RootsTech is a conference (8-11 February) that combines technology and genealogy. Now it its seventh year it has highlighted many technological advancements, program changes, new applications for tablets and phones that can be used for genealogy, many classes teaching people how to use technology in their genealogy from using Google Earth to better scanning methods to DNA analysis to using Scrivener, Evernote, Excel and so much more.

It is held in Salt Lake City, the genealogical mecca that has the Family History Library (which has also gone through changes with many more computers installed) as more of the microfilms and books are being digitised.

Not everyone can attend in person but RootsTech have set up a Live stream of some of the lectures that you can access from home. Certainly they are being held at USA Mountain Time which is currently 17 hours behind Queensland but have a look at the LiveStream program and some may fall within a suitable broadcast time.

If you can’t bear the early hour, don’t despair as the LiveStreams will be recorded and in about a month or so usually, will be available to watch at a more reasonable hour.

They are LiveStreaming 17 of the sessions including the Keynotes including Jonathan and Drew Scott of HGTV’s Property Brothers, Star Trek’s Levar Burton, The Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro, and the Genetic Genealogist, CeCe Moore, Liz Wiseman, and Steve Rockwood.

You can watch at RootsTech.org. No registration is required to view the live streams.

Over 25,000 people attended over the four days of Rootstech last year and a further 100 000 people plus watched the LiveStreams or have later watched the recorded LiveStream sessions.

You can download the RootsTech app at iTunes GooglePlay etc and find out more about the speakers and their talks.

The schedule is at https://www.rootstech.org/live-stream-schedule and I have given it below. (Check in case of changes)

Note: All times are in US Mountain Standard Time (MST) (17 hours behind Brisbane)

Wednesday

9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m. | Innovator Summit General Session
Speakers: Steve Rockwood, Liz Wiseman

10:15 a.m.–11:15 a.m. | Industry Trends and Outlook
Speakers: Craig Bott and Guest Panel

11:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. | Innovation—Best Practices and Applications
Speaker: Cydni Tetro

Thursday

8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | RootsTech General Session
Speakers: Steve Rockwood, Jonathan and Drew Scott

11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. | Getting Started in Genealogy
Speaker: Kelli Bergheimer

12:15 p.m.–1:15 p.m. | DNA: The Glue That Holds Families Together
Speaker: Diahan Southard

1:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | DNA Matching on MyHeritage
Speaker: Dana Drutman

3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. | Jewish Genealogy: Where to Look and What’s Available
Speaker: Lara Diamond

4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. | Family History Is Anything but Boring
Speakers: Crystal Farish and Rhonna Farrer

Friday

8:30 a.m.–10:00 a.m. | RootsTech General Session
Speakers: Levar Burton, Special Guest Panel

10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m. | RootsTech Innovator Showdown Finals

12:15 p.m.–1:15 p.m. | Mothers, Daughters, Wives: tracing Female Lines
Speaker: Judy Russell

1:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | Censational Census Strategies
Speaker: Mary Kircher Roddy

3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. | Big 4: Comparing Ancestry, findmypast, FamilySearch, and MyHeritage
Speaker: Sunny Morton

4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. | Cross the Atlantic with Religious Records
Speaker: Jen Baldwin

Saturday

8:30 a.m.–10:00 a.m. | RootsTech General Session
Speakers: Cece Moore, Buddy Valastro

11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. | Journaling Principles That Work
Speaker: Steve Reed

1:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | Don’t Just Be a Searcher, Be a Researcher
Speaker: Crista Cowan

3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. | Creating Google Alerts for Your Genealogy
Speaker: Katherine R. Wilson