READY FOR ROOTSTECH 2026!

Once upon a time (a few times to be exact), during this exact time of year, I would be hauling "The Big Book of Everybody" in my rolling suitcase onto a plane headed to Salt Lake City, Utah, in anticipation of one of my favorite yearly genealogy events - ROOTSTECH!

In a few days (March 5-7, 2026) Rootstech will be taking place once again! This year, I'll be attending virtually, but as part of the Official RootsTech Media, I feel more than qualified to share with you some of my favorite things about the event along with a few tips and tricks.

WHAT IS ROOTSTECH?

For those who don't know, RootsTech is the world's largest family history and genealogy conference. It takes place yearly in Salt Lake City, Utah, and this year is no exception. An opportunity presented both in person at the Salt Palace Convention Center and virtually for FREE99!

If you haven't registered yet, there's still time, and you can register HERE!

Registration is quick and easy, and if you already have a FamilySearch account, it's even simpler.

THE THEME

Rootstech has a theme every year; this year's official theme is "Together."

FOR THE IN-PERSON ATTENDEES

There are Keynote Speakers, the Expo Hall, hundreds of classes, workshops, and sessions available for all experience levels, ranging from Beginner to Advanced.

Download the Rootstech App. There you'll find the schedules, floor plans for the Salt Palace, Speaker Bios, and Exhibitors. There, you will also find information about Relatives at RootsTech and Family Discovery Day.

TOP 5 MUST PACK ITEMS:

• Comfortable shoes! There is A LOT of walking to be done at the Salt Palace. My 10,000+ steps were always met after a day of traveling too and fro for sessions and events. Not to mention the Family History Library is only a hop, skip, or a short golf cart ride away from the Salt Palace.

  
  

• Portable Charger! While there are places to plug in, you don't want to waste valuable time getting to your next session attached to a wall!

• A GOOD Backpack! You're going to receive a RootsTech swag bag, but they get so full so fast with all of the goodies from the expo hall. Not every vendor has a bag available, and you will want to be able to take your treasures with you, or you can ship them home to you, something I've done in years past.

  
  

• A Reusable Bottle - No need to explain, trust me, you'll need it!

  
  

• Layers / Portable Fan Depending on your temperature preferences, crowded classrooms and drafty ballrooms can often be either too hot or too cold. I recommend taking a sweater that you can tie around your waist or a portable fan that you can fit into your bag.

FOR THE "NOT AT ROOTSTECH" ATTENDEES

We still have access to all of the online and on-demand sessions and keynotes, along with the "Relatives at RootsTech" connection, a fun and interactive way to connect your family tree at familysearch.org to the trees of other attendees. To date, there are 302,774 registered participants from 192 countries. It's always exciting to see what possible attendee matches you may have. I can't wait to find out if I have any "genealogy luck" this year! I hope that you do too!

Instead of downloading the Rootstech app, attendees are able to go online and create a schedule for the sessions so that the favorites aren't missed. I haven't selected mine just yet, but I have time to choose. (This was previously an activity that I saved for the plane ride to Utah.) There's always the option to fly by the seat of your pants and not schedule at all. The choice is yours, let me know what you decide... Just like in person, multiple sessions will be going on at the same time.

READY TO KICK-OFF VIRTUALLY?!

There are 11 sessions available for online viewing beginning TOMORROW - Wednesday, March 4, 2026, at 6 pm EST until 11 pm EST. Courses are slated for all levels and beginners, including 2 virtual keynotes. So far, I'm most excited to learn about gravestone symbols from A to Z. I've got a few cemetery collections that I've collected and could benefit from being clearer on what I'm looking at. What sessions are you looking forward to on Wednesday?

I'll be back on Thursday to give an update from Wednesdays fun... Looking forward to seeing you then. HAPPY ROOTSTECHING!