REXBURG— RootsTech is a yearly event held both online and in person in Salt Lake City, Utah as a celebration of family and genealogy. This three-day event is focused on family history and how people can get involved. Paul Nauta, the public relations director for RootsTech, says the event provides learning and inspiration not only here in the United States, but around the world.
For those who can’t be at the event in person, RootsTech has plenty of resources online so people on a worldwide spectrum can participate.
“Literally millions of individuals from all over the world will dial in online at rootstech.org and watch one of the exciting keynote speakers,” Nauta said. “We have two keynote speakers usually every day of the event. And there are hundreds of classes that are going to be broadcast, some of them natively in select languages, but most of them in English. And you can dial in for free online.”
Along with classes on interests such as social media or family research, RootsTech has developed a feature called Relatives at RootsTech for those who may just be curious to know the relatives they may have around them. The first step is to download the FamilySearch app.
“It'll show you exactly how you are related to those individuals that it's connecting you with,” Nauta said.
With speakers like Kristin Chenoweth, Henry Cho, Jimmer Fredette and Elder Gerritt W. Gong, the conference will have a variety of classes and vendors.
"You'll find many things, I'm sure, of interest between the classes and the exhibitors,” Nauta said. “They've got creative things from storytelling to photographs to what do you do, creating a legacy for your posterity.”
The theme of the conference is “Remember,” which is a theme that Nauta says is not only applicable for this year, but also for years to come.
“I think remember is something that we're always encouraged to do. We want to remember those who have touched our lives, those who have gone before us and made us who we are today or helped make us who we are today,” Nauta said. “But taking the time to stop and remember who we are and how part of what we are has to do with the shoulders that we stand on and those who have etched the road before us so that our way is more clear.”