RootsTech is the hottest thing in genealogy right now. And it is happening this week! If you won't be in Salt Lake City for this major conference, you can watch select sessions for free from your computer.

Before I list the classes that RootsTech will be streaming, let me remind you about the Genealogy Idol competition which is happening on Thursday at 3:45 Eastern time (1:45pm in Utah). You, the online viewer, will be the ones to vote for the winner. All you need to do is register here and tune in on Thursday. These four contestants will present three 3-minute presentations on genealogy technology tips to compete for your votes:

Who will be the world's first-ever Genealogy Idol winner? Tune in on Thursday to find vote.

Below are other classes that RootsTech will be broadcasting for free. Interested viewers can watch the live presentations at www.RootsTech.org.

Thursday, February 2
8:30-10:00 am, Inventing the Future, as a Community (Keynote Address) by Jay L. Verkler
11:00 am-12:00 pm, Do I Trust the Cloud? by D. Joshua Taylor 
1:45-2:45 pm, Effective Database Search Tactics by Kory Meyerink    
3:00-4:00 pm, Twitter – It’s Not Just “What I Had for Breakfast” Anymore by Thomas MacEntee 
4:15-5:15 pm, Eleven Layers of Online Searches by Barbara Renick    
 
Friday, February 3
8:30-9:30 am, Exabyte Social Clouds and Other Monstrosities (Keynote Address) by Josh Coates
9:45-10:45 am, Publish Your Genealogy Online by Laura G. Prescott    
11:00 am-12:00 pm, Optimize Your Site for Search Engines by Robert Gardner   
1:45-2:45 pm, Genealogists “Go Mobile” by Sandra Crowly 
3:00-4:00 pm, Google’s Toolbar and Genealogy by Dave Barney     
 
Saturday, February 4
8:30-9:30 am, Making the Most of Technology to Further the Family History Industry (Keynote Address) by Tim Sullivan and Ancestry.com Panel
9:45-10:45 am Genealogy Podcasts and Blogs 101 by Lisa Louise Cooke   
11:00 am-12:00 pm, Future of FamilySearch Family Tree by Ron Tanner
1:45-2:45 pm, Privacy in a Collaborative Environment by Noah Tatuk  

We'll see you online or in person at the Legacy Family Tree booth!

The South Davis Family History Fair in Bountiful, Utah, is one of my favorite annual genealogy conferences. In the past it has had over 1,700 attendees and I have enjoyed participating and speaking at it for the past ten or so years. For the first time it will be organized by the Utah Genealogical Association, a very capable organization of which I was involved as its vice-president eight years ago. If you plan to be in the Bountiful, Utah area the weekend of March 2-3, 2012, I would recommend that you attend. Here is their press release:

The Utah Genealogical Association is pleased to present the 2012 SOUTH DAVIS FAMILY HISTORY FAIR!! This will be held March 2-3 at Bountiful High School.

Our Keynote speaker this year for the Friday night session will be LISA LOUISE COOK, of Genealogy GemsPodcast, author and sought-after international speaker. She will be presenting THE FAMILY HISTORY GREAT RACE. This will begin at 7:00 pm Friday evening.

Saturday will begin at 8:00 am with our Keynote address by KAREN CLIFFORD, her subject will be: THE CHANGING FACE OF FAMILY HISTORY.

The fair will have 5 sessions containing 122 classes on all different subjects relating to family history. We will offer beginning to advanced levels, including computer labs, with hands on training and help in Ancestry.com, New Family Search, Ask An Expert, and Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.

Many well-known presenters will be teaching topics such as research in Germany, Scandinavia, Latin America all areas of the United States and Canada, Denmark, Scotland and Sweden. Many popular websites will be featured such as Family Search, Wiki and Forums, Google and Google Earth, Ancestry.com, and Archives.com. Learn how to use online Research logs, your digital camera and Photoshop Elements. See how to organize your files and documents and participate in an entire track of 5 classes specifically for beginners!

Our great vendors will be showing all the newest in Family History products.

Cost for the fair is only $10.00 for UGA members and $15.00 for non-UGA attendees. The cost includesthe syllabus on CD containing the handouts for all 122 classes. A hot lunch or sack lunch will also be available for purchase. The printed syllabus will be $15.00 for UGA members and $20.00 for non-UGAattendees.

Come and join us for the 15th year of this great community event!! Legacy Family Tree and Utah Genealogical Association will be giving away notebook computers andAncestry.com is giving away 4 world memberships!!

Go to www.ugagenealogy.com to register. Be sure to sign up early to get the classes you would like toattend. If you would like to attend for free, SIGN UP AS A VOLUNTEER!!

Photo Detective, and past Legacy webinar speaker, Maureen Taylor, has a way to beat the winter blahs without spending a dime. Enter your funny family photo in a contest. Your ancestral photo could be voted the S.O.S. or Silly Old Snapshot.

Here's how it works

Upload your photo to http://www.maureentaylor.com/photo-contests/silly_old_snapshots then get your friends and family to vote.

Prizes

You’ll be competing for a prize package that includes

• a free photo consult on the winning image sponsored by VoiceQuilt.com
• a set of Maureen’s Legacy Family Tree webinar CDs
• a download of Legacy 7.5 Deluxe software
• a copy of Maureen's book, Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats
• and more. 

 Sounds like a fun contest. See her website for the rules and more.

The 2012 Legacy Genealogy Cruise – an annual event in its 9th year – is pleased to announce that professional genealogist and educator Judith Eccles Wight (and popular webinar speaker for Legacy Family Tree) will be joining the event as its featured speaker. The back-to-back genealogy cruises take place beginning May 12, 2012 and visits the British Isles (first cruise) and the Norwegian Fjords (second cruise, immediately following the first) on the luxurious Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas ship.

During the first nine-day period, Judy will offer presentations related to the key resources for Irish, English, and Scottish research, including the best websites and details about the various record repositories in these countries that you will visit. An Accredited Genealogist, Judy is one of genealogy's best researchers of these countries - what an opportunity you will have to learn from such an expert! She will join Legacy Family Tree’s Geoff Rasmussen and others who will offer classes on Legacy and other genealogy technology.

The first of the back-to-back cruises starts and ends in Oslo, Norway and visits the following ports: Le Havre (Paris), France; Cherbourg, France; Dublin, Ireland; Liverpool, England; and Edinburgh, Scotland. The second leg starts and ends in Oslo, Norway and visits Århus, Denmark; Bergen, Norway; Geiranger, Norwegian Fjords.

For more information, or to register, visit http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/CruiseInfo_2012.asp. Or call our travel coordinator, Christy, at 1-888-505-6997 or send an email to [email protected]. Not only will you have the vacation of a lifetime, but you will do so in good company with other genealogists.

Hope to see you all there!

I don't like throwing away anything. Everything has historical value to me - even my utility bills from when I was first married. My wife finally convinced me to get rid of them last year, but I scanned a few, just to keep the evidence of where we lived. One thing I won't part with is my archive of emails - I have them all (except for the spam of course) - from my first email sent on August 28, 1998 to the present. There's a lot of history in the 8GB of correspondence - I wish my ancestors would have started using email a lot sooner....

This week I decided to import my personal email account and all 13 1/2 years of emails (received and sent) into Gmail. Fortunately Gmail will still let me use my personal email address to send and receive emails, but I will also get the benefits that come along with Gmail. It's taken several days now to import everything, and it's got several more to go.

During the process I've had the chance to re-read some of the very first emails I sent. Naturally, many of them relate to genealogy. I even found emails about two genealogy-related job offers - one I declined and the other I accepted (and here I am today...). You might not find them as amusing and memorable as I did, but I'm happy I kept them - it has helped to document my personal story. Here are a few of the early emails I sent.

The first email I ever sent (August 28, 1998)

Drew - Will you let me know via email if you got this message. I sent it on the 28th. Thanks, Geoff Rasmussen

My first genealogy-related email ever sent (September 1, 1998)

Dear Bill, School has started up again here in Provo, so my genealogy time has dramatically decreased, however, I wanted to write you a quick note to express my appreciation for you posting your Smart genealogy on your web page. It is very clear, and easy to understand. Just a couple of months ago, I only knew of Sarah Smart as being born about 1830, nothing else. I have loved getting to know my ancestors and enjoy corresponding with distant cousins such as yourself. I do have a few dates that you didn't have, and when I get reorganized here I'll pass them along. Until next time, take care, Geoff Rasmussen

Realizing that email is way better than snail mail (September 6, 1998)

Aunt Jessie - All of the gedcoms worked perfectly!  Thank you so very much. I love email - it's so much faster!  Geoff and Tanya

Canceled my 1-month free Ancestry.com subscription (September 7, 1998)

I am writing to cancel my 1-month free subscription. When I was told that it was free, I didn't know that you would charge me for that month. Please cancel this and refund my money. Thank you. Geoffrey D. Rasmussen

I guess I asked for Family Tree Maker software for Christmas (October 25, 1998)

Mother, Tanya has come up with this Christmas list that you wanted. Geoff: Family Tree Maker, 2" white binders, 3" electrodes and battery charger.

My response to my very first spam email received (November 6, 1998)

Please stop sending me these kind of messages, and messages talking about the rat extermination problem. Geoff Rasmussen, BYU student.

I wonder where I would be today if I accepted this job offer (January 24, 1999)

[To Mom] I attended a national genealogy conference yesterday - my boss paid for it. I got to meet some of the BIG names from all over the country. An important person who works at Ancestry.Com wants me to work for him, being the head acquisitions manager, traveling all over the country to see what's available. I'm going to get graduated first, but they offered an internship for me. I'll be touring their place in the next few weeks.

My very first email about Asa Clark Brown (January 28, 1999)

Carol, It is true that Asa Brown and family were found in the 1850 Census of Neshannock, Lawrence, Pennsylvania. Doesn't give any clues about possible parents. I'll try to remember to send you a copy with the others. Geoff

My first genealogy business idea - I think someone else took my idea (February 9, 1999)

I'm thinking about starting my own business. Searching census records, digitizing them, and distributing them through a web site. Just a beginning thought.

Thinking about having our first child (February 9, 1999)

We've been reading baby books, and really are concentrating on what we eat.

My first email (a small portion of it) sent to Legacy and the resulting job offer from Dave Berdan to work for Legacy (March 5, 1999)

For your info, I am the computer specialist at the BYU Family History Center. Also, I am a genealogy major. You might understand my difficulties in finding just the right family history software program. I own just about every one there is, and must make a decision about which one to use. I am heavily experimenting with Legacy 2.0, which I enjoy very much…. [listed a couple of bugs I found, and sent a bunch of suggestions]

Dave’s response (March 9): Want a part time job demonstrating Legacy to all the bookstores in the Salt Lake / Provo valley???????

My response (March 10): Yes, I'd be very interested in demonstrating Legacy in the bookstores around here. Send me some information if you'd like.

And the rest is history....

What about you? What do you do with your emails - save 'em or keep 'em? Any suggestions for me on my new adventures with Gmail?

Imagine this scenario: You are researching your Ohio ancestors and you find in the 1860 US Federal Census that your great-great grandfather was born in New York. After you get done celebrating this new discovery panic sets in. You don't know anything about New York. Now you are faced with finding a birth record, and possibly other records, for your New York ancestor.

Whether you need to learn about New York or any other place in the world there is help. Look no further than the FamilySearch Wiki.

A wiki is an online encyclopedia that allows people to find information quickly through a search utility and a massive web of interconnected links. Perhaps you've heard of the most famous wiki of all, Wikipedia, which is a general subject wiki.

The FamilySearch Wiki is one of a number of public wikis that focuses on a specific topic. It was created to provide help to genealogists and family historians. If you are unfamiliar with the FamilySearch Wiki you can take a tour to help you become acclimated to what information is available and where to find it.

The easiest way to get started is by entering a key word into the search box on the main page. The site is organized with a geographic-based structure. You can start at the country-level and then drill down, via links, to counties and cities or towns. Within each geographic level, FamilySearch will provide you with guidance for doing research in that area.

Need to research ancestors in Holmedal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway? The FamilySearch Wiki will explain where to find church and probate records. Doing some research on the Alsace region of France? FamilySearch Wiki will lead you to in-depth information about its history, emigration and immigration as well as historical records. Or perhaps your ancestors settled in Galveston County, Texas? You'll find links to local cemeteries, obituary resources and historical maps.

FamilySearch Wiki is an information resource powered by volunteers.  Because of that, the information available will vary from one geographic location to another. Some geographic locations will be very strong and others may be lacking.

The information you find is thanks to people who have generously shared their time and expertise. For that reason, consider becoming a FamilySearch Wiki volunteer for the locations that you know best and help other genealogists to find the information they are looking for.

Would you like to learn more about the FamilySearch Wiki? In 2011, Michael Ritchey of FamilySearch.org gave a Legacy Family Tree webinar that is now available for viewing.

The next time you make a unexpected genealogical discovery and you need to explore a new location, spend some time at the FamilySearch Wiki. It will be an invaluable resource to get you started.

Guest blogger, Marian Pierre-Louis, is a historical researcher who loves to share, encourage and inspire others on their genealogy research journey. You can see her upcoming webinars on Legacy Family Tree and read her blog, Marian's Roots and Rambles. She is the author of Discovering Your Massachusetts Ancestors, Brick Walls: Cracking the Case of Nathan Brown's Parents and Researching Your Connecticut Ancestors.

What a great webinar today by Marian Pierre-Louis! If you have Massachusetts ancestors, be sure to watch the recording soon - your ancestors are waiting! Marian received a fantastic comment from a professional genealogist:

Fantastic. As a fellow Massachusetts professional genealogist, I'd give Marian an A+ on covering all the bases, making the subject accessible and interesting.

I couldn't agree more. Well done.

View the recording

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 30 minute recording of Discovering Your Massachusetts Ancestors is now available to view in our webinar archives. Visit www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/webinars.asp to watch. It is available for free until January 30, 2012.

Pre-order the webinar-on-CD

Own your own copy of Discovering Your Massachusetts Ancestors by purchasing the webinar-on-CD for just $9.95. It includes the 1 hour 30 minute recording of the class, the complete Q/A session, and 4 pages of handouts. Click here for more information or to purchase.

Marian is also the author of:

• Brick Walls: Cracking the Case of Nathan Brown's Parents
• Researching Your Connecticut Ancestors

Special discount coupon

The special discount coupon of mass that was announced during the webinar is valid for 10% off anything in our online store through Monday, January 23, 2012.

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

• Genealogy Idol Competition with Geoff Rasmussen, February 2.
• Ten Brick Wall Tips for Beginners with Marian Pierre-Louis, February 15.
• Organizing and Sharing Digital Images with Geoff Rasmussen, February 29.
• Are You Ready for the 1940 U.S. Census Images with Thomas MacEntee, March 7.
• DNA Research for Genealogists: Beyond the Basics with Ugo Perego. March 21.
• Obituaries: Clues to Look For. Tips for making sure you get the full benefit from an obituary notice with Tom Kemp, March 28.
• Digital Writing Tools for Genealogists with Lisa Alzo, March 30.
• Genealogy on the Go - the Families app for your Android, iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad with Malcolm Green, April 11.
• Researching Your Scottish Ancestors with Marie Dougan, April 18.
• Reverse Genealogy: Finding the Living with Megan Smolenyak, April 25.
• Researching Your Pennsylvania Ancestors with Lisa Alzo, May 2.
• Researching Your New York Ancestors with Thomas MacEntee, May 30.
• Putting Flesh on the Bones with Ron Arons, June 13.
• Marriages and Anniversaries. Mining newspapers for engagements, marriages, anniversaries, and divorce records with Tom Kemp, June 20.
• Digital Images for Genealogists and Technologists: scanning, digitizing, editing, and preserving your photos with Geoff Rasmussen. June 27.
• The Quest for your English Ancestors with Claire V. Brisson-Banks. July 11.
• Wikis for Genealogists with Thomas MacEntee. August 8.
• Beyond the Arrival Date: Extracting More from Passenger Lists with Lisa Alzo. September 5.
• What is a 'Reasonably Exhaustive Search'? with Michael Hait. September 12.
• Privacy and our Ancestors with Thomas MacEntee. October 3.
• Your Civil War Ancestors: Beginning Your Research with Michael Hait. October 24.
• Genealogy for Novices: Where Do We Begin with Linda Geiger. November 14.

Click here to register.

See you online!

The first-ever Genealogy Idol competition will be held Thursday, February 2, 2012. The four finalists have now been chosen and the winner will be decided by YOU! All you have to do is register for the live event (free), watch the 1-hour competition from your computer, and vote.

In the three rounds of competition, the four contestants will demonstrate their gen-tech expertise and try to woo you with their favorite gen-tech secrets. Everyone will learn - but only one will leave with the title of "RootsTech Genealogy Idol 2012." Legacy Family Tree's Geoff Rasmussen will host the competition which will be broadcast live via the RootsTech genealogy conference in Salt Lake City, Utah on Thursday in Room 255B.

The Topics

Applicants were required to propose topics on these three categories:

• Round 1: Favorite Technology Tip
• Round 2: Genealogy Serendipity story
• Round 3: Technology website or blog

The four finalists were chosen based on their excellent applications to participate. While I won't announce their specific topics, I'm so excited for our audience - the tips/tricks that each will demonstrate will teach us all something new.

The Contestants

Two of the contestants will participate live at RootsTech in the classroom audience. The other two will use our webinar technology to participate from their homes. Here they are:

The Competition

The one-hour competition will feature three rounds of topics. Each contestant will have three minutes to impress you with their demonstrations. Regardless of whether you will be in a seat at RootsTech or in a virtual seat from your home, you will see and hear it all - live! At the very end, YOU, the online audience will decide the winner by voting using the webinar's poll technology. Everyone will go home a winner, but the one with the most votes will go home with both the title of "RootsTech Genealogy Idol" and a free Flip-Pal Mobile scanner from Legacy Family Tree.

Register

If you want to watch the demonstrations and vote for the winner, you need to register. Registration is free but space is limited to the first 1,000 people to join that day. And if you are attending RootsTech in Salt Lake City, join us in room 255B at 1:45pm Utah time (3:45 Eastern, 8:45PM GMT).

See you there!

FamilySearch was extra busy during the holidays. It added 119 million new, free records online (about 64 million indexed names and 55 million browsable images). This latest round of record updates makes 1008 historic record collections online boasting 2.58 billion searchable names and 466 million digital images of historic documents. The numbers are actually very staggering and very exciting for family history enthusiasts! Search the records online now at FamilySearch.org. See the list below for details of the latest additions.

Searchable records on FamilySearch.org are made possible by thousands of volunteers from around the world who transcribe (index) the information from handwritten records to make them easily searchable by computer. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the amount of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about how to personally help provide free access to the world's historic genealogical records as an indexer at FamilySearch.org.

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,600 family history centers in 132 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

If you have ancestors from Massachusetts, you won't want to miss this free webinar presented by Marian Pierre-Louis on Wednesday, January 18, 2012.

From the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620, Massachusetts has maintained some of the best-kept records for genealogists. This abundance has made it easier to research in the state. Even so, it's helpful to have a roadmap to cover almost 400 years of history. Join Marian Pierre-Louis as she provides an overview of researching in the Bay state and gets you on the right path to finding your Massachusetts ancestors.

The live webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 2PM Eastern U.S., so register today to reserve your virtual seat. Registration is free but space is limited to the first 1,000 people to join that day.

About the presenter

Marian Pierre-Louis is a genealogical writer and speaker who specializes in southern New England research (Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts). Born and raised in Connecticut, she has lived in Massachusetts for almost 20 years. Marian has three generations of recent family ties to Rhode Island and also links to some very old Rhode Island lines. As a result, these three states have become the focus of her research activity. Unlike most genealogists, Marian is spoiled to spend most of her time working with original records. You will most often find her researching at a town hall, registry of deeds, probate court or the local cemetery. It’s a rare day that Marian has to sit in front of a microfilm reader.

Marian is actively engaged in social media. You can find her starting conversations on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. She frequently speaks on New England topics including house history research, social media, African American research and a broad range of genealogical topics. She is the author of several blogs including: Marian's Roots & Rambles and The New England House Historian.

She is the author of:

• Researching Your Connecticut Ancestors webinar-on-CD.
• Cracking the Case of Nathan Brown's parents webinar-on-CD.

Marian will be presenting Ten Brick Wall Tips for Beginners on Wednesday, February 15, 2012.

Add it to your Google Calendar

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at:

• 2pm Eastern (U.S.)
• 1pm Central
• 12pm Mountain/Arizona
• 11am Pacific
• 7pm GMT

Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/webinars.asp today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email during the week prior to the webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
6. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone.

We look forward to seeing you all there!