Phillip and I had the privilege of being invited to the My Heritage Friends dinner last night. I left the library around 6pm to be able to catch a shuttle to dinner. It was a chance to see, meet, and network with some of the speakers, vendors, and the My Heritage staff. It was a great time indeed. So much in fact that I didn’t take any photos. It also led to a much later night than I expected, but it wasn’t so bad since my first session wasn’t until 930am this morning. That made it seem like a late morning of me sleeping in.
I arrived at the Salt Palace with more than enough time before my session. Since the session room was close to the expo hall, I decided to stop in and take a few photos before it got busy. After the session, I went to the Keynote speaker in the Main Stage. Today’s speakers were Hunter Woodhall and Tara Davis-Woodhall, the gold medal Olympians from 2024 Paris Olympics. Hunter attended the University of Arkansas, and they both trained there for the Olympics. So, it was a must that went to the keynote, interview, and get a picture since we are Arkansas alum. It was great to get to meet them and see them and see their medals.
Saturdays at RootsTech are always a short day, but in some ways it’s always the busiest too. It wasn’t until the end of the day that I realized that I only attended one session, and that I spent most of the day in the expo hall. Saturdays are also Family Discovery Day. Discover Day is a free event in the expo hall, featuring ballon making, face painting, games, art projects, demonstrations, and giveaways. To say the expo hall was packed is an understatement. Family Discovery Day brings in thousands of more people into the Salt Palace.
It turned out that most of my purchases in the expo hall were about telling my story and restoring some family photos/VHS. I was also able to catch up with some of my RootsTech cousins before we all went our separate ways at the end of the day. It all went by so fast this year, before I knew it, they were on the overhead speaker announcing that the expo hall was closing. I was headed to the coat check for the last time.
We decided to head to the Family Search Library to get in some research. Went up to the third floor to see most of my RootsTech cousins had already been there for hours before we arrived at 430pm. That meant we had just under four hours before they closed, and I spent every minute I could researching. It’s nice to be with other family historian while researching because I was able to pick their brains and get some different research ideas. The Family History Library doesn’t play about closing time. They announced that they will be closing in 15 minutes and five minutes to 8pm, a notification appeared on my computer screen saying the library is closing and all computers will shut off in five minutes – save information now. With that I started packing up and was heading out. We met up with our RootsTech cousins and decided to end the week having dinner together.
When I say I had the best time at RootsTech this year, I mean just that. Every year gets better and better. I attended some great session, heard so many inspirational stories, got in some much-needed research, added to my Mays Cummings digital archive, hung out with other like-minded family historians, and was able to network and make some connections in the genealogy world. It’s hard to believe that I’m already packing my suitcases getting ready for my early flight in the morning and preparing for RootsTech 2026 because it will be here before you know it.
Sessions I attended:
- Using US Church Records as a Brick Wall Strategy: Case Studies presented by Sunny Morton
- Keynote Speakers – Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall
Click HERE to read my RootsTech 2025 – Day 1 Recap
Click HERE to read my RootsTech 2025 – Day 2 Recap
Click HERE to see pictures from RootsTech 2025
Journey Through the Generations 