FRIDAY KEYNOTES :  JYLL PATEE & TIM SULLIVAN

JYLL:
Phenomenal presentation on her grandmother's banana cookie recipe!

All about the Wow momnets in life we want to capture.

Jyll gave us all her grandmother's recipe AND a recipe for maximizing wow momnents:

    1.  Create the WOW!

    2.  Capture the WOW!

    3.  Archive the WOW!

    4.  Share to WOW!
____________________________________________________________________

Tim Sullivan / Ancestry.com CEO

Beginners -----   Experts   --------      Well Grounded  (Novice to Pro)

   - 45 million trees @ Ancestry
   - 4 Billion people listed in trees @ Ancestry
   - 2.7 million subscribers @ ancestry.com

NOT ALL INFO IN ancestry.com is correct! LOL!
just like all assuptions in research are not proven true

NEWS :  very near New mobile app
Facts over 1/3 of registration coming from mobile devices  = younger new generation
Launched DNA Svc in May 2012 120K+
2 million + 4th cousin connections made

more people needed
New reduced cost of $99.00 per test for everyone

Content:

1.7 billion new records
+ incl Billion names from city directories
+ morepeth Ireland collection'

Looking Ahead

INVESTING in content $100 million wil be committed to digitization in next five years = $20 million a year!
Exciting collaboration with Family Search
to digitize 140 million pages of U.S. Probate Records & index wills, records of admin, etc from 1800 - 1930! over a three year period!!!

Collecting Fabric of a Life: Thomas MacEntee

Sponsored by Flip Pal scanners

    Thomas is a joy to interact with and very knowledgable about his subject material, but not so much that he doesn't allow for plenty of audience input of ideas and solutions.  He has developed a very comfortable style for listeners in each class.  Even without a plethora of multicolored genablogger beads, he handled this one with the class and expertise I expected.  Great Job Thomas!

    Touch Matters - it brings out the character or texture which brings added value!

     Family History has contours and edges like many heirlooms we collect and try to preserve

     Medals and jewelry require black cloth behind to scan best 3D image

__ - Create a Library of 3D Images
__ - Collect every item determine if can be scanned
__ - If can't scan, then photograph
__ - Use simple background for better detail
__ - Protect the item in its current condition
__ -  Take inventory create a scanning to do list
__ - scan upholstery of family furntire & use as background for blog, scrapbook, etc

82 Scans of a Quilt stiched together in about 15 minutes!

__ - Medals, buttons Coins - his father was in Korea (Marine?)
        are all scannable items
__ - Containers Carved wood boxes/urns
__ - Qults

ENHANCEMENT:
TO fix Blurs, lighting issues, edges off line, free software with flip pal or use Picture Manager,Photoshop, or GIMP.

IDEAS FOR DISPLAYING Digital Items:
__ - Family Group Sheet - his mother was 1 of 12 children (FGS+ Anyone?)

SAVING PHOTOS:
   Use Drop Box  - 2 GB free space - tablet and Iphone supported
   Carbonite is very popular
   Backblaze is a NEW SPONSOR this year! - Covering Demo Area Costs

*** KEEP A MASTER IMAGE FOLDER!!!

Select an appropriate Background
Flag or Flag colored Stationary for Medals
or othe relevant topics

  

Session Full to try Another

255C:  Optical Character Recognition - I need my listing to even tell who taught this!
Crowsourcing Google Trends 0 to 100

Alexa  - How popular a site is

Kickstarter - tells how many sites gather more info than your site

Reddit - reading

Zooniverse - hubble telescope views with 800,000 users

Wikipedia - Ranked 6th highest use in the world and even a bit more accurate than Encyclopedia Brittanica, yet colleges won't allow students to cite it as a source ;-)

Familysearch.org - 1208 ranked in the U.S.

wraggelabs - statistical family history research

Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic
Reasons to Correct text
Meaningful use of free time (not@work)

Rootstech Screencasting Session: Ann Metcalf

My first official in classroom session was with Ann who works with learning services at the LDS.

Screencasting is a videocreen capture containing audio recording.

It is best for visual learning with audio which covers over 65% of us.
Screencasting is great for distance and traditional classroom learning.

Try any of the FREE or paid screencast programs:

    - Screenr
    - Jing
    - Screencastomatic
    - Screen Jelly - LOL!

It is very simple - All you need is:

     Free screencast program and Power Point or another presentation software
     A microphone for your computer
     A place to share your casts on-line (Youtube, wiki, etc.)

First you should pick a topic, create and outline, and PREPARE your SCRIPT

Next you just need to practice timing
It will take a few tries to figure out how wide to capture your screen, time your speaking directions just right for your audience, and work in your desired animations and their timing if needed to flow smoothly with your audio script.

Be patient and jsut work at it.  Ask for feedback from friends and family when available.
You will become really good at it in time and make some amazing screencast presentations in practically no time at all.

         Thank you Ann - it was great even with the audio distractions!

Rootstech 2013 Keynote 3: Josh Taylor

Josh Taylor well represents the energetic youth in family research and was a perfect compiment to the other more seasoned Keynote speakers on the opening day of Rootstech 2013.  He pointed out the significance of collaboration in 2012 to discuss what the future holds for the field:  Another technological advance is the sheer number of new records being digitized every day. Because of the unbelievable work of volunteers, the Church adds 400 million new records each year. That’s an average of more than 1 million new records every day. Josh Taylor, who is a professional genealogist, author, and third keynote speaker at RootsTech 2013, told us in the audience that “The most amazing development for 2012 in family history and genealogy was the release of the 1940 census records.”

     He opened with three contrasting definitions of the term "Growth" and how he wa doing in each such area.

He had two grandmothers in polar opposition over supporting his sharing of genealogical finds all because he used a family bible and leaned one of the family members was illigitimate.

  Josh also mentioned the TED talks which I was unfamiliar with but share this simple quote from a Google search for familiarity: 

      "TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading -- through TED.com, our annual conferences, the ... Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world ..."

Josh emphasized how it will be key to keep generation Y invovlved and interested, since they are amazing at time managing via mobile devices and serious multitasking, and that affordability will play a big role also  - prioritizing public library access is essential.

STATISTICS Josh Used:

Immigrants to America in recent years:

     - 11 Million from Mexico

     - 2 Million each from China, India, the Philippines, etc

    All of these diverse people are the future customers and will also be our fellow researchers!

PHOTOS and VIDEOS keep attention easily:   Census and other Docs must be preserved NOW!

We need to mix it up and MAKE IT FUN!

* Gaming is a big segment of future apps for Gen Y which we need to capitalize on or forever lose their attention to leasser worthy spending of their precious time.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS CRITICAL:

   Josh advised that social media will continue to play a pivotal role in genealogy and its future.

The next generation is already here...

using 140 characters or less

posting 175 million tweets a day

having an avg of 51 followers per user

contrubuting significantly to the total of 163 billion tweets so far listed on-line.

  Q:  How many of those are yours of pertain to what you are doing?

50% of users are mobile today and % is only increasing

VERY RECENT ADOPTEE TREND:

   We all have probably seen the many adoptees photos on social media sites with posters about who they are and that they want to find their birth parents.  They are appearing in legions due to the success of social media reaching the parents or people they know who can help connect these long lost biologically closest family members.

This demonstrates the "power of the crowd" or crowdsourcing with the popularity of a flashmob youtube video and no hype since it is about making a real connection between relatives.

New Tools need to be 3 things:

ACCESSIBLE--------ENGAGING---------MOBILE

Successful problem solving platforms:

__________Crowdsource.com, kickstart.com, innocentive.com_________

Videos to Youtube generational & "lineage"

Rootstech Keynote 2

Now that I am just getting into my conference photos and video of THE genealogy Conference of 2013, I begin to realize how its uniqueness will never be available again.  First of all, anyone in the genealogy community who didn't attend won't have a purple tree Genedocs Card in hand unless an attendee passes theirs or an extra on to them as a dear friend.  Less than 2000 made it into the expo hall and in attendees hands personally from mine.  And how rare are the 10 Genedocs Chart Standard t-shirts that were given away to all the "firsts"? 

     Well with 7,000 to 9,000 people attending you are looking at 10/7000 or 10/9000 odds of receiving one.  The good news is a few genealogy society folks who did get one mentioned they may be using them as swag for their next conference to pass on this growing legacy.  Stay tuned to your local genealogy community for that possibility - I know Washington and Idaho States will be representative of the Northwest ;-).

      Speaking of Rare T-Shirts, will anyone get to scan the QR code on the back of my Friday Shirt?  How about the next conference we make that an option?  There is already talk of FGS in San Antonio for 2014.  Hmmm...what to present there?  Thank you Randy and Paul for bringing up that option!

     

     Anyway, the second keynote was phenomenal from the great storyteller Syd Lieberman who also received a shirt for being the first in a category even I can't recall right now!  He discussed how stories capture life and everyday events like his father tackling him and bombarding him with kisses are special moments we all enjoyed from his refined years of sharing such eloquent and meaningful speaking.

E.E Cummings was quoted "Now is too busy being everything to be anything." Meaning we are so busy doing stuff in each moment that we ofter forget to record a history of each minuscule treasure placed within each one.

Preserve and remember legacies or these priceless stories will be lost forever.

The story he told of a soldier in the U.S. Civil War buried and resting at Gettysburg was poignant in that all of the amazing details of the soldier's life Syd uncovered were not anywhere near summed up by the one word on his government provided marker - "UNKNOWN".  The vibrant fabric of this soldier's life uncovered can never be added to his stone, not even his actual name due to laws on changing national memorial sites government provided markers.  Saddest of all, his was but one in a seemingly endless sea of soldiers on that well known battle field site.  How many other veteran's stories lay in wait to be shared in another venue?  How many descendants saunter the earth not knowing of these brave related souls key details of military service and the greatest sacrifice for the Union we still enjoy in many ways to this very day?

Our legacy left behind defines "our personal testament". Syd concluded.

 

Keynote 1 Continued:

familysearch CEO

SHOCKER:
According to UNICEF 40% of all people on earth will be born , live, and die without leaving any record behind.
Nepalese women expectant working in the fields who were going right back into the fields after birth were understandably facing higher infant mortality rates, but remarkably, when they were offered a certificate for the birth of their child , they agreed to receive the life and death difference only post natal care can provide.

Rootstech Expansion News:
Likelihood of Conference Coming to a City Nearer You!

This year a mini-rootstech was on trial in Kansas City to gauge how practical expansion is to other major cities.  If it goes well, then next year or two will shoot for nation wide locations in major cities and following year to go global shooting for 160,000 attendees by 2015 in 16 or more countries!

KEYNOTE 1:

Dennis Brimhall / CEO of Familysearch.org

TOPICS:

- Only Two Survivors Within Reach After WWII,

- Rootstech Global Vision,

- New Familysearch Logo!

Ancestry Insider blog  here has some great coverage too at  http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com/

Genedocs' take:

Immigration Records and Itialian Records Digitization Projects

Q: "What will out great great grandchildren wish we would have done/"
A: "Record and Preserve therich fabric of our lives."

Amazing Share:
His father was shot down in WWII bomber and taken as a POW by the Germans.  Dnnis' daughter published a book on this small key swath of fabric entitled " My Mission to Fulfill".  Also his father had been living fin the same town for decades with the only other survivor of the shot down planes of that bombing mission.  They actually exchanged a glanc and two words on the chute decent down into the sky amidst firey hunks of their respective planes - the other fwllow falling faster with a burning chute!  The two words the other fellow said to him on the way down:  "Hey buddy".  That other fellow actually took photos of Dennis' father's plane as it was shot and busrt into flames and the film survived too for his daughters book on her grandfather!  The antiaircraft flak was overwhelming and the film captures such a pivotal life or death moment for Dennis' father as he was violently hurled out of the burning falling wreckage.  The two men had no idea for years and years that theylived in thesame town and passed one another doubtlessly dozens if not hundreds of times until one day they identified a unit patch in common while close enogh once again to exchange comments.  "hey buddy" became two unbelievable words in a split second.

 more to follow

Phenomenal 2013 Rootstech Opening Day

Summary for my brave few followers ;-)
[SNOWED FIRECELY FOR WALK FROM SHUTTLE TO PALACE]
PS Who cares - I'm now from Fort Worth where we need the snow ;-)


Keynotes:  These were all phenomenal with standouts of Syd Leibermans stories - OMG he was perfect for this, Joshua Taylor's drive for the tech demand of attracting youth via Genegaming apps - very passionate and authentic.

Expo Hall:  Packed with vendors all genealogy related, not as many tech booths as previous years (from what others were telling me at lunch courtesy of NEHGS) Many charting and other service providers (still not in all the the dimensions of the Hybrid Chart yet;-).

Sessions:  I made it to all but one - the FamilySearch session was filled up early somehow.

     Anne Metcalf's Session was stupendously useful admidst even a barage of A/V interference - Thnak you Anne

    I finally met the Genea-Ninja and Thomas MacEntee was great in hsi flip pal scanner session.
 

T-Shirt Update:
Only three given away - first to introduce herself, first to sit next to me in the keynote, and first to sit next to me in a session. Seven more to go!

Off to Bed and On to an Even better Friday!                          

The day has finally come.  I arrived in Salt Lake City for the first time ever and for the biggest Rootstech Conference ever!  5000 people have already registered to attend in person!  Tens of thousands more will surely be following on-line streaming of the sessions (50,000 did last year!).

I only have 2500 contact cards so only one out of every two physical attendees may get this momentous souvenir and keepsake for this phenomenal occasion of genealogy and innovative development colliding for the third consecutive year.


I only have 10 vendor ordered T-shirts and 3 homemade hats for swag so I made need some linebackers to keep from getting run over to figure out what firsts will qualify attendees to be the lucky very few recipients! ...and they came over the hill in droves!

     See y'all in the morning or tonight if you found out the good place to eat ;-D

5 Days to Rootstech!

WOW! - It is extremely exciting to be so close (and a bit panicky;-) to be attending my first Rootstech Conference and first ever visit to Salt Lake City.  I have only driven in eastern Utah so this should be a great adventure.

I have 2500 contact cards to provide folks attending which should cover half of the possibly 5,000 people attending.

There also will be an extremely limited number of Genedocs T-Shirts (XL only) randomly given to conference attendees in a pretty random sequence (shown below):


0.  First person to offer me a ride from the Crystal Inn Thursday 

1. First Person in the Salt Palace to greet me.

2. First Genealogy Blogger to meet me.

3. First Person to recognize me by face and greet me by name and title.

4.  First person to sit next to me at a Keynote address.

5.  First attendee to sit next to me in me first session (I'll be at the end of one table to avoid ties ;-D

6.+ To be determined later!

Keeping it short with so much to do and hoping to see you there.  

The Countdown - 5 Weeks to Rootstech 2013!

Late posting from about two weeks ago (sorry!)    

For the next five weeks I will probably be luck to post even any imagery since there is so much other stuff to keep busy with, but I will try:

National Archives Work - and applying for new position/promotion slots
DeVryMarketing Class - forth class from 2013 graduation!
Daily facebook template example postings
Rootstech prearations:
    1.  Design, Select, and Print NEW Conference Contact Cards - (TXGen Conference was a big help)
    2.  Design, order, Print Genedocs Conference T-Shirts (decide random selection process of who will
         be chosen to recieve these limited edition Genedocs Swag items!)
    3.  Mass print Genedocs trifold brochures and any other key material
    4.  Continue preparing some of the best Demo Power Point Presentations on earth! 
          - these will likely only be made available to attendees present - I may add a sequnce of screenshots 
            for the blog while attending too - we'll see what pans out!
    5.  Misc. other creative items if any time left

Enjoy!

200,000+ Completed Family Group Sheets by Surname!

(Preparing slowly for Rootstech and moving from finals of Marketing and on into Business Law course)

Every so often we find a great site to share and Bill Yates certainly has created one here with hundreds of thousands of client completed family groupsheets for affordable price and searchabel and purchasable by your SURNAMES in his catalog at this link: 

http://www.yates.montana.com/catalogue.html
Bill has hundreds of thousands of family group sheets from his clients (...yes completed in the best way they can) indexed by SURNAME at this site. You can simply use CTRL + F to search for your surnames and see what he has for your tree names!

     I shared the Genedocs Family Group Sheet idea with him via e-mail to get word out to his many many loyal clients who would love to have photographs on their sheets and not be limited to six to 10 people per sheet. His pricing seems very reasonable and you can send him your digital sheets to add to the index if your at a brick wall and need cousins to find your details. (Always mind the privacy of the living before you hit 'Send".

What a great idea Bill! It would be perfect if it were FREE, but there is clearly a good bit of organizational work involved;-)