SALT LAKE CITY—RootsTech 2026 brought people “together” in their family history journey both in-person and online. The in-person conference was March 5-7 and attracted thousands of people to the Salt Palace Convention Center. Millions of more people joined online with the help of 10 global emcees who ushered them through the content in multiple languages.
The world’s largest family history conference is hosted by FamilySearch, which is an international genealogy organization and website sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While the conference is sponsored by the Church, about 90% of attendees are not members of the Church, according to Jonathan Wing, the director of RootsTech, in an interview with The Church News.
The in-person conference featured keynote speakers, classes and an exhibit hall full of family history-related businesses and societies.
BYU-Idaho and Rexburg participants
Four BYU-Idaho students participated on the second day of RootsTech. They helped FamilySearch develop a website that allows people to find friends near them. It’s called “Friends Around Me.”
“We’ve had quite a few people today try it out, scan it, make some connections … I think the closest one we’ve had so far was about three miles away,” said Joseph Earl.
Many of the RootsTech attendees are there for specific reasons. Linda Hill, originally from Rexburg, was attending for her first time. She was a Madison Junior High School librarian and told BYU-Idaho Radio she likes learning about stories. She was excited to learn more about AI and how she can connect with her family.
Mindy McLane, who lives in Rexburg with her family, was back for her second year of RootsTech. She volunteers at the FamilySearch Center in Rexburg and has become somewhat of an expert on helping people connect to their ancestors in the Midwest. She completed an Advanced Family History Research Certificate last April. One of the classes she was interested in going to was “Declutter Your Genealogy: Preserving the Past Without the Overwhelm by Cathi Nelson and Jill Yesko Diana. McLane inherited a box of family history things when her father passed.
“A lot of people are in the same boat where they’ve got boxes of stuff, and they don’t know what to do with it,” McLane said.
Keynote Speakers
The RootsTech website has videos of many of the classes that you can search by topic. There are also videos of the keynote speakers, both in-person and digital keynote speakers. BYU-Idaho Radio talked to keynote speaker Tara Roberts, a National Geographic explorer who has a podcast series about diving for sunken slave ships. She said she was initially nervous about diving into her own past, but learned it was important to tell the full stories of her history.
“I think the more that we surface these stories and the more that we tell fuller stories, the more that opportunity will be there for people to see, that it is not just about trauma — even though it is important to acknowledge what happened, there’s terrible things that happened, it’s important for us to see those — but it doesn’t end there,” Roberts told BYU-Idaho Radio. “But I am finding that the more I share, the more the divers share, the more these stories get out there, I’m finding that people are interested.”
Other keynote speakers included Academy Award-winning Deaf actress Marlee Matlin, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, FamilySearch CEO Steve Rockwood and Family Discovery Day keynote speakers, Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ and his wife, Melanie Rasband.
Family Discovery Day
Elder Rasband invited Latter-day Saints to join in the effort of family history work by using the “Ordinances Ready” feature on FamilySearch, which helps Latter-day Saints find ancestor names to the House of the Lord.
“The choices we make today echo far beyond our own lives,” Elder Rasband said. “We not only live for ourselves, but in time we will be the ancestors to our own posterity. Every act of faith, every testimony shared, every righteous choice strengthens not only our own lives but the generations yet to come as we seek to leave a legacy of faith and devotion, anchored to the beloved Son of God, our Savior Jesus Christ.”
The Rasbands were also able to talk to some of their grandchildren on stage about family history and temple work.
Actors also joined them on stage to perform selections from the British Pageant. The selections focused on the family of George and Ann Cannon, who are Sister Rasband’s ancestors.
BYU-Idaho Alumnus
Ten global emcees helped people from around the world navigate the RootsTech experience. One of the emcees included Junior Tovar, a recent BYU-Idaho graduate from Bolivia. He guided Spanish-speaking attendees online and was featured in a music video played on the main stage. He told BYU-Idaho Radio he was able to get the opportunity after coming up with the idea while interning with FamilySearch for three semesters.
“You know, the studio of the interviews, a pro BYU-Idaho student, and that’s what it’s all about. We represent the school,” he said.
Tovar’s job was to create Spanish-language videos, including doing more than 50 interviews in three days. He said he talked to Steve Rockwood in Spanish, interviewed executive directors of FamilySearch, Ancestry.com and other businesses, as well as general authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ.
The RootsTech 2026 theme of “together” is meaningful for Tovar. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he and his family started working on family history as service missionaries. They were able to spend that time together in a meaningful way. That experience helped him in his interviews, he said. He believes the theme of “together” is more than just thinking about ancestors, but those who are still alive.
“Family history can unite you as a family right now. Not only with your ancestor, but right now,” he said.