Family History Enthusiasts Gather in Utah for RootsTech 2015

More than 21,000 people from the United States and overseas gathered in Salt Lake City February 12-14, 2015, for RootsTech, promoted as the largest family history conference in the world. Attendees came from 49 states and 35 countries to the annual event that was held at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

The attendance for the conference, now in its fifth year, was up from 13,000 attendees last year. It was hosted by FamilySearch, a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Keynote speakers included Dennis C. Brimhall, CEO of FamilySearch International; Tan Le, technology innovator and founder of Emotiv Lifesciences; former first lady Laura Bush and her daughter, NBC Today Show correspondent Jenna Bush Hager; New York Times bestselling author A. J. Jacobs; and performer Donny Osmond. 

The conference also featured more than 150 exhibitors and 200 classes from experts who shared their knowledge and latest techniques for gathering family stories and information.

Dennis Brimhall

Brimhall kicked off the conference by introducing the audience to the new interactive Family Discovery Center that opened on Temple Square on February 11. He demonstrated on stage how the stations inside the center work with an iPad to introduce visitors of all ages to family history, including “anybody who has interest in their ancestors or a curiosity about their past.”

“The greatest growth for family history is with the young people because they’re very technologically comfortable, and that’s where the action is today,” said Brimhall.

He contends family history is easy to do today. “In the old days, it was a matter of going to archives or libraries, pouring through microfilm and trying to find things, and a lot of people weren’t just going to do that. But now you simply go online.”

Brimhall reports 1,300,000 new names are added to the FamilySearch database every day. He encourages people to start their family history by talking to someone close such as a mother, father or grandmother. “It’s looking forward and saying, ‘What will we leave for our great-great-grandchildren?’”

“If you understand where you came from and your history, it gives you confidence to deal with the challenges today,” said Brimhall, who hopes RootsTech will inspire attendees to work on their family history. “I want people to go back home either in their own home or family history center and start to explore and build their ‘Museum of Me.’”

Tan Le

Tan Le is a Vietnamese refugee, technology innovator and founder and CEO of Emotiv Lifesciences. Her company developed a breakthrough interface technology for digital media, taking inputs directly from the brain. Le is “really excited” about advances in DNA that are helping family history researchers find “the missing links,” as well as the digitization of records. “In my case a lot of the records were destroyed during the [Vietnam] War … and it’s very difficult to have a complete record,” she said.

When Le was a young girl, she escaped war-torn Vietnam in a boat with her mother, grandmother and sister. They were rescued by a British oil tanker, taken to a refugee camp and eventually ended up in Australia. In her mid-20s, she came to the United States to pursue her technology career.

“I think for me the family history has always been a big part of who I am largely because the fact that my family left so much behind in search of a new life,” she said. Le said she’s “blown away” by the level of interest in family history.

“There is this growing interest and it’s gaining velocity, which is very exciting."

Laura Bush and Jenna Bush Hager

Former first lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna Bush Hager addressed the large audience about the influence of family in their lives. Mrs. Bush spoke about putting family first, even amid the pressures of the White House. Jenna, an NBC Today Show correspondent, joined her mother on stage for a question-and-answer session.

While backstage, Bush Hager said family has always been a priority in the Bush family, even during the presidencies of her grandfather George H. W. Bush and father, George W. Bush. “My grandparents have always put family first,” she said, recalling a story when her grandfather babysat her and her twin sister, Barbara, when they were in first grade the night before his presidential debate against Michael Dukakis. “And it showed my dad that you can put family first even when you have a job as big as being the president of the United States. So I think the fact that family, friends and faith always have been important to my grandparents — my parents inherited that too.”

Bush Hager reminisced about the 12 Christmases she spent at the White House and Camp David with her family, including cousins and aunts and uncles. “The White House was decorated so magically. And there [are] trees everywhere and the smell is intoxicating.”

Bush Hager and her husband now take their daughter to visit her grandfather. “We videotape the two of them together; we videotaped him giving advice to Mila in a cute sort of joking way. We take tons of pictures because one day we’ll share these stories with her of where she’s come from.”

A. J. Jacobs

Writer A. J. Jacobs spoke about his work organizing the Global Family Reunion that will be held in New York City on June 6, 2015. Jacobs claims we are all cousins to one another. Audience members held up signs that said “I am a cousin!” to welcome him to the stage.

“The idea is we’re all related, so why not hold the biggest family reunion ever,” said Jacobs. “All of my cousins are invited, and I have lots. I have 7 billion cousins because nowadays you can prove for the first time ever how you’re related to almost anyone on earth.”

Jacobs developed his passion for family history after receiving an email “out of the blue” from a man who claimed to be his 12th cousin. “And now thanks to the Internet and thanks to DNA testing you can figure out exactly how we are cousins,” he added. “So it’s a remarkable time and that’s what I want to celebrate.”

“I love the idea of one big family because my hope is once we realize this, we’ll be a little kinder to each other because we do have to take care of our cousins,” said Jacobs.

Donny Osmond

The final keynote address was entertainer Donny Osmond who has worked in show business for the past 50 years. What many people may not know about Osmond is that searching his family history is one of his “favorite hobbies.” Osmond weaved stories about his life in the entertainment industry with information about his ancestors. He also sang several songs, including “Puppy Love,” “Moon River,” and “The Gift of Love.”

“The truth is, I’m not an expert like most of you. But that’s what’s great about family history. Anybody can do it, especially with the tools like FamilySearch.org,” he told the crowd.

Osmond said he became “serious” about genealogy when his mother, who had been doing family research for 40 years, turned the database over to him about the time he was on stage performing in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." “While I was on the road, in my hotel room or apartment, I would work on genealogy,” he explained.

“Every time I research our family history, I end up learning interesting facts that often shed light on which side of the family I get my traits, my personality and my attitude from,” Osmond said. He pointed to his great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Williams and his father, George Virl Osmond, as examples.

“Your life and the legacy you leave behind is every bit as significant as anyone else,” he said. “When you discover more about your ancestors, you discover more about yourself.”

Family Discovery Day

Family Discovery Day, held on Saturday, February 14, included announcements and challenges for members of the Church. Speakers included general authorities and other leaders, such as Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who expanded a challenge he issued last year. He encouraged Latter-day Saints to “prepare as many names for the temple as baptisms you perform in the temple, and help someone else to do the same.”

Elder Kent F. Richards, director of the Temple Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced that temples around the world will have designated times for families to attend the temple together.

Church member Olympic medalist Noelle Pikus Pace and blogger and convert Al Fox Carraway shared stories that brought them closer to their families.

Well-known Mormon performers entertained the audience during the opening and closing events, including Alex Boyé and the One Voice Children's Choir, American Idol finalist David Archuleta and the cast of the television show Studio C. Recorded sessions of Family Discovery Day can be found online.

Innovator Showdown

The results of a first-time contest called the Innovator Showdown were presented during RootsTech. Contest organizers invited entrepreneurs from around the world to submit a mobile or web app that would affect the world of family history. Nick and Krista Baum, cofounders of StoryWorth, received first place honors. Customers receive a weekly email with a question about their lives that they can respond to via email or telephone and record a response like a voicemail. Second place was awarded to a team from Germany, Welf Wustlich and Uwe Hausler from Palnet GmbH. They created ArgusSearch, a software program featuring an artificial intelligence that deciphers the handwritten text from genealogical documents with a high level of accuracy. Third place went to Matthew Faulconer of Orem, Utah, for GenMarketplace, a website where people can get help or help solve genealogical roadblocks.

Some sessions of RootsTech 2015 were streamed live and are available in a video archive.