I’ve been super busy preparing for my upcoming trip to RootsTech in Salt Lake City. But I had the chance to read Roberta Estes’s blog about Relatives At RootsTech.
Relatives at RootsTech is not a new thing. It’s been around for quite a few years. In previous years if you were in Salt Lake City at RootsTech, you could install the app and check if you had any relatives attending. I was always disappointed because first of all, I have a small part of my tree on FamilySearch and I didn’t have many matches attending.
But now Relatives at RootsTech isn’t just for those attending it’s for everyone with a tree who opts into the program. Currently, there are 62,318 participants which is almost a 2,000-person increase since Roberta posted her blog yesterday.
Roberta has deep US roots, so she is connected to 15% of those in Relatives at RootsTech, because I don’t have many ties to the US, I’m much smaller. As of today, I have 13 family members that are attending RootsTech.
But here’s where this is to my advantage, thirteen matches are manageable, and I will be able to send out a message to each of these matches and see what information I can provide and what they can provide.
Most of my matches are connected to my father’s maternal side of the family. I have 8 connections in the US and 1 each in Canada and New Zealand and 2 in Australia.
With each connection, you are provided with a path to how you connect, and you can message them and add them to your contacts on the site. Below is how I relate to one of my matches who lives in the US.
From what I understand you can also access this from the FamilyTree App available at your App Store. Right now I don’t seem to be able to access it there, and I’ll be checking why that is. But I also understand that you will be able to toggle back and forth between those who are signed up virtually and those who will be attending live. Wouldn’t that be cool to make that connection? I’ll keep you posted.
As we get closer and closer to RootsTech the number of people who attend and opt in will grow (after all it grew by 2,000 people in one day). So my numbers will likely increase as well. If you haven’t signed up for RootsTech, you can still do so, and if you are attending virtually, it’s free. Why don’t you do that, maybe you’ll be my newest relative at RootsTech. Even if I’m not you’ll have until March 31st to connect with cousins.
