RootsTech for Free

Saturday I announced a contest to award a RootsTech free full access pass. Today I am pleased to announce that the winner is Kimberly A. Savage for her article about a marriage certificate substitute: a mole skin. Read Kimberly’s article tomorrow. Kimberly will receive a special registration code that will allow her to register for RootsTech and claim her free pass.

If you want to attend RootsTech for free, I have a little bit of good news for you.

Free Expo Hall Stuff

The RootsTech Expo Hall is free to the general public. Come and hear presentations about products and services. Get special product discounts. In many cases you can meet the people who create the products and give them a piece of your mind. Some vendors give out really cheap free stuff, too, like post-it notes, candy, and the like. I’m never one to pass by free stuff.

Some of the best free stuff is coming from FamilySearch. They are sponsoring a new Family Discovery Exhibit in the expo hall. The following statement is from them:

Photo Scanning Area

Make digital copies of family photos that you can preserve, share, and even upload directly to your FamilySearch Family Tree. There are also plenty of high-capacity scanners that make great digital copies quickly. 

What to do: Bring the photos you want to scan and a flash drive. 

Recording Booth - Record Your Story

Video or audio record your favorite family story in one of our enclosed sound booths. Your private recording session includes ten minutes of recording time and you'll get a copy of it on a flash drive. Enjoy sharing the memory for many years to come. 

What to do: Think of a family story or memory that you want to capture and preserve. Story helps will be provided on-site.

Record a Call - With Someone Who Inspires You

Make a phone call that will last a lifetime. Simply call a parent, grandparent, or someone who inspires you and find out more about their life. Our app will record the conversation and you can take it and treasure the memory for years. 

What to do: Bring a phone number of a person you want to call and interview, as well as an email address you'd like to send the recorded file to.

See Yourself in History

How would you look as a cowboy or as one of the pretty maids all in a row? Have your face (and the faces of your friends) added to one of several fun antique photos and e-mail yourself a digital copy you can share. 

What to do: Have an email address to send your new photo to.

FamilySearch Free Book Scanning

FamilySearch is again featuring a book scanning booth. Says FamilySearch, “Get your family book scanned for free. We'll make a digital copy, you keep the original and a searchable PDF copy for yourself. You can also donate personal works, books that are copyright protected, and books that are in the public domain. Questions? bookdonations@familysearch.org”

RootsTech Free From Home

FamilySearch announced yesterday the RootsTech sessions that will be streamed for free viewing over the Internet. FamilySearch is expecting 20,000 online viewers in addition to the 10,000 registered to attend the event in person. Yours truly is one of the scheduled sessions! My session will be broadcast Friday, 7 February at 5:00 p.m. MST. Don’t worry; I’ll be wearing my looks-like-a-real-person mask so I don’t scare anyone.

For the full schedule, see “Global RootsTech Conference Announces Free Online Broadcast Schedule.”

The countdown is on. Kimberly and I hope to see you next week at RootsTech 2014!