The First Day of Spring…and RootsTech 2013

It’s been cloudy and raining here in Salt Lake City, but the first day of Spring and RootsTech has arrived! Over 6000 adults pre-registered for this conference along with a record number of youth for the Saturday sessions. FamilySearch hosted an Official Blogger dinner at the Lion House last night and FamilySearch provided a preview of what to expect at this year’s conference.

This year RootsTech is focused on sharing family stories. Everyone likes a good story, right? Well, at least most people :-) FamilySearch debuted their new interface that promises to engage the beginner and serve well the advanced family historian. A new interactive fan chart looks easy to view, use, and understand. And, the news is already out…FamilySearch has retired the blue tree logo and replaced it with a new design with new colors. I’ve already spotted one official blogger who leaked a snapshot of the new logo that will debut with Dennis Brimhall this morning in the opening session.

Personally, I was interested in the design of this year’s RootsTech T-shirt. The very first year it was a gray/green with a tech tree. (I posted the actual logo yesterday.) Last year it was technology gray with an orange tech tree. This year, after an attendee visits vendors, kind of like a scavenger hunt, he or she may collect this year’s conference T-shirt. For those not in attendance, or if you happen to read this before the vendor hall opens, here is a preview:

As you can see, it exemplifies team spirit, just what is needed to reach a billion indexed records! That’s right, FamilySearch is approaching the billion mark in indexed records and this goal may be reached during the conference. They will be watching the numbers so if you have some time consider indexing this week. We can all help FamilySearch reach this goal!