the new developments, I will try to cover as much as I can during the conference and of course, will give full updates after it is all over for this year. I may get the opportunity to talk to the participants.

In the past, there have always been some new or innovative changes announced, but it seems that during the last few months it seems that new programs, updates and new features have been implemented without much fan fair from the companies. New programs face a daunting task of trying to gain the attention of genealogists. The genealogical community as a whole is highly diverse and there are no overwhelming media outlets directed solely at genealogists. Most information is passed by word-of-mouth from one person to another. There are very few genealogy companies that can be said to have a wider, outside of the community, visibility. A conference such as #RootsTech 2016, gives new entrants about as much exposure as is possible given the dynamics of the genealogical community. I have never seen a study or survey on "brand loyalty" in the genealogical community but then again, you have to be aware that Personal Ancestral File is still one of the most popular and used programs and it has not been updated or advertised for over 13 years. It is hard to compete with a ghost especially a free ghost.

For example, have you seen that you can move the fields around on the Detail Page of the FamilySearch.org Family Tree? Do you know how to do this? Do you even know what I am writing about? See.