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.