My Take on RootsTech 2015

A recent blog post by Paul G. Nauta for FamilySearch is entitled, "RootsTech 2015 Breaks Records and Keeps Giving." Since I was personally involved in this year's RootsTech experience as both a presenter and as a blogger, and since I have attended all of the past RootsTech conferences, I have an interesting perspective on this year's (2015) events. I have also been involved in a number of "Family Discovery Day" activities already since attending the Conference. A short time ago, I taught four classes as a local event and I am already scheduled to teach a more of these Family Discovery Day events in the future.

I am finding that the attendees of the RootsTech 2015 Conference have come away with an extremely positive attitude towards the Conference and with a greater interest in becoming involved in family history. In past years, there were always some negative comments, but so far, I have not heard any about the most recent event. From my personal viewpoint, the Conference was a tremendous success and I am most certainly looking forward to attending the next Conference in 2016. The 2015 Conference was certainly much better organized that previous conferences.

I think the fact that the Family Discovery Day registration was limited is a clear indication of the interest and need for this type of major event. I fully realize how difficult it is to anticipate attendance, but with the caliber and participation of the Keynote presenters, a huge attendance could have been anticipated. I just hope that the people who came to see the famous people chosen to present at the general meetings, stayed long enough to learn something about genealogy. For my part, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and relevance of the main presentations. I really appreciated, for example, getting to know Donny Osmond not just as a performer, but also as a family historian. I hope they do not run out of people of that caliber who have the family history connection to present in the future.

One of the consequences of the growth of the Conference is the inevitable depersonalization of that many people participating in a conference. FamilySearch was helpful and considerate as usual, but I have to contrast the attention the bloggers got at the early conferences to that of the one this year in 2015. There were apparently 50 bloggers invited to participate. I certainly understand the role of a blogger, but perhaps there should be some more requirements imposed on future participants to write about the event and participate in other ways during the event?

I would also suggest that given the effort to attract new people or less experienced family historians to the event, that more basic, entry-level opportunities be provided.

If you look at the numbers quoted by Paul Nauta in his blog post, you will see that the Conference has reached the point of becoming a major event. Although attendance is not nearly as large as other popular conferences, for genealogy this is really big. Perhaps one way to keep growing is to create mini-conferences within the main event. For example, we already have an Innovators Summit for programmers, developers etc., why not have other interest groups such as bloggers, instructors, academics, etc. have a time or place to gather. I realize that as bloggers we had the Media Hub, but how about events or meetings or classes aimed at specific groups within the greater genealogical community?

As far as the Family Discovery Days, these are the best idea yet. I am seeing a lot of people who had no real interest in attending a conference in Salt Lake, now having the opportunity to share in some of the excitement and benefit from the overall conference experience.

All in all, I thing RootsTech is one of the best things has happened to genealogy in the United States (even if they do insist on referring to it as family history).

31 Sessions of RootsTech 2015 now online

You need to check back on the RootsTech.org website for the latest postings of newly added recorded classes from the Conference. There are now 31 sessions online.

If you need a place to start. Watch Ron Tanner.

Video Coverage of #RootsTech 2015

Here are some of the videos from RootTech 2015. You can find more on the FamilySearch Channel on YouTube.com.

#RootsTech 2015 Keynote: Tan Le Remembers Her Grandmother

#RootsTech 2015: Start With Stories

#RootsTech 2015: Nathan Furr & Innovations in Family History

#RootsTech 2015: Family History For Everyone

#RootsTech 2015 Keynote: The Thrill of Discovery

#RootsTech on YouTube.com and RootsTech.org

Interviews and clips from the Keynote presentations at #RootsTech are now being put up online on the FamilySearch Channel on YouTube.com. The videos of the keynotes from the #RootsTech Conference are also going up on the RootsTech.org website.

Adiós muchachos (y muchachas) compañeros de mi vida,

Adiós muchachos, compañeros de mi vida,
barra querida de aquellos tiempos.
Me toca a mi hoy emprender la retirada
debo alejarme de mi buena muchachada.

Carlos Gardel

These simple words say it all. Goodbye my friends. Hasta la vista. Until next year at RootsTech 2016, now scheduled for February 3 - 6, 2016, again in the vast caverns of the Salt Palace in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Here are some thoughts and statistics:

• During the week, I walked 48,247 steps or about 27.4 miles during the five days I was attending the conference. 
• I ate two really good pastrami sandwiches.
• I talked to about a zillion people and almost lost my voice.
• I saw lots of good friends and renewed a lot of acquaintanceships.
• I learned a lot about a lot and will share what I can in future posts.
• I was not expecting to be impressed by any of the keynote speakers but ended by being impressed by all of them.
• I will miss my friends from around the world and wish them safe passage home. 
• I wish I had more time to talk, even if I do lose my voice.
• My next few days will be just as busy as ever. 
• I definitely like riding the train more than driving the freeways. 
• I thought the whole RootsTech experience was extraordinarily well managed this year.
• I am not sure what they can do next year to top this one.  

And so to all my friends:

Dos lágrimas sinceras derramo en mi partida
por la barra querida que nunca me olvidó,
y al dar a mis amigos mi adiós postrero
les doy con toda mi alma, mi bendición.

#RootsTech: "I am a Cousin" GlobalFamilyReunion.com and Donny Osmond

This is the last day of #RootsTech. We got to hear A. J. Jacobs and Donny Osmond, a very interesting juxtaposition. This is another set of presentations that cannot be adequately reported. First, there was the GlobalFamilyReunion.com with comments and commentary by A. J. Jacobs and then Donny Osmond. He had a warmer reception than anyone else at this conference. He got a standing ovation when he walked in.

Donny is a consummate performer and he turns out to be a tremendous advocate for family history. He relates stories about his family and emphasizes that everyone has a legacy of stories. He has a Donny Osmond app and you can download his latest album, in its entirety for free. This is another one of those presentations that you really need to see for yourself. He got his mother's 40 years of genealogical research. He was given the responsibility to manage his mother's database when she died. He worked on genealogy in his free time during his career. Once he began and got focused, it was like a giant jigsaw puzzle. FamilySearch.org has made it easy and fun. He says to go back to revisit your brickwalls. He loves FamilySearch.org because everyone is working on it.

This is wonderful, having a famous person who loves genealogy. Donny says to interview your family members. He has relied on the stories to give him the strength to work hard, such as Dancing with the Stars. He attributes his success to the tenacity and hard work of his ancestors, his parents and grandparents. His story of his parents is inspirational. I hope FamilySearch can put this online because everyone needs to hear this story.

We need to document and record our stories. Families really are forever.

StoryWorth the Winner of the Innovator Showdown at #RootsTech

Every year, for the past few years, at #RootsTech, FamilySearch has sponsored a developer challenge. The participants are startup software development companies that are bringing or attempting to bring new products to the genealogy marketplace. Some of the programs from past years have become standards. After an intense competition this year with $25,000 in prize money available, there are a large number of aspirants.

I have observed that the early contestants were more in the idea stage of development. This year, the competing programs were mostly full-featured and some were already online and functioning. Here is the press release about this year's winner:

SALT LAKE CITY (February 13, 2015) – StoryWorth, a San Francisco start up company that offers an email-based storytelling service, today swept the RootsTech Innovator Showdown, winning both first prize and the People’s Choice award, and claiming a purse of $15,000. RootsTech is a global conference hosted by FamilySearch.  

The Innovator Showdown is the first-annual event where entrepreneurs from around the globe presented their web or mobile app on stage in front of a live audience, vying for a total of $25,000 in sponsor-contributed prize money. Each of four finalists presented their ideas in five minutes and responded to questions from a panel of renowned judges. Judges and audience members voted on their favorite product in a Shark Tank-like setting. Darin Adams, former KSL Studio 5 host, served as emcee.  

StoryWorth vied for the winning title alongside LucidPress, an intuitive design and layout provider of sleek digital scrapbooking; GenMarketplace, a web app that links those with family history roadblocks to those who can solve them; and ArgusSearch, handwriting recognition technology useful in searching un-indexed digital images of records.  

Panel judges included AJ Jacobs, founder of The Global Family Reunion and a New York Times bestselling author; Amy Rees Anderson, managing partner of REES Capital; Curt Witcher, senior manager of The Genealogy Center, Allen County Public Library; Dan Mano, vice president of business development, MyHeritage; and Jay Verkler, advisor and corporate consultant, The Verkler Group.  

StoryWorth brings memories to life and facilitates the preservation of memories and personal histories through simple question prompts, emailed directly to users each week. Questions such as “What is some of the best advice your mom ever gave you?” or “Did you ever pull any pranks?” or “How did you meet your wife?” are emailed to users weekly. Users respond via email, and StoryWorth automatically lays out the stories and privately saves them on the site. In time, with minimal effort and using only technology that’s already familiar, users create their personal histories, one story at a time.  

“One of the most important things we can do for both the future and the past is to record our memories,” said Nick Baum, founder of StoryWorth. “When we write our stories, and share them with our families, it brings families closer together in the present.”
StoryWorth is highly customizable. There are over 600 engaging questions to choose from, and users can write their own questions. Storytellers can choose to either keep their stories private or invite other family members to receive them by email. There’s a phone option for storytellers who prefer to answer the questions by phone. Stories can be downloaded anytime, as well as printed and bound as books.  

“Family history, at its heart, is about stories and connection. It’s about learning to love your ancestors by getting to know them,” said Don Anderson, FamilySearch senior vice president, FamilySearch Partners. “StoryWorth hits all the right notes, helping users ask questions they would otherwise never think to ask, and get answers they’d never expect.”
Innovator Showdown sponsors were MyHeritage, Grow Utah, Hero Partners, Sprint, IPOP Foundation, Utah Technology Council, and STG.  

About StoryWorth 

StoryWorth.com is the easiest way to record your family stories. Each week, StoryWorth emails their customers a question about their life. All they have to do is reply with a story, either by email or by phone. Their stories are saved privately on storyworth.com, and immediately emailed to any family members they've invited. StoryWorth is secure, private, and easy to use. Through over 600 unexpected and engaging questions, StoryWorth is bringing families closer together across the country. Sign up for a free 30 day trial at storyworth.com. 

About FamilySearch 

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 130 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

#RootsTech 2015 Updates on YouTube

#RootsTech 2015 has apparently reached an entirely new level of energy and participation. Compared to previous years, the numbers of participants, exhibitors and activities have so far surpassed previous conferences to put the entire event into a new category of genealogy conference: the mega-conference. Granted, compared to other popular conferences, the numbers may not seem to be very impressive, but given the increase for this one conference, genealogy is moving into the big conference arena.

Watch #RootsTech Live or on YouTube

If you were not able to visit #RootsTech 2015 in person, you can still capture some of the excitement of this, the largest family history conference, by visiting the FamilySearch Channel on YouTube.com or watching live on RootsTech.org.

#RootsTech – Day Two; Laura Bush Day

Well, we usually don’t get quite so many VIPs to a genealogy conference. I got to the opening after my usual train ride from Provo and was sitting in my seat before 8:00 am. By the time the crowd got here to the Salt Palace, there wasn’t a seat left. The bloggers are a good distance from the front, seated behind the real VIPs. I suspect that this the first brush with genealogy most (many) of these people have had in their lives.

I can’t get an Internet connection; I suppose WiFi is maxed out, so this is being written in Word and then posted when I get a connection. Today is the Innovators Challenge; the final four were selected after the Innovators Summit on Wednesday. The selection of the winners will be today, February 13, 2015 in the Innovator Showdown.

Here we go. Back to reporting and commenting on #RootsTech 2015.

The introductory videos are extremely well done and very touching. They will likely be posted on YouTube.com. Today’s keynote is JoshuaTaylor. President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies who also is Director of Family History for Findmypast.com.  They have 10 million pages of newspapers. They have the online digitized copy of PERSI. They will be launching a record set every single hour. True family history is what you do with it after you find it. Family History should be accessible to anyone anywhere. They adopted the Mocavo.com idea of free forever. Findmypast has record hints. Family history is inspiring. Partnerships: this week they announced partnership with New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, next a partnership with FamilyTreeDNA. Now a partnership with StoryPress. But according to a news release, there is a partnership with BillionGraves.com. More about this later. Family history is more than a family tree.

Josh relates his own story. Combining Data, Accessibility and Partnerships.

Dennis Brimhall , CEO introduces Laura Bush and her daughter, Jenna Bush Hager. I suggest you may want to watch this presentation on RootsTech.org. Again, as happened yesterday with Tan Le, I will listen and not try to transcribe. She says every child in America should learn to read. Reading is not just a cause, but a passion of her life. Talks about the National Book Festival. You need to hear her account of September 11th and time following. When all is said and done, we as genealogists need to embrace a more expansive view of what we do and why we do it. We also need to adopt a more inclusive, rather than exclusive attitude towards history and our own history. Laura Bush is an important part of our history. Let's embrace that history as we learn about our individual heritage. 

The question and answer part of the presentation talks about their family and other family experiences. 

More later, of course. 

#RootsTech -- Moving on Through Day One

Since I am carrying around a camera, I thought I would put up a few snapshots. These are certainly casual shots and the lighting is usually bad, but it might give an idea of what we are seeing and doing

We get to sit close to the front as bloggers. so this is a view just before the Keynote opening began.

Here is what it looks like once it starts.

This is Josh Taylor and the hosts of the Genealogy Roadshow making a push to support the War of 1812 Pension digitization.

We had an incredible presentation from Tan Le.

Another photo of Tan Le presenting.

Opening the Exhibit Floor

The busy Media Hub where the bloggers hang out.

More hanging out bloggers. Jill Ball in the red is holding a Google+ Hangout from the Conference.

Mike Mallen from MyHeritage.com talking about their new Weavee app. I have already downloaded it to my phone.

#RootsTech -- More of the Opening and on the morning

The connections were getting worse, so I uploaded the first part of my post on the Opening in the middle of the presentation by Tan Le. You cannot miss this part of the #RootsTech Opening even if you don't like genealogy. "You have not let go." Tan Le and her family have not let go.

The wealth of my own life is in my children. We are all a continuation of our ancestors.

Here are some photos:

Train into Salt Lake

Findmypast Annelies Van Den Belt and Josh Taylor

Bloogers at the opening 

Taking photos of taking photos

#RootsTech Opening -- Hold onto your seats, here we go

The WiFi connection here is spotty so this might be a few minutes late.  Steve Rockwood, VP of International FamilySearch.  I should have brought my big camera, then I could have walked around and looked official. We do have blogger seats. MyHeritage.com is the sponsor of the day. Josh Taylor, speaks, the President of the Federation of Genealogy Societies. Genealogy Roadshow hosts, Mary Tedesco and  talks about the effort to digitize the War of 1812 Pension digitization project. They are raising money to help preserve the records.

Keynote by Dennis Brimhall, CEO of FamilySearch International. I note that they are using the name of the corporation including the "International" part for the first time. This is a change. He is getting a degree in family history from BYU Idaho. This year we will have about 21,927 people registered so far. They have people from 35 countries, but their graph had no dot for Australia and I am sitting next to three very nice ladies from Australia including famous blogger, Jill Ball.

Theme is how do we get more people involved in family history. Such as a family history conference in Nigeria. They had 1183 remote conferences around the world. The total attending either in person or electronically, is over 200,000.

Some of the things happening in FamilySearch. The obituary indexing did 100 million names by volunteers. 319,000 volunteers with 13 million names every day. FamilySearch has started Record Hints, which I find very accurate, they claim 98% accuracy. 1.1 billion people in the FamilySearch Family Tree.

Partnerships: Ancestry.com, Tim Sullivan, 545 million new records on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.com. 80 million Mexican Vital Records digitized by not indexed. But Ancestry.com will index these records by the end of 2015. Much faster than previously possible. They welcome Annelies van den Belt from Findmypast.com, working on a number of records from England. New partnership coming. Another partner, MyHeritage.com Gilad Japhet is here, FamilySearch Family Tree on MyHeritage.com Record Matches, and many other records.

Two new partners, New England Historic Genealogy Society, Ryan Woods here, and with family.me Harrison Tang, President. A.J. Jacobs from Global Family Reunion. The theme of the Global Family Reunion is "I am a cousin."

FamilySearch has over 10 billion records and has started the FamilySearch App Gallery. Dennis talks about discoveries made by users of these online websites. You should watch this in the recording. You need to see that FamilySearch is talking about doing research! This is very helpful. Use whatever tool gives you the best experience in doing family history.

The joy of discovery. We all have this curiosity, but people are trying to discover what helps them understand that curiosity. They show the MyHeritage.com video about the Instant Discovery. I have talked about this before.

Museum of me. The Family Discovery Center, explores name and history. Reviews timeline and other things from the new centers opened this week. I have already written about this. Dennis talks about his family that comes from the Family Discovery Center. Being built in Philadelphia and perhaps London. One is being built in Seattle. Need to reserve time online to visit Discovery Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Please go out and discover. Absolutely great presentation.

MyHeritage.com is sponsor today. Mike Valen, Chief Product Officer. Wants to talk about future. Quoting Arthur C. Clarke about technology and magic. Story about magic trick. The magic captivated him. What is a discovery? We need to realize people need help right away. A discovery is a gift of knowledge. This is the amazing technology that gives people an instant connection to the family. MyHeritage.com is going to give this to everyone across the globe. Instant Discovery is the way to see what happens when they produce a family tree from sources.

These presentations have come a long way from the "tech" talks we had five years ago at the first RootsTech. It is interesting to see how much has been accomplished.

Now we have Emotiv's Tan Le. She is a an Australian who was a Vietnam refugee and escaped in a boat. This is another presentation you will want to watch on the RootsTech.org website. Telling the story of her grandfather and her life. "Yes, history may crush us, but we endured." She is speaking so poetically, I will just listen. "Just do it and don't be what you are not."

I am going to post this first part of the session now. Stay tuned.

#RootsTech -- Opening Day is Finally Here

I am writing this while traveling by train to Salt Lake City, Utah very early in the morning on February 12, 2015 for the annual #RootsTech Conference. Today's activities include the following taken from a Deseret News article by Trent Toone entitled "RootsTech conference expecting to draw more than 20,000 people."

Thursday's lineup consists of general sessions that include keynote speakers Dennis Brimhall, CEO ofFamilySearch.org; Mike Mallin, CEO of MyHeritage.com; and Tan Le, a technology innovator and the founder of Emotiv.

The article has some interesting announcements for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also in conjunction with extensions to the partnership agreements entered into between FamilySearch and some of the online websites.

More later. I have a breakfast meeting with Findmypast.com and then to Opening.

Four Finalists Announced by FamilySearch in Innovators Challenge

One of the most interesting parts of the #RootsTech experience has been talking to and listening to the new app developers at the BYU Family History Technology Workshop and then again with some of them at the Innovators Summit. The competition is heating up and the final four challengers were announced today at the end of the classes and during a light meal provided by the conference. Here is the announcement with descriptions of the winners so far:

Over 50 software developers from all over the world entered a challenge to create the best new innovations in family history for an opportunity to win $25,000 in awards. Today the 50 entrants were whittled down to the top four contestants in phase two of the judging round. 

The Final Four: 

ArgusSearchPlanet's magic Full Text search engine, ArgusSearch, is based on a brand new Artificial Intelligence technology (pending patent) and Planet's outstanding award winning handwriting recognition technology. It allows us to find matches for any arbitrary search request within billions of ancient documents within seconds! 

GenMarketplaceThe market that makes getting family history help easy. Genealogy requires diverse expertise. The existing professional services market focuses on people with relatively large budgets for family history.  GenMarketplace's focus is not the big project, but the small, specific job. Creating jobs is free and easy. We encourage our customers to post many jobs. Experts are able to select the jobs they find the easiest or the most intriguing, focusing on the jobs that they are best able to do. The quickest and easiest jobs will be done first at lowest cost, more difficult or tedious jobs will take longer to be selected and will cost more over time. 

LucidPressStorytelling has always been the best way to explain, to persuade, and to remember.  Lucidpress was born out of a desire to allow people to better tell their stories -- to share these stories in a rich and interactive way by taking advantage of the new technologies that today's readers expect. Rosina's story here shows how a 65 year old grandmother, Linda, can engage her young grandchildren and future generations, and explain to them the life of her great grandmother Anna Rosina. They can see pictures and maps, read Linda's story assembled through meticulous research over many years, and even see and hear their grandmother talking directly to them through videos.  Stories can now be more rich for the storyteller, and more engaging for the readers. 

StoryWorthStoryWorth is based around a very simple concept: any task is easier to accomplish if you break it into manageable chunks. Rather than asking our storytellers to write their autobiography, we email them a simple question once a week. This encourages a regular habit, and a simple email a week turns into several hundred pages of stories by the end of the first year. Watch LiveFollow the action on Friday at 10:30 a.m. MST, as we host the #InnovatorShowdown.  The final four finalists will take the stage and battle for the prize of $25,000 in awards.  The #InnovatorShowdown will be broadcast live at http://rootstech.org/.

Innovator Summit - Mission Impossible? Tough Challenges, Which Need Automated Solutions

Eastside View of the Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah

We had a nice box lunch and I went to the Family History Library for a short break to work with some of the FamilySearch Research Wiki participants. Nice to see familiar faces and talk about the challenges facing the Research Wiki. Back to the Innovator Summit and a forum with four presenters:

• Robert Charles Anderson, FASG 
• Diane C. Loosle, Family History Library and Centers Director, FamilySearch 
• David E. Rencher, Chief Genealogical Officer, FamilySearch 
• John Wylie, Member, GenTech Genealogical Data Model Working Group

The title of the presentation is in the title to this post. This is the link to the syllabus. As usual, I will be reporting and making comments.

Panel Presentation. Yes, the rooms are this dark. 

Diane Loosle:

Toughest genealogical research challenges we face today in genealogy. We have places to put conclusions but not a lot of programs for putting in the rest of the problems. Example, "find the father of John Smith." In the survey phase, we are trying to determine what has been done previously. Identify and select sources. Need to put the information in a collection and provide links between data. Share the repository.

There is nothing in programs about patterns, i.e. birth order, naming, migration etc.

We need a workspace for all of the and place to gather all the information about the same person or persona.

Comment: I certainly agree that these area are not currently covered by the existing programs.

John Wylie:

He speaks of the following:
Step 1: Lexicon (not yet available)
Step 2: Data Model - GEDCOM X, Gentech
Step 3: Tools - Mostly tree systems available, many more needed

We will not compromise the genealogical process to accommodate technology. Modeled as they understood it. Did not know the future. Technology has moved beyond our imagination. The data model is in the public domain.

Robert Anderson:

Explains some of the issues in creating the Great Migration Study Project. "What do I have to believe to disbelieve the conclusions." Comment: argumentum ad absurdum. He discusses linkage analysis. See the topic of genetic linkage. Also see Robert's book below.  Linkage data between sources and conclusions are missing from the present programs.

David Rencher:

Creates a spreadsheet of the data in a parish register or census. Sorts the list by given name and other topics such as witnesses. This gives a way to analyze the data. He is looking at name patterns and birth order and other data sets. They are asking for a way to organize additional outside sources that are not presently available. We never ever start with the tree. Sources should not go straight to the tree. Need to pull out all the data points that pertain to a certain person including land records, neighbors, friends, relatives of the target person. Need to build tools to fill in the missing steps of the research process.

Diane Loosle:

Use of timelines to differentiate individuals from the same area by examining a case study. Her whole project took about sixteen years. This is the same way of using a spreadsheet to look at and verify individual entries. These are steps for which we do not presently have program support. Need a data collection repository separate from family trees. Posit criteria for evaluation. This is an excellent example of using a set methodology to distinguish individuals in the same area with same or similar names. You have to look at a lot of individuals who are not going to land in my family tree. Needs a great deal of research and data. We need to know when data is added which matches our research.

We also need to have ways of correlating data that is inconsistent with historical facts. Need visualization on maps.

David Rencher:

650 of the 3500 counties in the United States have some level of record destruction. We need to have a visualization tool that shows us when records are  created. Comment: This is a good argument for a source-based research system.

Diane Loosle

Challenge is to grab a huge amount of data and establish data sets that gather people who may be friends or relatives in the same area. We need certain tools that are presently not available.

• Metadata on collections showing what is not included
• Tips to the user to warn them of reasons why their person may not appear
• Suggestions of other collections

David Rencher:

We need a way to unravel mistakes made in the trees. The ability to undo what was done to see when mistake was made.

Now there was a question and answer session: We are begging people to innovate.

Reading list from the syllabus:

• Anderson, Robert Charles. Elements of Genealogical Analysis. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. 
• GEDCOMX. “GEDCOMX.” Accessed 1 December 2014. http://www.gedcomx.org/. 
• Jones, Thomas H. Mastering Genealogical Proof. Arlington, Va.: National Genealogical Society, 2013. 
• Leary, Helen. “Evaluating Research Data” and “Designing Research Strategies” in North Carolina Research: Genealogy and Local History, 2nd Ed. 3-67. Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina Genealogical Society, 1996. 
• Morgan, George G., and Drew Smith. Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, [2014]. 
• National Genealogical Society. “References for Researching: Genealogical Data Model: The GenTech Genealogical Data Model.” Accessed 1 December 2014. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/GenTech_Projects. 
• Osborn, Helen. Genealogy: Essential Research Methods. London: Robert Hale, 2012.

Looking down at the Innovator Summit area at midday

Inside Look at Ancestry's Innovation and Product Development

Ancestry.com Presentation

Next session of the Innovators Summit for me is the presentation by Ancestry.com. The WiFi link is getting a little flakey with more people showing up, so this might not get sent immediately. There are three presenters, Chris Bardford, VP of Engineering, Kendall Hulet, VP of AncestryDNA, and Josh Penrod, Head of User Experience.

Development should become a shared vision and experience asking what are we solving and who are we solving for?

Comment: It is becoming apparent that the thrust of the Innovators Summit is more towards business development than innovation. It appears, from a show of hands, that almost all the people here are software developers. So far all of the presenters at the Innovators Summit have been business and product oriented with only a token mention of genealogy. This isn't too bad except the Ancestry's presenters could not be heard in the back and their slides were not visible to me in the back of the room.

As an example of my comment, we got a link to the following websites: remoteresear.ch and intercom.io. This segment of the conference really is for developers.

Welcome to the Innovators Summit

Getting on the TRAX in Salt Lake City, Utah

I gave myself plenty of time to get to Salt Lake City from Provo. The train takes about an hour and then you transfer to the TRAX or light-rail and get dropped off about half a block from the Salt Palace where today's Innovator Summit is being held. I got my registration materials and stood around talking to a few people and then went to Ballroom where the Keynote for the Innovators Summit is being held.

Registration was really simple if you got here before sunrise. This is the South entrance registration area on the main floor of the Salt Palace.

The Ballroom hall was large enough to make it look like the room wasn't too crowded. A couple of bloggers were sitting around the lone electrical outlet. If I am going to keep typing all day, I need electrical connections. Finally, the intro by Bruce Brand of FamilySearch. Now, I will go into my report and comment mode.

We are in the Golden Age of Genealogy. Interesting statement but I am not sure that there was enough progress in the past with genealogy that what we have accomplished will qualify as the Golden Age in the future. Bruce reviews DNA as the tipping point and machine learning as the impetus of the changes in genealogy. I see blog topics here.

Sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs, there is a Hack-a-thon and other development activities planned.

Next Scott Sorensen, Chief Technology Officer at Ancestry.com.

This is an exciting time for family history and I agree. TV programs increasing interest. 4 out of 5 people want to learn about their family history. He talks about mobile platforms. Ancestry.com has a very useful and easy to use app for my own iPhone. Document analysis technologies are advancing. He reviews the 13th International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition. Innovators innovate, customers validate, quote from Nathan Furr.  DNA is the main thrust of his presentation.
Here is the process:

• Indentify group of people with common ancestor
• Match your DNA to those in the circle of ancestors
• Pursue the connections

My observation is that the "research" part is the problem since many of these connections are based on unsourced family trees.

Dr. Nathan Furr, Author and Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

How do you turn your ideas into reality. Alternative to a business plan:

Is the problem worth solving?

Experiment with idea multiple times and ways

Answer key questions - can we develop an online solution?

Run a number of experiments

See RenttheRunway.com -- a startup that used this outline

New technology is changing the way companies are run faster than you can imagine. Where does management come from? Entrepreneurial management vs. traditional management. High uncertainty vs. Low uncertainty. Study on how entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality.  Elements include:

Agile Learning and other factors. To get the details, you probably have to read Dr. Furr's books. Gave example of Corning Ware glass. His first research was on Disruptive Innovators. Savor Surprises. Innovators display discovery behaviors: questioning, observing, experimenting, associating. 

Studio C even shows up in the Innovator Summit. Understanding the job to be done with an example of Harley Davidson motorcycles to how all this fits into the Innovators' Cycle: build, measure, learn. Use of theoretical prototypes, virtual prototype, minimum viable prototype, minimum awesome product. One of the traps is applying the "old" business model to new ideas. 

Comment: This looks like a complicated process. I suggest that if you want to be an entrepreneur that you get busy and review some of these ideas and get to work. Having started about eight different companies, I learned quickly that some got off the ground and others did not. Over the years, one business lasted 4 years, one lasted 11 years and one lasted 30+ years. Some never made it past the talking stage. 

Looking Forward to the Innovators Summit

February 10, 2015 will be the Innovators Summit at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. My wife and I decided to try traveling from Provo to Salt Lake each day on the train. Utah has a very useful train/light rail and bus system all along what is called the Wasatch Front. I will be reporting what I see, hear and my impressions of both.

The weather here is Provo is warm and sunny and predicted to remain the same through the weekend. We are ready to get going and see more people and talk to them. I have had an interesting time on Tuesday at BYU talking to the developers and learning about developments in FamilySearch and all the new apps coming down the pike. See you all tomorrow and the following days.

Most of my posts will likely be here on Genealogy's Star. I will post, if possible, on my other blogs including Rejoice, and be exceeding glad... but there may be a short hiatus.

$25,000 in prizes at #RootsTech Innovator Showdown

FamilySearch.org has announced the details of the Innovator Showdown to be held during the RootsTech Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah on Friday, February 13, 2015 at 10:30 am in Hall D of the Salt Palace. This new event is described by FamilySearch as follows:

New to RootsTech in 2015 is the Innovator Showdown. Innovator Showdown is an event where entrepreneurs from around the world present their web or mobile app on stage to a panel of judges and live audience. Up for grabs is $25,000 in sponsor contributed prize money (see sponsors below) to whoever the judges, and audience, think is best. This event will be held in the keynote hall on Friday, February 13 at 10:30 am. 

It all started with the Innovator Challenge and a half million email invitations just over two months ago. By Friday morning, only 4 Innovator Challenge finalists will be left compete in the showdown. 

The 4 finalists will present their ideas in 5 minutes and respond to questions from a panel of renowned judges (see page 4). The judges will pick their 3 favorites and award the winners from $3,000 to $10,000. In addition, the audience will get to choose their favorite finalist through text voting on the spot. Their selection will win a People’s Choice Award of $5,000. Attendees in the keynote hall and those watching live at RootsTech.org will also determine through text voting which finalist walks away with the grand prize. This will be big! 

Darin Adams, former KSL Studio 5 host and professional speaker will be the master of ceremonies for the Innovator Showdown.

Here is a screenshot of the Semifinalists:

If you wish to preview any of their products, here are the links:

ArgusSearch
Welf Wustlich
Raben Steinfeld, DE
http://bit.ly/rt15icas

GenMarketplace
Matthew Faulconer
Orem, UT
http://bit.ly/rt15icgm

HistoryLines
Jeff Haddon
Oswego, IL
http://bit.ly/rt15ichl

Legacy Stories
Tom Cormier
Knoxville, TN
http://bit.ly/rt15icle

Legacyshare
David Broughton
Redwood City, CA
http://bit.ly/rt15icls

Lucidpress
Karl Sun
Salt Lake City, UT
http://bit.ly/rt15iclp

StoryWorth
Nick Baum
San Francisco, CA
http://bit.ly/rt15icsw

TapGenes
Heather Holmes
Chicago, IL
http://bit.ly/rt15ictg