Roots Tech 2019 was an absolute blast this year. It had a whole different vibe with fewer complaints about lines and how to find things and well, just about anything I heard complaints about from last year was fixed. The Roots Tech f
Frenetic Pace
At the start of my adventure I was amped-up for an incredibly busy long weekend in Salt Lake City. The Expo Hall was open on Wednesday night from 6-8 and I flew in at 5.
The Booth was really an intensive “how to connect” to our great big ole shared tree with people this year. We had life-sized cardboard cut-outs of King Henry VIII and Elvis pelvis
of them! I got to do a demo-stage presentation on WikiTree and connections. W
Networking
We all networked, which makes Roots Tech a frenetic place for Professional Genealogists. Different breakfasts, lunches, coffee hours, cocktail hours and dinners were planned every single day. Every single minute was a meeting of some kind, whether it be with a booth visitor or with another Professional Genealogist or Freind.
WikiTree’s total membership grew by 343 since Wednesday. WikiTree Volunteers who never see each other or have never met got a chance to collaborate at the WikiTree booth. It was great fun AND exhausting. I heard that some of our Volunteers stayed up chatting to the wee hours of the morning. Me? My roommate and I were both east coasters and were asleep by the wee hours of the evening – every evening!
Grandma’s Genes
I spent a lot of time not promoting Grandma’s Genes, but just being Grandma’s Genes because that is who I am. Many of you came by the booth or stopped me in my wanderings to get selfie’s or a quick question or a wee chat or a hug. I also got some inspiration for a couple of future Grandma’s Genes Blogs. Thanks very much to everyone who suggested blogs or reminded me that I wanted to write about something. Loved seeing you!
mitoYDNA
I spent a lot of time not promoting mitoYDNA. But we did have a presence at Roots Tech. DNAGedcom and Genetic Family graciously let us have cards and information at their booth. Rob, Gale, Peter, Jamie and I suggested mitoYDNA to people who had questions about our work to provide a crowdsourced, free and accessible mitochondrial and YDNA database. Gale was a great promoter all weekend and had an opportunity to mentioned mitoYDNA in his lectures. Gale created a bit of a buzz as well as being a walking billboard.
If you missed the announcement, we have added two superstars to our team: Jonny Perl (DNA Painter) and Kevin Borland (Borland Genetics).
It’s exciting to see interest in mitoYDNA increase. We are just as excited as you are to move on to matching and beta testing. If you are interested in keeping up with mitoYDNA check out our mitoYDNA Facebook Users Group.
Doing DNA Right!
Flying with a Cello
On one of the flights home we had a delay in our flight by 30 minutes because of weather and another delay in forty minutes for a Cello. Yes a Cello. What?! You’ve never flown with your Cello?
Well, you can’t put your Cello into the baggage hold of an aircraft. You must purchase a seat for your Cello. You can’t just buckle your cello to the seat, the airline must cargo net your cello to your seat. The cargo netting is installed by removing all surrounding passengers, then an airline baggage specialist crawls all over all the area seats to get the cargo net applied correctly. Fascinating.
I would have taken a picture, but I didn’t want to get mobbed for being insensitive. Not sure I would have gotten away with
Roots Tech London
Apparently, I will be hoping the pond again in October of this year to be at Roots Tech London! How about that! Can’t wait.
I’m sure you were the only person who resisted the urge to film the cello netting. And that wasn’t the only surprise from your post, even though I was at RT with you! (Like working with Jonny Perl.) Now go put your feet up!
Jonny is just…just…great. We are so glad he is helping with mitoYDNA. Next time I will have the camera out for the cello wrangling!
The whole post was great, but you really had me at “buckle your cello to the seat.” lol
LOL the Cello had me too – obviously!
What a fun post. Thanks. The cello story was fun. I’m just glad my plan waited for us on the return trip from Houston. We deplaned and I was left without anyone to push me, in my wheelchair, from my gate to the next one. There was no way in this life I would have made it while having my suitcase on my lap.
Yet, someone who didn’t work for the airlines did push me from my gate at the very end of one cue to another that was an insanely long hike away. Even though there were those ‘fast walking’ floor escalators, she was so winded. I don’t remember her name or her face. She was an angel willing to help and the plane was waiting on me to get there. Hubby was at the next gate trying to get them to hold the plane but needing to stay there to ensure they did. I think I like the cello story better. At least it’s funny.
Oh Devon! What a great team you had – Hubby holding and an unknown guardian angel pushing you! Glad you had that team to make your traveling easy. I wish for you a cello next flight!
Sounds like a great time at RootsTech. I’m hoping to attend again next year. I’ve never seen a cello “buckled” into its airline seat before. Thanks for explaining how that’s done. Very interesting!
Hey Jana! I was wondering where you were! I will be seeing you soon, though I hope?
I wish I could’ve made it to Roots Tech. It sounds like you made the most of of the time you had, and enjoyed every minute of it! Also, just like everyone else, I loved the cello story!