RootsTech 2025 Wrap-Up
In this episode, co-hosts Elizabeth and Tami discuss their experiences at the 2025 RootsTech conference, from the Expo Hall to the Forums, what’s new at FamilySearch, and what other industry leaders are up to. The show begins with a follow-up to Tami’s Ancestry Pet DNA testing and Elizabeth’s FOIA BIRLS request.
Next up are the highlights from RootsTech, followed by a visit with guest Gena Philibert-Ortega, who shares her enthusiasm about the GRIP Genealogy Institute and her passion for reading.
What’s Happening includes news about upcoming events, changes, and scholarship deadlines.
During Tea Time, Elizabeth provides an update on NY Vital Records, and Tami discusses genealogy in the virtual world of Second Life.
Apologies for Elizabeth’s poor audio quality! We were having some technical issues.
TIMESTAMPS
Opening
- 2:23 Tami shares the results of her pound pup’s DNA test, which included a surprisingly close shared match
- 7:00 Elizabeth talks about receiving one of her FOIA BIRLS files
RootsTech Wrap-Up
- 4:06 RootsTech online
- 14:47 Relatives at RootsTech
- 17:58 FamilySearch’s Global Tech Forum
- 19:21 FamilySearch Family Group Trees
- 20:23 FamilySearch Tree Integrity
- 23:26 FamilySearch New Change Log
- 24:00 Full Text Search Updates
- 25:01 FamilySearch AI Help Chat Bot
- 26:44 Industry Highlight Forum
- 28:50 MyHeritage: New Cousin Finder, phone app update
- 29:57 Storied: Memory books; creating a new census index
- 31:50 SOAR
- 32:18 Remento
- 34:38 Ancestry’s phone scanner and AI tools
- 35:38 MyHeritage Ancient Origins
Interview with Gena Philibert-Ortega
- 39:29 Gena’s RootsTech Experience
- 40:54 Her role at NGS
- 41:55 GRIP
- 46:05 Gena’s courses at SLIG
- 47:47 How she fits reading into her schedule & her reading goals
- 52:20 What Gena’s currently reading
What’s Happening
- 56:30 The National Genealogical Society 2025 Family History Conference “Tales & Trails”
- 59:20 BCG adoption of two-part portfolio for CG application process
- 1:00:50 APG scholarships for the Professional Management Conference
- 1:02:27 NYG&B seeking volunteers and interns for their digitization team
- 1:03:21 Scholarship and awards deadlines on Conference Keeper
Tea Time
- 1:04:00 New York vital records availability update.
- 1:06:18 Second Life chapter APG reorganization
RESOURCES
- Ancestry Pet DNA
- BIRLS
- RootsTech Conference
- Elizabeth’s Blog about Relatives at RootsTech
- Imagetotext.io
- FamilySearch Labs
- FamilySearch Group Trees
- FamilySearch New Change Log
- FamilySearch AI Help Chat Bot
- Content Authenticity Initiative
- MyHeritage Cousin Finder
- Storied
- SOAR
- Remento
- Ancestry Scanner
- GRIP
- SLIG
- Goodreads
- The Quest for Annie Moore of Ellis Island: Uncovering the True Story of the First Immigrant to Arrive at America’s Isle of Hope by Megan Smolenyak
- NGS 2025 Family History Conference
- BCG’s Springboard Blog
- APG Scholarships
- NYG&B Internships
- NYG&B Volunteers
- ConferenceKeeper Awards/Grants/Scholarships
- Second Life Chapter APG
- Second Life Virtual Genealogical Society
Do you have a question or a suggestion for something you’d like to hear about on the podcast? We want to hear from you!
This episode is sponsored by Vivid-Pix. All product opinions are our own.