FamilySearch logo – The Single Leaf

In the Salt Palace Convention Center, Hall 1 was filled to capacity with only standing room as trails of conference participants braved the inconsistent weather and filed into the building yesterday morning. Dennis Brimhall, Syd Lieberman, and Josh Taylor addressed us. Although Dennis Brimhall did not mention the debuted FamilySearch logo of Wednesday night, there was a brief peek at the end of his presentation. RootsTech provides 8.5 hours of Thursday’s recap on the official site, but for those who may be pressed for time here’s a picture of the new logo:

The New FamilySearch Logo

For more information, please watch the recap at your convenience :-)

As far as the unveiled T-shirt, it’s another story :-) This year conference attendees were asked to complete the exhibit tour scavenger hunt to enter into Saturday’s drawing, but RootsTech broke with tradition and the T-shirt giveaway has been retired. This year official T-shirts can be purchased for $10 at the registration desk after the opening session on Friday, if all goes as reported.

Jill Ball, Marie Dougan,
Heather Rojo, and A.C. Ivory

The flow of the exhibit hall managed the crowds well. Within the first hour after it opened the button collectables available from FindMyPast, unveiled in the opening session, were gone and in the possession of the passionate :-) The claim on the buttons, with multiple different sayings referring to a person’s heritage from which one could choose, was described as a “frenzy.” If this is important to you, do not despair, Josh Taylor promised that there will be more buttons at the National Genealogical Conference in Las Vegas in May :-)

The official bloggers were busy in the media hub recording interviews among other things when they were not doing their own presentations. Jill Ball, Marie Dougan, Heather Rojo, and A.C. Ivory posed for a photo after their presentation discussing tech toys to take in The Genealogist’s Gadget Bag: International Panel.

For more information, the links to the official bloggers are provided on the official RootsTech page as well available on the RootsTech app under “news” :-)

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!