#RootsTech 2016 Day #2 -- Innovator's Summit Impressions

Well, here we are at the first event in Salt Lake City, Utah for #RootsTech 2016. I am really at day two because I started with the BYU Family History Technology Workshop down in Provo, Utah yesterday. The Keynote speaker is Steve Rockwood, the new CEO of FamilySearch. See Deseret News.  He spoke of extending the tech and also engage more in genealogy. He refers to FamilySearch as a neutral facilitator in assisting in spreading family history across the world. FamilySearch is focusing on five stages

• Discovery - introducing family history
• Family Tree - sharing and gathering information
• Searchable Records - unlocking the records
• Memories - stories and images
• Contextual Help - Guidance

In past years of the Innovator Summit, the keynote was in a much smaller room. It is difficult to tell if there are more attendees that previous years, but it looks like there is a much more diverse group.

Rockwood mentions Little Family Tree, DNA, photos and other current benefits of family history. Make family history part of everyday life.

The next speaker is Ken Krogue. Here is his intro:

Kenneth Krogue founded InsideSales.com in November 2004, where he currently leads as president and chief strategist. He sets the vision for the company together with the CEO. Ken brings more than 24 years of experience in sales, business strategy, and marketing in both domestic and international markets to the sales acceleration technologies and consulting at InsideSales.com. 

Prior to InsideSales.com, Ken was one of the original founders of UCN, now inContact. Prior to that he built and directed the inside sales division at FranklinCovey. Ken has received many industry awards, including being recognized among the Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals consecutively from 2012-2014 by the American Association of Inside Sales Professionals (AA-ISP) and being honored as #2 in the world in a list of Top Social Sales Influencers featured in Forbes.

Here is a condensed version of Ken's comments: just go sell something. Don't waste all of your time making a perfect system, just start selling. Keep a fresh perspective. Find what works, then focus, focus, focus. See 5 things businesses can learn from a tree. Know what you sell. Know what you sell. Provide crazy value: quality, price and speed. Divert a river, don't dig a well. Google Keyword Planner Tool. Learn how to divert traffic don't build new traffic. Swim with the sharks. Does one person matter? See Cyber warriors -- Forbes. Even a single comment matters. Research marketing -- fast response to web page leads. Only raise money when you don't need it. Find investors that invest in you. Manage by the numbers. Predictive analytics and big data. (each of these statements is search topic on Google) Digital Media Rules. Google is now larger than all magazines and all newspapers. Content + Distribution, results matter. Give back along the way. Family Facebook Events. Apps converging to platforms, from growth to profitability, results focus, wearable tech life management. Tell your own story. Call people back. 

BSA Genealogy Merit Badge online Saturday. Interesting. 

On to the next events. Stay tuned.