Interview with the Big Boss at Rootstech

I was blown away when an invitation to interview Jen Allen, Director of Events for Familysearch appeared in my email box last week. I hear that just five Rootstech supporters from around the world were offered such an opportunity.

I was incredibly nervous when I logged onto zoom and chatted with Andrew Parker from Rootstech prior to Jen's arrival. The good news was that I had a good connection from Narrabri in country, New South Wales to Jen in Salt Lake City, Utah. That the technology was cooperating was a good omen.

Immediately she came online Jen made me feel comfortable before Andrew hit the Record button for us. We had what I hope sounded like a conversation rather than a formal interview. Jen with her bright and bubbly personality certainly made my job so easy. She graciously answered all the points I raised and I went away extremely satisfied and more knowledgeable about Rootstech 2022 and future Familysearch events.

Andrew promptly sent me the interview recording via WeTransfer (what a nifty free tool). On reviewing the video I realise that I forgot to formally introduce Jen, oops. I also spent a bit of time looking down at my list of dot points to cover (I don't prepare formal questions). On the whole I am quite pleased with the result and send my sincere thanks to Jen and the folk at Familysearch for the invitation. 

If you'd like to see what we had to say you can watch the video below.

Aussies at Rootstech London

One of the Rootstech Organisers told me there were 50+ Australians registered for Rootstech London while another told me there were 60. I think I managed to hook up with about 40 of them prior to or at the event. I was told that the Australians were the second largest group of overseas registrants after genies from the USA at the event.

Some of the Aussies at Rootstech gathered for a photo

Whatever the number it was a vast improvement on the the numbers that travel to Salt Lake City each year for the annual Rootstech conference there. In my interviews and chats with the Australians in London all agreed that for the many Australians who have British, Irish and European ancestry London is a more attractive venue because it can be combined with visits to ancestral cities and towns and associated national, regional and local archives.

Cathie Sherwood, Kerry Farmer and Brad Argent represented Australia on the Rootstech London program while Fran Kitto, Sharn White, Jenny Joyce and I  acted as Ambassadors. We Ambassadors were very busy tweeting throughout the event. I also posted quite a few photos of the event on my Facebook Page here.

Prior to the event we had an active Facebook Group with lots of discussion and friendly advice being shared. We organised meetups in Sydney and London prior to the event so that we would all know some familiar faces when we got tothe Excel Centre for Rootstech London. All members of that group met new genies who became their genimates. I was especially pleased that my third cousin Regina, whom I had only met on one previous occasion was at the event. Having a fellow descendant of our convict Elizabeth Phipps from London with me there was very special.

Cousin Regina and I

I managed to interview a few Australian genies while at Rootstech London. I just wish I would have had time to chat with more. If you are considering a visit to Rootstech if it is staged again in London  then listen to what these genies had to say in our interviews and as Fran Kitto said "Start saving your pennies".

Frugal Genealogy

Way back in March I was interviewed at  Rootstech  by Andy from Family History Fanatics. Andy Lee and his wife Devon had done their homework prior to interviewing me as they had discovered that the week after Rootstech I would be back in Australia presenting at Congress, The  15th Australasian Congress on Genealogy and Heraldry. They knew that one of my topics would be "Managing Frugally:Free Tools for Genies and Family History Groups" so when they interviewed me they focussed on frugality.

Andy conducted quite a few interviews at Rootstech which Family History Fanatics are posting on their Youtube Channel progressively throughout the year. This week it was my turn. Thanks Andy and team for giving me a chance to chat with you.

Perhaps my fellow genies may gather a few tips from our chat.

Too busy to blog!

I just haven't had time to sit down and blog while at Rootstech. It happens every year.

It has dawned on me that the easiest way to communicate with the greatest number of people at the event and share what they have to say with you while I am there is to get out and about and record some interviews on my phone. So that is what I have been doing.

I have cut off a few heads, had some dodgy sound bites and lost my train of thought in some of the clips. By and large I think that sharing rather than regurgitating in a blog post, the words of my interviewees, gives you a more authentic experience....and it saves me having to type!!!

Some of my interviews have been shared on various social media channels but I am likely to have forgotten to share some. If you head over to my GeniAus at Rootstech playlist on Youtube you can see all the conversations I had with an amazing array of geneafolk.

Thankyou to the team at Familysearch and Rootstech who keep inviting me to return as an Ambassador to Rootstech, the greatest geneashow on earth.

Humans of New York

I enjoyed the livestream of this morning's keynote with Brandon Stanton from Humans of New York from the comfort of my hotel room. Once that was over I grabbed my gear and made for the Media Hub in the Expo Hall at Rootstech because had I an interview with Brandon. Here is what he said.

A DNA kind of day

It's been a DNA kind of day for GeniAus at Rootstech.

I slept in to nurse my cold so missed the first session I had hoped to attend this morning but I hear that the queue was really long and that I may not have got a seat anyway.

For the second session of the day I listened to Paul Woodbury's talk How close are we really? Evaluating shared DNA. This session was billed as a Beginner session but I am sure that Paul lost many DNA newbies as he packed so much information into his talk. I was pleased that I went as I have a reasonable understanding of the things Paul was discussing. I really liked some of his analogies and the way he explained various aspects of DNA but think the talk should have had an Intermediate label.

The next talk I attended, The Emotional side of DNA testing, was from the vivacious and effervescent Bernice Bennett. While I was waiting for the talk to commence I recorded a quick DNA story from the gentleman sitting beside me.

In her presentation Bernice discussed the various emotions we who undergo DNA tests for various reasons experience before and after we get our results and then as we start to communicate with our matches. Bernice offered advice on the best way to approach our matches.

Bernice Bennett at the podium

After a comprehensive talk Bernice invited members of the audience to join her and tell their DNA stories. Now I am a hard nut to crack but I found myself tearing up as these folk came forward and shared the stories and the emotions they experienced as the results of their DNA tests were revealed. This was a spinetingling, tearjerker of a session.

Next on my program was Introduction to Chromosome Mapping with Tim Janzen. It was obvious that Dr Janzen knew his topic intimately and he was generous in providing a URL to his large powerpoint slide. Unfortunately I did not gain much from this presentation.

DNA figured largely in the 4:00pm General Session. I was intrigued when I heard Hannah Morden, Marketing Director, from Living DNA speak as she had a distinctive Aussie accent.

The Living DNA team 

Jill with Hannah Morden

Later in the evening I was able to interview Hannah and discovered that she, like me, was a native of Sydney and a fellow proud Australian.

The Snowy Day

In Ezra Jack Keats picture book "The Snowy Day"  that I read many times to my children, the main character, Peter, goes outside to enjoy the delights of new fallen snow.

Today I find myself preparing for the Rootstech Conference in Salt Lake City where the snow has been falling steadily all day. When I announced on Facebook that I was going to stay in my hotel room all day one of my genimates commented "The hotel? When you could go to the Family History Library?"

Well I'm not Peter so I have stayed indoors and passed on the opportunities to play in the snow. Hopefully the weather will improve and I can visit the library tomorrow or next week. Thankfully I don't have many items on my lookup list this year.

From the hotel window

So what have I been playing at?

I have set up my calendar for the next week. I have dinners arranged for Saturday- Tuesday with various groups of genimates. I am interviewing some of the keynote speakers at Rootstech so I have done a bit of homework on them so that I don't appear like a complete ignoramus. So far I am interviewing the CEO of Familysearch, the CEO of Ancestry.com, Keynotes Scott Hamilton and Henry Louis Gates, some bods from Findmyast and Living DNA and CeCe Moore.   I'm also hoping to catch author Nathan Dylan Godwin and  DNA Painter hero Jonny Perl. 

I have written a couple of welcome posts for new members of the GeneabloggersTRIBE, filled out a survey (you can do it too) for the Rootstech people and responded to many social media messages.

I searched Amazon for the Whitelines notebook that my clever Genimate Shelley wrote about in her recent post and ordered one to try out at the conference.

Now I am going to indulge in some me research time and take a look at my hints on Ancestry.com. I don't accept these on face value. If they are from user submitted trees I don't pay much attention to them but if they relate to documents I look at them carefully, evaluate them and if they are a match that adds value to my tree I add the details to my own Family Historian database as well as my Ancestry tree. 

Perhaps I'll have some startling discoveries to share in the coming days.

I am pleased to have had a Snowy Day that has allowed me to indulge my geneaself. 

That's ice outside my wondow

Mr Familysearch - Steve Rockwood

I note that one of the keynote speakers at Rootstech in 2018 is Steve Rockwood.

Dennis Brimhall and Jill 2012

I would guess that nearly all of my genimates use the resources of Familysearch but they probably wouldn't recognise the name of the man at the helm, Steve Rockwood or of his predecessors Jay Verkler and Dennis Brimhall.

One of the perks of being a Rootstech Ambassador is that I get to interview some of the stars who attend the annual Rootstech Conference. There are pop stars, sporting stars, tech stars, people with a strong social conscience and geneastars. I have been fortunate to conduct personal interviews with all three of the Familysearch CEOs since the first Rootstech in 2011,  Steve Rockwood and his predecessors Jay Verkler and Dennis Brimhall. That's a pretty big deal for a little old granny from downunder.

Jay Verkler and Jill - 2011

What has impressed me is that, although these three very tall individuals have brought different emphases to Familysearch during their time at the top, they are genuine nice guys who are passionate about family history and their mission as the Familysearch CEO. Although they have been super busy they have been most gracious in spending time chatting with me.

Steve Rockwood suggests that when people engage with genealogy they experience feelings “They’re feelings of the heart. I don’t care where you are; people tell you what feelings they felt. . . . They’ll tell you, ‘I feel love; I feel joy; I feel peace.’ These are powerful, core feelings that everyone has.”

If you use Familysearch and don't know Steve Rockwood please take the time to get to know him in this interview I recorded  at Rootstech 2017.

101 Reasons to Attend #congress_2018 - Bernhardt

Bernhard Doppelganger, the Mascot for Congress, is an interesting but elusive chap who has featured in a few Congress videos.

I was lucky to meet Bernhard in person when he visited Rootstech earlier this year. You can see Bernhard in the video below.



If you keep your eyes peeled at Congress you may also meet Bernhard.

Meet Dirk

Many of you may not have previously heard of Dirk Weissleder, the German Genealogist who is featuring in  Researching Abroad: Finding British Isles and European Ancestors, a series of Unlock the Past events in Sydney in August.

I have had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with Dirk at several Rootstech conferences. This year I was fortunate to snag an interview in the video studio with Dirk. Dirk's enthusiasm and passion are evident in the interview. If you attend a Roadshow event you will have a chance to hear Dirk present several sessions.

Hoarse and Happy

Sunday 12 February 2017, Salt Lake City.

Rootstech is a health hazard. By the end of the week of Rootstech activities in Salt Lake City I find my voice becomes huskier as I do so much talking. The dry atmosphere in Salt Lake City causes my nose to bleed, the cold wind makes my eyes water and the elevation (for this person who lives at sea level) causes me to huff and puff up small inclines.....but I can live with those small inconveniences.

Rootstech provides me with an opportunity to get out of my geneacave and meet old and new friends in the flesh, One of my favourite activities during the conference is one of the Ambassador perks. We Ambassadors are given an opportunity to interview fellow Rootstechies in a professionally staffed fishbowl of a video studio in the Media Hub in the Expo Hall at the event.  Although we are initially only given two slots we can sometimes wangle more. I was thrilled to be able to interview seven people (including a couple of big fish) in the studio.

Some of the staff at work in the Fishbowl

I have already posted five of my interviews to my Youtube Channel and will follow up with my interviews with Bernhard Doppelganger and Dirk Weissleder when the videos are processed.

Here are direct links to those already posted:

Amy Archibald, Rootstech Ambassador

Myko Clelland, FindMyPast

Diane Loosle, Director Family History Library, Salt Lake City

Steve Rockwood, CEO, Familysearch International

Ron Tanner, Product Manager, Familysearch

Interviewing Ron Tanner in the Fishbowl

Interview Overload

One of the things I love about Rootstech is the opportunity it creates for me to interview those involved in the genealogy world from ordinary people like me to leaders in the industry.

GeniAus and Jen Allen

It will take me several days to share the details of the interviews but I would like to thank the team in the media hub for creating opportunities for me to interview these people today.

• The Scott Brothers
• Jen Allen - Manager of Rootstech
• Myko Clelland - FindMyPast
• Steve Rockwood - CEO, Familysearch
• Kenyatta Berry - Genealogist
• Amy Archibald - Genealogist
• Kendall Hulet - Ancestry.com
• Ron Tanner - Familysearch

and to top that off I was interviewed by a team from Rootstech.

I'm a little hoarse tonight.

Kenyatta Berry

Kendall Hulet

Ambassador Perk

One thing I love about being a Rootstech Ambassador (or Official Blogger) is the opportunity I am given to conduct interviews in the video studio in the media hub. At the very first Rootstech back in 2011 I was too shy to take up the offer but once I was blooded at the second Rootstech in 2012 I was hooked.

In earlier years when there were fewer Ambassadors/Bloggers there were many opportunities to avail oneself of this perk but these days it is harder to gain access. I am delighted that, this year, I have four slots in the video studio. I will be interviewing Ron Tanner from Familysearch, Myko Clelland from FindMyPast,  Steve Rockwood CEO of Familysearch and Canadian Genealogist and software developer Louis Kessler who is an Innovator Summit Semi-finalist. I will upload the videos here and to my Youtube Channel as soon as I can. 

In the meantime you can view my video interviews from earlier years via this link.

Here is my interview with keynote, David Pogue in 2013.

Sharn's FindMyPast Interview

Sharn White, a fellow Rootstech Ambassador, invited me to join her in her interview with Ben Bennet from FindMyPast in the Rootstech Video Studio.

As Sharn is still flitting about visiting family in the US she gave me permission to upload the video to Youtube and share it around on social media.  THANKYOU, Sharn.

Thanks also to Ben Bennet, whom I first met at Rootstech several years ago when he was part of the Familysearch organisation.

Judy's Next Adventure

Unavoidable circumstances at Rootstech 2015 got in the way of my planned interview with Judy G Russell, The Legal Genealogist. Judy, a very gracious lady, offered to do an interview with me at a later date. I chose Rootstech 2016 and conducted the interview earlier this week.

Judy, who is one of the best known genealogists in the United States is heading downunder shortly to speak on a genealogy cruise, undertake a lecture tour and explore our beautiful area.

I invited fellow Rootstech Ambassador, Sharn White, to join me in the interview with Judy. Our only disappointment was that we were only given eight minutes to chat. Fortunately during the conference we had several other opportunities to speak with Judy. People in Australia and New Zealand will have a chance to hear Judy speak in several major cities.

This video should whet your appetite.

That's Kirsty not Kristy

As a Rootstech Ambassador I have a chance to interview attendees at the event. I got to chat with Kirsty Gray from Wiltshire on Thursday.

Young Aussie at Rootstech

I was thrilled to see young Australian, Tas, who travelled to Rootstech last year in this promotional video for Rootstech 2016.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Tas at Rootstech 2015 and was so impressed by this confident Sydney school student. You can see what he had to say (a little more) than on the Rootstech clip here:

Find out more about Rootstech 2016 here.

AFFHO Congress Presenter Interview - Paul Milner

When is an interview not an interview? Perhaps when you are having a pleasant day out with friends.

Mr GeniAus and I had a Pre-Congress Social Day out with AFFHO Congress presenter,  Paul Milner and his wife Carol Becker yesterday.

We tried to not to talk about genealogy etc because our spouses (who don't admit to being genies) were along for the ride to the beautiful Blue Mountains. At times, during our 11 hours together the conversation did turn to geneachat and Paul kindly responded to my questions.

Paul indicated that he loves Australia and was thrilled to have an opportunity to be able to address a new audience at our national event. Paul has plenty to share, he is not having difficulty with what to share in his sessions but in what to delete from his talks so that he can adhere to the 45 minute session time limit at Congress. I have heard Paul speak on a previous Australian tour and an Unlock the Past Cruise and can attest that he has lots of knowledge to share. Paul's presentations are packed with information and he is an excellent presenter, he will be giving 5 talks at Congress so do try to get along to hear one or two.

Paul, as a conference attendee, is pleased that he will have an opportunity to hear presenters from the UK and local speakers that he does not have an opportunity to hear in the United States. Paul, like many Americans, also has ancestor ties to Australia and feels a areal affinity with our country.

Paul was pleased to tell me that local publisher, Unlock the Past, have published several of his books and that they will be on sale from the Unlock the Past booth at Congress. I'm sure Paul will be happy to sign any of his titles that you purchase there.

Paul and Carol have allowed themselves time to explore NSW before and after Congress and are looking for advice on places to visit particularly in and around Canberra, The Snowy and the South Coast so if you know of some local hidden gems please do find Paul during Congress.

Our first stop Blaxland Riverside Park was a huge success, Carol had read about it in a landscaping magazine and was keen for a visit.  Thankfully the weather there was just overcast.

Blaxland Riverside Park

We had a fun but frustrating day when we reached our destination, the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney, the weather just wasn't cooperating.At Echo Point The Three Sisters and the Jamison Valley were shrouded in obliterated by mist, Paul and Carol bought a postcard so they would know what they should have seen.

The Three Sisters came out for a few minutes to greet Carol and Paul

While at Echo Point Carol was excited to a Banksia and I was pleased to see the Road Builders' Memorial that I misssed on my last visit.

Blue Mountains Banksia

Road Builders Memorial

After our lunch break at the Paragon in Katoomba which was a hit my hardy co-travellers managed a walk to the Leura Cascades with its beautiful display of ferns. Our drive home was punctuated by a yummy dinner at The Red Spoon at Top Ryde.

A Room at The Paragon, Katoomba

While Paul and I enjoy Congress I think that Mr GeniAus and Carol are going to fit in some sightseeing - I do hope the weather is kind to them.

Back to 2013

One of the PR people at Familysearch contacted me yesterday about posting my 2015 Rootstech interviews on the Familysearch blog.

He referred me back to the post they did on my 2013 Rootstech interviews. I managed to get more time in the recording studio in 2013 than I did this year and was lucky enough to snag Familysearch CEO Dennis Brimhall, Keynote speaker David Pogue and some notable Aussies, Brits and Americans.

I think these interviews are worth revisiting and I hope you do too.You can see that post and videos here on The Familysearch Blog.

I am definitely going to try for more time in the video studio in 2016. I really enjoy chatting with this diverse range of people (and the video quality is so much better than in my Hangouts on Air).

The In-Depth Genealogy Girls

I note that Terri, Jennifer and Shannon describe their company In-Depth Genealogy as "a woman owned publishing company" but, at my advanced age, they look like girls to me.

I already knew them online but I met this trio of successful, intelligent and personable women at a casual pre-Rootstech lunch organised by Our Friend in Genealogy, DearMYRTLE  in Salt Lake City. Having chatted with them over lunch I knew that they would be excellent candidates for one of my video interviews at Rootstech, I am thrilled they accepted my invitation. I am so sorry that we were only allocated a short slot to chat with the girls as I had many more questions to ask.

Our interview (L-R) Terri, Jennifer, Shannon, Jill