{"id":540,"date":"2012-01-19T12:27:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-19T18:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/11-tips-for-attending-rootstech-2012\/"},"modified":"2013-07-05T15:51:36","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T20:51:36","slug":"11-tips-for-attending-rootstech-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/11-tips-for-attending-rootstech-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Tips for Attending RootsTech 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"RootsTech 2012<\/a> is right around the corner so I thought I\u2019d share some tips for attending the conference.\u00a0 While a version of this article appeared on this blog in August 2011, I have made a few changes and added a tip.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Choose your sessions wisely.<\/strong>\u00a0 Pick topics that will enhance your knowledge or that pique your curiosity.\u00a0 Choosing topics you already know a good deal about isn\u2019t a bad thing (hey, we can all use a refresher), but if you could be the presenter for the topic, use this opportunity to learn something new.<\/li>\n
  2. Arrive early for those sessions!<\/strong>\u00a0 Venues have strict codes they have<\/span> to follow regarding room occupancy.\u00a0 Once it\u2019s full, it\u2019s FULL<\/span>!\u00a0 If the room monitor says it\u2019s full, please listen to them and find another session.\u00a0 Arguing with the room monitor only prevents the session from starting on time or distracts the speaker and audience.<\/li>\n
  3. Bring business or \u201cbusiness\u201d cards.<\/strong>\u00a0 I realize not all genealogists who attend conferences are professionals, hence the reason one instance of the word business is in quotes.\u00a0 In my opinion, all genealogists (professional or not) should have a card that can be handed out when attending conferences (or visiting libraries, archives, etc.).\u00a0 The \u201cbusiness\u201d card would list your name and contact information; mine also includes a listing of my high-priority surnames on the back.\u00a0 See my post Genealogy Business Card<\/a> for more information and an example.<\/li>\n
  4. Collect business or \u201cbusiness\u201d cards.<\/strong>\u00a0 You never know when you might need these contacts.\u00a0 And be sure to write your own notes on the back like \u201ccould be linked to Garrison line,\u201d or \u201cspecializes in colonial Connecticut research,\u201d or \u201cwilling to speak at society meeting.\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. Use your down time to visit the exhibit hall.<\/strong>\u00a0 This is your chance to explore vendor products and services firsthand.\u00a0 And don\u2019t just stop by a table and pick up everything; say hello and engage in small talk\u2026you never know when that contact will come in handy.<\/li>\n
  6. Network!<\/strong>\u00a0 This is probably one of the most important things about attending any type of conference, but for genealogists, it\u2019s also very personal.\u00a0 While you\u2019ll want to network with professional genealogists and vendors, it\u2019s just as important to converse with everyone you run into\u2026one of those people could hold the key you\u2019ve been looking for to unlock that brick wall.<\/li>\n
  7. Attend social events.<\/strong>\u00a0 Although many people view social events (meals, special events, etc.) as networking opportunities, they also allow you to kick back and relax a bit from all the hustle and bustle of the conference.\u00a0 I\u2019m attending the comedy night event, even though I could use that time to go to the library\u2026since I\u2019ll be in SLC all week, this will be a well-deserved mid-week break.<\/li>\n
  8. Dress comfortably.<\/strong>\u00a0 Temperature control always seems to be an issue in large venues, so be prepared by dressing in layers.\u00a0 And don\u2019t forget comfy shoes!<\/li>\n
  9. Sit by people you don\u2019t know.<\/strong>\u00a0 How can you meet new people when you hang out with your comfort group?\u00a0 View this is a learning and networking opportunity.<\/li>\n
  10. Bring your tool kit.<\/strong>\u00a0 Be sure you have pens\/pencils, highlighters, paper\/notepad, laptop\/tablet, and camera.<\/li>\n
  11. Do some research.<\/strong>\u00a0 RootsTech 2012 is held right by the Family History Library<\/a>.\u00a0 Even if you are not arriving before or staying after the conference, you can still find some time to pop over to the FHL for some research.\u00a0 In fact, the library is open until 9pm on Tuesday-Friday (5pm on Monday), so you\u2019ll be able to grab a bite to eat after your sessions and spend the evening in the library.\u00a0 And, as a bonus, the library will be open even later (I think midnight) on Friday (be sure to sign up for this on your conference registration form).\u00a0 So bring your research toolkit and to-do list.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There are plenty of other tips out there, but for me, these are the big ones.\u00a0 Feel free to post your own conference attendance tips in the comments of this post.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Haven\u2019t registered for RootsTech 2012 yet?\u00a0 There\u2019s still time!\u00a0 Head over to the <\/em><\/strong>RootsTech website<\/em><\/strong><\/a> to register today!!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    RootsTech 2012 is right around the corner so I thought I\u2019d share some tips for attending the conference.\u00a0 While a version of this article appeared on this blog in August 2011, I have made a few changes and added a tip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[357,25,39,360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-genblog","category-news-events","category-rootstech","cat-357-id","cat-25-id","cat-39-id","cat-360-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3HcLI-8I","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3226,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540\/revisions\/3226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}