Found on the phone

Before I recently upgraded my phone I downloaded all the old images and videos from the old one. Amongst the treasures I found were a few very amateurish videos I shot during the interview opportunities we Ambassadors had with the keynote speakers during Rootstech in 2017.

This video is a bit shaky as I was swooning (with some of my fellow ambassadors) during the time we had with the Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott. Take a look at the clip below to see what fun we had.

As there will be no fancy video studio available for Ambassadors at Rootstech in 2018 my videos for this year may be similarly shaky.

Rootstech Day 1

Someone who read the thoughts on keynote speakers that I posted yesterday asked me how would I rate the Scott Brothers' performance at Rootstech today. 

We spied the twins being interviewed backstage

I must say up front that I am a huge fan of  Drew and Jonathan Scott (also known as the Property Brothers) so any evaluation I make could be positively biased.

Waiting for the show to begin

I was impressed with the way Rootstech started with funny man and impressionist Jason warming up the crowd for the 15 minutes prior to going live. He had us in in a relaxed and receptive mood for the appearance of Familysearch CEO, Steve Rockwood (who I managed to interview later in the day).  Steve had a difficult gig but did an admirable job welcoming us and sharing news about Familysearch as many in the audience were waiting for the main event with the Scott twins. 

Familysearch CEO, Steve Rockwood takes the stage

I wrote that I expect keynotes to do more than one of these things: Inspire, Challenge, Educate, Engage, Entertain and Inform. 

The brothers gave an excellent performance which was engaging and entertaining and which delivered information about their life, work and family - this fan was mesmerised. To top that off the boys were energetic and enthusiastic and very easy on the eye. I felt as if they were addressing me not 12,000 people in the audience and another 100,000 via live streaming. The boys did speak a bit fast for this fan who wanted to hang on their every word but I can take that.

20 rows back it was hard to get clear shots of the boys on that huge stage

After the session I was able to take part in a shared interview with the brothers. We were not able to have individual photos taken with them but I managed a selfie. We should have a group photo in the coming days.

My selfie with the boys

Over the seven years of Rootstech we have seen some excellent keynote presentations, today's did not disappoint. It put me in an excellent frame of mind for the remainder of an interesting and exciting day.