For the first time ever, the world’s largest family history conference, RootsTech, will be entirely virtual and completely free – and it’s truly global. By the time it started on Thursday morning (Australian time) over 500,000 people had registered, and they came from 236 countries. So it is truly global! The numbers are staggering.
So RootsTech Connect is well underway with day 1 done, and day 2 just starting.
You can watch the keynote speakers at RootsTech Connect live from 25-27 February 2021 (yes, I know I’m late posting this as it’s already half over – but that means there’s still half of it left!), so you can still view it online at rootstech.org. If you want to know what’s on when, here’s a link to a PDF you can download.
Over 1500+ presentations are available to watch,
FREE, for the next year!
For the 1500+ other presentations there is no schedule for when these are on, as they are simply available 24/7 for the next . So you can watch them whenever you choose. I suggest printing out the 18-page listing talks as that will help you find what’s on. You can find that here.
But remember how I said this was a global event … well, I wanted to highlight the Australian and New Zealand speakers and their talks that you can watch.
CAROL BAXTER
– Surname Slip-ups: Baffling beginnings
FIONA BROOKER
– Final resting place in New Zealand
– They came on boats: 19th and 20th century immigration to New Zealand
– Tracing ANZACs and their families
ELENA FALLA FOWLER
– Whakawhanaungatanga Using DNA, Part 1 of 3: It’s Complicated
– Whakawhanaungatanga Using DNA, Part 2 of 3: Family Tree DNA (FTDNA)
– Whakawhanaungatanga Using DNA, Part 3 of 3: Ancestry
HEATHER GARNSEY
– Down and out in New South Wales
ROBERT HAMILTON
– The search for Masonic records
SHAUNA HICKS
– Digging deeper into Australian archives
MICHAEL HIGGINS
– Learning from New Zealand passenger lists
– New Zealand probate files
JENNY JOYCE
– 10 things you are probably doing wring with your research
– Managing scanned and digital photos
JOY & ALLAN MURRIN
– Surprising discoveries in Australia births, deaths and marriages
MICHELLE PATIENT
– From convict stain to royalty
– A census substitute: Electoral rolls
– Following the gold rushes
DONNA RUTHERFORD
– DNA and the settlers of Taranaki, New Zealand
CATHIE SHERWOOD
– Ankle beaters and barkers: Exploring our ancestors’ occupations
– The 3P’s: Preparation, planning and progress
– Lost a Civil War soldier? He might be in Australia
SUSIE ZADA
– Heritage studies for family history research: Australia and worldwide
So what are you waiting for. head on over to rootstech.org, login with your FamilySearch login (or create one if you need to), watch the “Learn how to use the RootsTech site’ video which is on the homepage… then go and explore, adding session to your playlist, checking out the virtual expo hall and more.