Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will keynote the final General Session at RootsTech today at 8:30 a.m. Gates is the host of the popular PBS series, Finding Your Roots, which highlights the genealogy of 3 guests each themed episode chosen from diverse, but noted, fields and provides with a “Book of Life” of each guest’s family history.

Natalia Lafourcade will also perform “Remember Me” from the movie, Coco, which has been nominated for an Academy Award. In fact, Lafourcade will leave RootsTech to fly to California to perform this song on the stage of the Academy Awards the next day, Sunday, March 4.

Here are the live-streamed sessions for today available at RootsTech.org:

Also today is Family Discovery Day at the Salt Palace Convention Center. This general session, featuring President Dallin H. Oaks and Sister Kristen Oaks, will begin at 1pm MST. Earlier at 11 a.m. popular LDS speaker Hank Smith and entertainer Jason Hewlett will take the stage. Evie Clair, Kenya Clark, and Alex Melecio will perform.

This event is sold out, but it will be live-streamed at lds.org. If you would still like to attend Family Discovery Day, contact me. I am aware of some individuals who will be unable to use their entry bands and I would be happy to leave them at the check-in desk with your name on them.

Here are some highlights from Friday:

There are quite a few conference participants that commute. Roger Flick and his wife met Phyllis and David Walch early in the morning on the platform waiting for FrontRunner.

Dan J. Debenham provided the audience with a sneak peak of Season 3 of Relative Race!

I heard many comments throughout the day that Scott Hamilton’s keynote address is one of the best ever! If you missed it, here it is!

I found these conference participants waiting for the Relative Race session held at 1:30 p.m. Do you know what time it was? 11:45 a.m. The woman in the middle and the woman to the right were waiting since 10:30 a.m. to obtain their chosen seat for this session. Now that’s dedication!

Later in the day I had the opportunity to interview, Dan J. Debenham, host of Relative Race, and Season 3’s Team Green, Jamie Harper and her older sister, Morgan Harper Nichols. More to come, but don’t forget to watch the 90 minute premiere of Relative Race Sunday, March 4th at 7 p.m. MST on BYUtv.

We gathered for an impromptu session of #GenChat, this time LIVE at RootsTech! Seated here are @GenealogyJen, @thesingleleaf, @caitieamanda, @CarolinaGirlGen, @SeekingSurnames, @BGWylie who were thinking of all of you #NotAtRootsTech!

There is so much to see in the Expo Hall and there is still time to come to the Salt Palace Convention Center to participate in this year’s conference. One-day passes are available at check-in. More information can be found here. Expo Hall only classes are not listed, but are available at check-in for $10.

Whatever you’ll be doing today, make it fabulous!

About RootsTech

RootsTech, hosted by FamilySearch, is a global conference celebrating families across generations, where people of all ages are inspired to discover and share their memories and connections. This annual event has become the largest of its kind in the world, attracting tens of thousands of participants worldwide.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I am designated as an official ambassador to the RootsTech Conference and, as such, I am provided complimentary admission and other services to accomplish my duties. Nevertheless, I have been with RootsTech since its inception and with its predecessor for many years as a paid participant. As always, my coverage and opinions are my own and are not affected by my current status. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Copyright © 2018. Lynn Broderick, a.k.a., the Single Leaf. All Rights Reserved.