How is it 2019 already? The past year of my life went by in a flash and I can hardly believe that another year has come and gone in a flash. This last year I’ve been busy working on my business, living on my own and figuring out what I want in life — and to be honest, I still am (aren’t we all?).

Last fall, I was busy at work at one of my biggest transcription clients yet and I can’t wait to work for them again this year. The work they gave was absolutely inspiring and the interviews touched my heart. As soon as it is officially published, I’ll give all my readers a sneak-peek!

In the meantime, Rootstech 2019 has snuck up on us and will be here in little over a month, and I just can’t wait. This will be my second year in a row attending and the possibilities seem endless this year.

Last year was all about just being there and experiencing it for the first time (much like my first comic con). This year, it is about finding the classes, events, and individuals that best suit my needs as a genealogist and transcriptionist. And the following are some things that I hope to attend and see.

Be sure to comment below which classes you will be attending!

Wednesday

9:30 am – Blending Family History and Technology with the Art of Storytelling

11:00 AM – The surname is key – History of surnames and conducting surname research in Germany

1:30 PM – The Magic of German Church Records

3:30 PM – German Family History: Where do I begin?

4:30 PM – General Session – Steve Rockwood, CEO of FamilySearch

Thursday

8:00 AM – Making the Leap – Becoming a Professional Genealogist *

9:30 AM – Save the Last Dance for Me: Discovering the Social Lives of Our Ancestors/Finally! German Church Records and How to Use Them on FamilySearch

1:30 PM – Tracing your ancestors in records of the British poor

3:00 PM – The surname is key – History of surnames and conducting surname research in Germany

*Note, I’m going to do a quick shout-out for this lecture because not only is it an awesome lecture, my mum, Luana Darby (Lineages by Luana) is speaking about her journey to becoming a professional genealogist and making a business for herself.

Friday

8:00 AM – German Family research in the digital era: What´s new, what´s coming up

1:30 PM – Sources and structures for successful genealogical research in Germany

3:00 – Where the Heck is my German DNA Estimate?

Saturday

9:30 AM – German Family History: Where do I begin?

3:00 PM – Tour of Online European Archives

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Other than these lectures, I plan to do meetups with the Virtual Genealogical Association, NextGen and a few other genealogy groups I’ve joined as a part of my journey. If you have a meet-up, leave a comment below!

You might see that my class schedule is a bit different than last years (see here), and that is because I have refined my research and the type of things I want to focus on. Finding my family is just as important as helping my clients, and so this year I’m really focused on the Germanic oriented lectures — let’s hope they help me out!

Which classes are you taking? Can’t wait to see you all there!