Reminder - FREE Webinar Tonight

You have spent years working on  your family history, gathering information, documents, photos and perhaps even videos. Now let's look at how you can ensure your hard work will be stored and preserved beyond the time when you are no longer able to manage caring for it. 

Join me for a FREE webinar:

Preserve Your Family History FOREVER

7:30 pm eastern

In this webinar, we will learn about:

• What makes FOREVER different from other cloud storage companies
• The FOREVER guarantee (your lifetime plus 100 years)
• Setting your legacy/preservation settings - assigning an account manager, future generations getting access to your family history documents, photos and videos.
• Creating and Nesting Albums
• Sharing your research
• Creating collaborative albums

To register: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yxdVgCl2SEyIpI7TGPwyWA

Highland and Island Emigration Society Records FREELY Available Online

Having been immersed in the big announcements made at RootsTech last week, I nearly missed the big announcement from ScotlandsPeople on their new record release. The records of the Highlands and Islands Emigration Society have been digitized and made freely available on the ScotlandsPeople website. 

These records pertain to some 5,000 people who left the destitution of the highlands and western isles for a better life in Australia and who received assisted passage from the Highland and Island Emigration Society.

In addition to the records of those receiving assistance is a listing of all of the ships who took passengers to Australia as part of this emigration scheme. The most common port of departure was Liverpool, England, but a few also left from Campbelltown.

https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/news-article-highland-and-island-emigration-society-records-released

AND THAT'S A WRAP!

Today was the last day of RootsTech. Saturday is always Family Day which means throngs of people. We Ambassadors outwardly dread the day but inwardly, we thrive on it. We love the buzz and the excitement that the day brings. 

I was late getting to the Convention Centre today, having stayed at the hotel to work on my final presentation. As soon as I walked in, I saw the kids getting their faces painted. 

Then it was past the main stage where I could here the ukulele playing. And on into the Expo Hall. WOW. The crowds!

Before I knew it, it was time for my presentation. This one was being recorded. It was the last time slot of the day, but people were engaged and interested and the questions were incredible. 

And just like that, the week was over....  

It has been an incredible week. I have connected, I have learned, I have shared. I have met new friends, enjoyed new experiences and although I am exhausted, it has been oddly exhilarating to have been here. Thank you, #RootsTech

#RootsTech Day 3

Yesterday went by in a whirlwind. It was hard to know what day it was or how far along we are in the conference. 

My day started at 5:30. I managed to get caught up on things that didn't get done the day before. I was in the Convention Centre by 7:30 and thoroughly enjoyed the power hour talk by Ancestry Pro Genealogists. We learned why it was important to consult a professional and at what points in our research it would be a benefit. We learned about the wonderful team that creates story books for all ages and stages of research and we learned about the wonderful opportunities available in the world of ancestral tourism.

The ancestral tours that Ancestry runs are not genealogy research tours. They are more geared to connecting you to your ancestral homeland than helping you further your research or breakdown brick walls. So, if you have Scottish roots, but don't know what part of Scotland your ancestors were from, you might want to consider taking their tour this October 

The general session keynote speaker was Saroo Brierley who shared his journey with us. 

From the talk, it was over to the media hub. I managed to connect with colleagues from Findmypast, Forever, Strathclyde University, dozens of bloggers and loads of genealogy speakers. 

The evening was rounded off with a Virtual Genealogical Association get together at Squatters. 

Day 2 at #RootsTech!

Day 2 was a full day, and for me, started at 8 am with a presentation by Findmypast The Ultimate Guide to Tracing British Isles Roots.This was a terrific overview of not only UK and Ireland but also working hard in America to be able to be ready to take your research overseas. 

Next up was the General Session with Keynote speaker Patricia Heaton who gave a heartwarming talk about the importance of family and family connections. Following her talk, Whitney Peterson of FamilySearch did a 'reveal' of research on Patricia's family history. 

In the afternoon, I attended a talk by Glen Meakem, CEO of Forever who talked about the Revolution in Multi-Generational Memory Keeping and Digital Rights. The personal stories that were shared by others were wonderful and so uplifting. 

In wandering around the Expo Hall, I was able to see and speak with a number of colleagues and once again recognized that THIS is my community. These are my people. THIS is where I belong. 

FAMILYSEARCH MAKES MAJOR DONATION TO IAAM

Yesterday afternoon was the official kick-off for #RootsTech 2019 with the Opening Session. While the theme of this year's conference continues to be "Connect-Belong" there is a specific emphasis on healing. 

During the session, we were witness to a wonderful presentation by Michael Moore about the opening of the International African American Museum. This museum is going to be on the site of what was once Gadsden's Wharf where nearly half of all enslaved Africans entered America. 

The museum will provide a place for descendants of African slaves to gather, remember, learn more of their history and culture and celebrate the role that these enslaved men and women played in the history of America. 

Following Michael's moving presentation, David Elder Bednar, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, announced that the church was donating $2,000,000 to the museum for their Centre for Family History. Elder Bednar said, "We want to support the museum and the Centre for Family History because we both value the strength that comes from learning about our families. The museum will not only educate its patrons on the important contributions of Africans who came through Gadsden's Wharf and Charleston, it will also all who visit to discover and connect with ancestors whose stories previously may not have been known." What a powerful message of healing!

Breaking News from MyHeritage

Another big announcement from RootsTech, this one from MyHeritage who have just launched "The Theory of Family Relativity™" 

From their announcement: 

This technology fulfills a promise made by our CEO, Gilad Japhet, last year in RootsTech, and is the first of its kind. The Theory of Family Relativity™ traverses the worlds of family trees, historical records, and DNA testing by connecting billions of data points to craft a theory of how two DNA Matches on MyHeritage are related.

This theory is a game-changer in the world of genetic genealogy, and scans billions of family trees, historical records, and other databases to illuminate the relationships between DNA Matches. The Theory of Family Relativity™ is a prime example of MyHeritage’s passion for innovation, fusing the worlds of genealogy and DNA testing to help people break through genealogical brick walls.

Enjoy connecting in relative terms