Reflections on Genealogy Conferences

https://www.rootstech.org/why-attend?cid=tp-rt-6517

Conferences are a traditional way of promoting, socializing and instructing people in large and small groups. Gathering together for a variety of reasons seems to be a common human trait dating back into antiquity. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that one of the earliest recorded of such "conferences" was held by the patriarchs of old as related in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 107: 53-54:

53 Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing. 

54 And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel.

Fast forward to the present and we have "conferences" for all sorts of activities both religious and decidedly secular. The annual RootsTech Conference has its origins as follows:

RootsTech is a family history and technology conference and trade show held annually in the Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the successor to three former conferences: the Conference on Computerized Family History and Genealogy, the Family History Technology Workshop[1] and the FamilySearch Developers Conference.[2] Wikipedia: RootsTech

I attended the first RootsTech Conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2011 as a blogger and continued to attend each of the annual conferences up to and including the one held this year in 2017. As circumstances mandate that I miss attending in person at RootsTech in 2018, I have been reflecting on the entire concept of holding trade shows and conferences.

Over the past few years, genealogy conferences have been impacted by technology. A few years ago, FamilySearch began promoting a series of much smaller, local conferences called Family Discovery Days. In essence, these smaller conferences which include media from the larger conferences and other media sources, are in "competition" with the larger conferences. Since these smaller conferences are held in venues, i.e. Ward and Stake Centers of the Church, they have very low overhead. Larger conferences, by their nature, need larger venues and that means a much greater expense. In most of these larger conferences, paid attendance is mandatory.

Is RootsTech a conference or a trade show or both? Trade shows sponsored by a market organization or large company are not going away. The largest such conference in the world is the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. As the news in Salt Lake City, Utah has shown recently, the fact that one of these larger trade shows move from one city to another has a major impact on the local economy. But both trade shows and conferences cannot plan on unlimited and continual growth in attendance. This is particularly true for a special interest conference based on genealogy. This is especially true when all of the major genealogy conferences are competing not only with local conferences but also a major growth in online webinars and video presentations.

It is still a great opportunity for any genealogist or even those with a passive interest to attend RootTech in Salt Lake City, Utah. But as shown by the cancellation of the UK's major conference, Who do you think you are, the fact that a show attracts crowds does not necessarily mean it will not feel the effects of technological changes.