Rootstech 2016

With rootstech over for 2015 and dozens of new members (surpassed the 2,700 member mark today) reveling in the offerings of the Genedocs Templates facebook page - my thoughts turn to the possibilities for ...

Rootstech 2015 days 2 and 3

Day 2 I was not privy to Live Streaming with so much to get done before the weekend began, but enjoyed all of my fellow Geneablogger and facebook friends posts of their experiences - ohh the rush rootstech give you when you are there in person - you can't sleep!  Too much excitement - too many new friends just as nuts about genealogy and technology as you are!  It is about as close to a heaven as we can produce for the family researcher and that is just dandy with me!

Saturday, I awoke early and chimed in just in time for the live stream with Shipley Munson to announce A.J. Abrahms (of "I'm a Cousin" fame) and later watched and listened to Donnie Osmond share his family life and perform some for us all.  Both did a great job and left so many memories just by blessing attendees with their heartfelt presence and various photo ops throughout the day.

The only problem with rootstech is that it is not every month, every week or every day!  They added a whopping 8,000 more attendees to this years event - that is as many registered adults as we totalled for the event two conferences ago!

21,000+ attendees in 2015
13,000+ attendees in 2014
7,000+ attendees in 2013 (my first adventure to SLC)
4,500+ attendees in 2012
3,000+ attendees in 2011

I expect Rootstech 2016 to easily surpass the 30,000 registered attendees mark and honestly think I should plan for an air mattress, pillows and sheets because that small city population definitely justifies a three night sleepover  if not also a nightly lock in!

Rootstech 2015 Day 1

Sure, I would have opened Rootstech a little differently today - perhaps running out on the stage claiming to have won the 500+ million dollar Powerball jumping and dancing to the podium before I revealed the truth that I actually won a bigger lottery, that each of us did - just to be here this very minute - alive and breathing on earth when so many billions of others are not - if that doesn't change your perspective to a more appreciative one, I don't know that you could change your view alone.

2015 Event Bag:

While managing to multitask at NARA today, I caught the first few hours of the opening of Rootstech via Live Streaming and everyone did a phenomenal job - I missed the first few minutes and don't know where Shipley Munson usual emcee was, but the whole thing went off without a hitch  From beginning to Tan Le drawing tears from many eyes in the crowd, it couldn't have gone much better!

Tonight I'll be trying to catch up whenever the rest of the shared streams are posted to enjoy.  Do I need to take a half day off tomorrow - definitely!

What Most Defines “You”?

 – credit to Lori Jelle for inspiring this meaningful tangent

During different periods of our lives, the answer to this simple sounding but actually quite complex question can seem to vary greatly.

In our youth we may be most defined by our studies, our sporting interests, our friendships, or deep familial bonds while the emphasis may shift among these and onward into our career and forming our own family, home, and personal legacy in this world as we age and mature.

A better way to word this question might be “What constant in your lifetime most defines ‘You’?”

Suddenly the answer jumps out like the brightness of a 1,000 watt bulb.  Nothing holds a candle to the influence of our family members and family history on just who we are and more importantly who we become.

Sadly, many people go through most of their entire lives either completely uninterested in learning more about their family and roots or, even worse, honestly believing it is something that isn’t interesting at all because of some unsuccessful initial attempt or attempts at learning more because they went about it in a completely ineffective way.

     In 1984, I couldn’t tell you the first thing about what the last name “JELLE” meant or where it even came from.

     In 1985, I could at least tell you this surname was from Norway and who brought it to America in our family and loosely how it was likely pronounced per passed

down tradition.

     In 1996, I could rattle off a wide array of vital statistics for all of the people with the JELLE name on records in both Minnehaha County, SD and Rock County, MN.

     In 1999, I could share the meaning of the name, how it originated from the Odda Community in Hardanger, Norway, describe the heraldry of Odda Crest, loosely detail how the family farm had records dating back to the 1600’s, list a cousin whose parents still lived on the farm, and show you a group portrait from 1887-1888 clearly showing my great grandfather, five of his seven siblings, and a spouse for nearly each of those siblings.

     In 2002, I could detail exactly what it takes to bring nearly 60 descendants of my 2^nd great grandparents in Odda, most of whom had never met one another, to a three day family reunion in the Sioux Falls, SD area.

     In 2010, I could attest to the amazing full capabilities of Microsoft Excel’s use for genealogy applications – something in 2005 I would have thought impossible because Excel was completely foreign software!

     In 2015, as the Founder of Genedocs an Archives Technician, I can explain how genealogy is a powerful daily influence in countless millions of peoples’ lives and a tremendous segment of a growing market to one of the largest interests on and off line.