Live Streaming From RootsTech
Unfortunately, I am not able to attend RootsTech this year and it is one of the conferences that I want to attend at some point. This year, I decided to listen to the Keynote address which was streamed live from the RootsTech website.
I am not going to go through what everyone had to say, but I want to stress that D. Joshua Taylor hit it spot on! We need to embrace the younger generation with the technology and the stories. That is what is going to bring them into the fold and to keep them there.
I am sure that we all talk about our genealogy research with our children or grandchildren, but most of the time they get that glazed over look. To keep them intrigued we need to have a story, not just a date and a name.
Over the past weekend, most of you know that I brought my 16-year-old with me to volunteer at the Irish American Heritage Center. Her job was to utilize Ancestry since it was not working on my computer. She loved it! She loved the way the website worked and wanted to set up an account, until she found out I had to pay for it. Imagine my excitement when I heard her say she loved the website!
Yesterday, I received an email that was sent to our genealogy group thanking us for volunteering our time to assist others in trying to find their roots. My daughter’s name was included in the email and I forwarded it to her. She was super excited to be included in the group email.
Is she the next generation genealogist, or shall I say the Y Generation? I am not sure, but you can bet that I will continue to plant the seeds with my kids and any of the younger members of our family.
I’m so glad they have the livestream function. And I totally agree that it is the stories and the tech that will draw younger people to genealogy. And when they come, everyone should both welcome and respect them, even treat them as old friends. I’ve picked up that some younger genealogists (20s, 30s) feel a condescending attitude from the older ones. I hope that’s not widespread! Stories are for all ages to share. So glad about the panel today.
Mariann,
We do need to be welcoming to the newbies and the younger generation as well. There is definitely a condescending attitude out there and it needs to change. If we keep stereotyping everyone why would they want to be a part of our community? It is like going back to middle school and having the right friends. Who has time for that? Not me. My time is divided between all the projects I have going on and cannot be wasted by such thinking.