What an amazing first day of RootsTech. It was more than I could have ever imagined and I’ve already learned so much. After a quick rush to the convention center to get registered, I was able to get my tote bag with all its goodies and my name badge.
In the rush of the morning crowd, I ran halfway across the convention center to attend my first lecture, British Geographic Resources: an Introduction. I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet, so I was a little ADD in paying attention, but luckily Tahitia McCabe downloadable PDF with all the links she talked about. This lecture was particularly interesting to me because I am currently doing a major research project for the Beckwith family in England.
After that, I walked a few feet to lecture hall 255D and excitedly met Thomas MacEntee of Abundant Genealogy whom I have interviewed here on the blog (check this link for that interview). He talked about Translation & Transcription Tools for Genealogy, which, if you follow The Hipster Historian blog, you know that I have my own transcription business, Life Stories Transcription Services, and this was of particular business importance to me — and he didn’t disappoint.
After that, I wandered around the convention center looking for some food to eat and ran into to of my favorite genealogists, Melanie McComb from The Shamrock Genealogist and David Lambert from the American Ancestors from New England Historical Genealogical Society. I’m excited to spend more time with them tomorrow evening at the NextGen Meetup.
After lunch, I was able to attend Italian Civil REgistration and FamilySearch by Suzanne Russo Adams. This was fascinating for me as I’ve been digging deep into Italian family names (like Serago and Sorrentino) in the past year. This gave me a whole new area that I could delve into.
After this, I was able to catch a bit of the keynote speech with the CEO of FamilySearch, Steve Rockwood before I ducked out for dinner with a friend.
What was your favorite part of Day One of RootsTech
The Hipster Historian 
After lunch I attended the one on Downsizing with Family History in Mind. It gave me some needed insight on how to discern the things worth archiving from the things that are not worth the trouble. (I am custodian of the family archive, and we live in an apartment now, so downsizing is NEEDED.)
That sounds amazing. I’m surprised I missed that one. I live in an apartment right now and I’m trying to figure out what and how to save family heirlooms myself.