On a day my cruise ship was in port I stayed on board and watched some of the live-streamed Rootstech sessions in solitary confinement in my cabin. Thankfully some of my Twitter pals were online and I was able to discuss those sessions with them. I just wish that I would have been able to watch more live sessions but once the ship left port there was no hope.
I was able to don my Rootstech tshirt and join with fellow cruisers to watch two recorded sessions that the Rootstech organisers had made available to Unlock the Past. The first session we watched was a very basic talk on organisation by a lady whose name escapes me, while there was nothing wrong with this talk it wasn't the sort of session that would encourage people to think that they should run out and book a flight to Rootstech 2015. The second video we watched was Judy Russell's keynote and that was superb. It got everyone who watched it on our genealogy cruise thinking and talking and was a perfect vehicle to showcase the Rootstech Conference.
Having missed this year's Rootstech I am determined that I will return in person in 2015 and to that end I have already booked my airfare to LAX for the first leg of my journey (one has to get in early to get an international fare from Australia on points).
This year I accepted the Rootstech organisers' invitation to be an Official Blogger for the event but, although I managed to fullfil my duties (except for the days I was at sea and internet access was very flaky) I found it difficult to become as enthused about Rootstech as I have been when I knew that I would be attending.
I do hope that I am able to be an Official Blogger in 2015 and have the opportunities that come along with the gig for those who attend in person. I just love being able to conduct video interviews with genealogy personalities in the Media Hub Fishbowl.
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| Interviewing Simon Orde in the Fishbowl at Rootstech 2013 |
Watching the videos just doesn't give you the 'vibe' that being there does.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to make it to Rootstech in 2015 too - would be good to have some Aussie friends to show us newbies around!
ReplyDeleteI have never attended in person. The live streaming this year was not as inspiring as previous years. The one exception would be Judy Russell. The key note speakers were good but I didn't watch all of the other speakers that were streamed.
ReplyDeleteI would have liked to see one of the discussion sessions as I believe this show how those "in the know" are reacting to the new technology. The discussion sessions help to make you think about what you do.