Your Own Virtual Exhibit Hall: My RootsTech Recreation

The RootsTech Exhibit Hall had something for everyone, genealogists AND techies.   For your benefit, I’ve created a virtual exhibit hall.  Since it never closes, you may walk this hall in your pajamas!  (These are the companies that had a presence at the exhibit hall.  Obviously there are other companies doing similar things, but I wanted to bring you the RootsTech experience.)

There’s lots to do in this exhibit hall:

Enter a drawing!  RootsMagic didn’t want you to be left out, so they are giving away an IPad and some other prizes in an online drawing.  You have to hurry, however, because the deadline for entering is midnight MST on Wednesday Feb. 8.  The little online treasure hunt to get your name in the drawing will only take you a few minutes.  It is SO worth it!  You can enter the drawing by going to RootsMagic.com/treasure.

Publish your family history:

• Express Book Machine at BYU – to print and bind books from your own files.
• Stories To Tell.  I attended two classes taught by Nancy Barnes. Barnes knows how to turn a raw document into a book, from editing, to book design, to printing and publishing.  See my earlier posts “RootsTech Review 2012: Day Two,” and “Fun, Fun, Fun, ‘Til RootsTech Took the Conference Away: Day Three.” 

Record your family members and their stories:

• Legacy Stories
• LifeStory Productions
• StoryKeep

Organize research logs, reports, and electronic documents through ResearchTies.  This product created by Jill Crandall is being created.  Sign up to get in on the beta test.  ResearchTies promises to be just the tool we need to bring all our research together in one place.

Upload your own historical documents for storage and sharing at Mocavo.

Record your personal journey with LifeVenture.me.

Organize your research puzzle and spot missing pieces with Sort Your Story.

Turn your family history database into an Internet friendly website with The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding software.  You will still need to place that website with an Internet host.  (I’ll be writing more about this product when I’m done testing it).

Download trial versions of software to store your family history database.

• Ancestral Quest
• Family Tree Maker (linked on my sidebar).
• Legacy Family Tree
• RootsMagic

Put your family tree online to collaborate with others and access it from any Internet device.

• AGES-Online – Your “internet family tree builder.”
• AncestorSync – to sync your family tree across multiple computers and online
• Ancestry.com (linked on my sidebar)
• Archives.com
• Geni.com
• My Heritage – Family Tree Builder
• WikiTree – Touted by Randy Seaver as he “easiest to use collaborative family tree currently available

Join the U.S. Census Community Project.  Sign up to help index the 1940 U.S. census.  There’s even a mobile app for that!  When the census launches on April 2, 2012, it will be available for free on Archives.com in partnership with FamilySearch.

Track your family through the census years with the MagiCensus.

Learn about DNA connections:

• Family Tree DNA
• GeneTree.

Collaborate with others with Sharing Time, or create an online descendancy tree through Progeny Link.

Listen to  Genealogy Gems podcasts by Lisa Louise Cooke, or order her new book, How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers.

Discover the companies who are regularly putting up new records online.

• AmericanAncestors (sponsored by the New England Historic Genealogical Society).
• Ancestry (link on my sidebar)
• Archives.com.  – “Family history made simple and affordable.”  Get a free seven day trial at Archives.com.
• FamilySearch
• Fold3 – especially for military records (link on my sidebar).
• GenealogyBank – especially for newspapers (link on my sidebar)
• WorldVitalRecords (link on my sidebar)

Learn about certification and/or accreditation.

• Board for Certification of Genealogists – certification
• ICAPGen – accreditation

Advance your professional genealogy business or find someone to pull a record for you.

• Association of Professional Genealogists
• Genealogy Freelancers
• Genlighten
• 24-7genealogist.com

Discover the Flip Pal, an easy to use handheld scanner.  It is your “go with you” scanner, even accepted for use in the National Archives.  (link on my sidebar).

Digitize your photos, slides, and home movies with TMC The Multi Media Centers.

Search for a book about … (you fill in the blank):

• Crash Course in Family History – a book by Paul Larsen
• Family Roots Publishing
• Maia’s Books

Professionally print family tree charts.

• Family Chartmasters
• Genealogy Wall Charts

Use Genealogy Presentations to help you organize and prepare a Power Point presentation about your family.

Plan your hotel stay for the next time come to Salt Lake for research.

• Crystal Inn Hotel
• Salt Lake Plaza Hotel

Discover a home study genealogy course to enhance your knowledge.

• Heritage Genealogical College
• The National Institute of Genealogical Studies (affiliated with Continuing Education, University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto.   Students may earn certificates in the various studies, but this is not to be confused with certification form the Board for Certification.
• National Genealogical Society has both online and home study courses.

Learn about sources to help search for ancestors in the British Isles.

• Ancestor Network Limited – for Irish Family History Research.
• Ancestry.com has a UK collection.
• Britesolid is the umbrella company for FindMyPast, The British Newspaper Archive, ScotlandsPeople, GenesReunited, and CensusRecords.com.  Britesolid is expanding their operations to the U.S. and will be offering census records on a pay-per-view basis.

Research, date, and preserve family photos with PhotoTree.com.

Look for online tombstones or create memorials.

• Billion Graves
• Memory Medallion
• Names in Stone
• QR Memorials

Discover a system to help you get organized:  AboutOne has created “the fast, easy way to organize your busy life” through living journals, multimedia organization, mobile access, digital histories shared through newsletters, etc.

Join a genealogical society:

• Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
• National Genealogical Society
• New England Historic Genealogical Society
• Utah Genealogical Association

Pick your next genealogy conference:

• Utah Genealogical Association will host the South Davis Family History Fair, March 3, 2012, at Bountiful, UT High School.
• National Genealogical Society annual conference, “The Ohio River: Gateway to the Western Frontier,” May 9-12, 2012, at Cincinnati, Ohio
• Southern California Genealogical Society and Family Research Library will host the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, June 8-10, 2012, at Burbank, California.
• BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy, July 31-August 3, 2012, at Provo, Utah.
• Federation of Genealogical Societies annual conference, “Indians, Squatters, Settlers and Soldiers in the ‘Old Southwest,” August 29-Sept 1, 2012, at Birmingham, Alabama.
• RootsTech, March 21-23, 2013, at Salt Lake City, Utah.

There was a Microsoft Playground with table games, etc.  Not sure how to recreate that experience for you here.  I guess if you had a Wii or XBox you could pretend you’re at RootsTech while playing it.  I’m also sorry I can’t bring you the many door prizes and the chocolate candy that vendors used to entice people stop at their booth.

Feel free to come back and visit this exhibit hall anytime.  If you’re still not ready to head to bed, you may want to catch one of the lecture presentations that were captured live (soon to be available), and download the syllabus, all at RootsTech.org.

Disclaimer: Please note that the above mentions for the exhibit hall does not mean I have investigated and endorse the products or companies.  However, many of the links on my sidebar are affiliated links.  When a purchase is made through one of those links, I receive a small compensation.