Among the many emails I receive daily was one recently which spoke of the value of passing on family recipes. The article went on to mention the resounding keynote address Steve Rockwood, CEO of FamilySearch, gave at RootsTech 2017 on his memories and, importance of passing on these family recipes. I was in the audience to hear the warmth and excitement burst forth, taking me back to my own treasured family recipes and traditions.

Steve Rockwood

I have been fortunate to have collected several recipe books over the years from aunts and grandmothers and cannot think of a better way to honour those ancestors than to write up some of their recipes for the wider family to enjoy through the blogging medium.

RootsTech 2017 was the first time I had attended the annual conference in Salt Lake City. I was blown away by the variety and value of talks presented at such a large conference. Throughout the 3-day event a genuine feeling of good will and rapport was had and for many, myself included, long term friendships were made.

The only drawback – as a physical conference, the audience was limited to those who chose to travel to Salt Lake City from the far reaches of the world.

Of course, this all changed in 2021 when RootsTech went online for the first time due to the raging Covid pandemic. Covid may have been the reason for the change but for the wider worldwide genealogy community, RootsTech going online, free to all, was a Bright Shiny Star in an otherwise dismal year.

The keynotes were just as good, as was the quality and variety of the presentations. And the added bonus: everything was recorded and made available to watch for the remainder of the year. No more worrying about how to attend two presentations at the same time or missing a vital talk while racing around the Exhibition Hall. I could sit back and enjoy the whole experience from the comfort of my home – at my leisure.

The attendance figures speak for themselves: from nearly 30,000 people physically attending in 2020 to over one million attendees registered from more than 235 countries in 2021!

It is easy to say that Covid restrictions have been a nightmare for all of us with lockdowns and government health regulations changing by the day. But due to these restrictions it has also been a game changer, forcing us to go about our lives different from the norm. Wouldn’t you have loved to have had shares in Zoom pre-Covid?

As we welcome in a new year, registrations are open to Discover Your Story at RootsTech Connect 2022.

“With thousands of classes, inspiring speakers, meaningful activities and joyful connections, RootsTech brings the human family together like no other event.”