Today RootsTech, the largest family history and genealogy conference in the world, kicked off with over 23,000 registered attendees gathering from all over the world to Salt Lake City, Utah. Attendees are from all 50 states in the United States and over 40 other countries. All of these people have come together to hear keynote speakers, attend classes offered in numerous tracks geared for everyone from just starting out beginners interested in genealogy and family history, to experts in the field. The conference is also attended by Entrepreneurs, Investors, and product developers all interested in playing in this multi-billion dollar industry.
Not only is there classes and speakers but the conference will have incredible entertainment at nights, a developer hackathon, a family day where teens and families get involved, and my personal favorite part of the conference – The Innovator Showdown!
Friday morning is the big Innovator Showdown where 50 competing companies have now been narrowed down to the six finalist companies which will face off on stage before a panel of five judges to pitch their tech companies that have each developed emerging technologies in family history and genealogy in hopes of getting a piece of the $100,000 being awarded. I will be one of the five judges on stage Friday (as will my good friend Dave Bradford) and I am excited to hear these final companies do their pitch! All of you can put in your votes as well on which company you like best. If you want to review the videos of the 6 finalist companies you can go to http://www.rootstech.org/showdown?lang=eng and see each of their info and put in your vote for your favorite.
For those reading this blog wishing they could be here for the conference, don’t fret – you can actually watch the conference being live streamed over the internet by going to http://www.rootstech.org/?lang=eng .
It’s going to be an amazing few days!!! I am a HUGE fan of family history and genealogy and the more I do it the more hooked I become. I love learning where I came from, who I am related to, and then reading about the lives of the incredible ancestors I have and the incredible lives they lived. I have learned more from reading their journals and histories than I would ever have imagined. It really helps you learn more about who you are as a person by understanding where and who you came from. Try it for yourself – its AMAZING!
~Amy
