Monthly Archives: March 2024

RootsTech 2024 – MyHeritage is ON FIRE with 13 Announcements

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I’ve got to tell you, MyHeritage has outdone themselves.

I had a hard time just keeping track of their announcements, which totaled 13 – a baker’s dozen.

You can watch the MyHeritage RootsTech keynote by Aaron Godfrey, here.

However, there are a few things not in the video, so let’s take a look at a quick summary of what’s new.

DNA Uploads with Free Advanced Tools Forever Extended Until March 10th

MyHeritage just extended their DNA upload that includes ALL ADVANCED TOOLS FOR FREE, forever, to March 10th so click here now to upload every kit you manage. This is a great deal. Hint – new ethnicity results are coming soon and you’ll be saving $29 on each kit you upload.

20+ Billion Records

MyHeritage has just passed the 20 billion record mark and is continuing to add. That’s billion, with a B. These records are available to customers with a MyHeritage subscription. If you don’t have a subscription, you can try a MyHeritage Subscription with a Free Trial, here.,

Additionally, right now, subscriptions are 50% off, but I don’t know how long that price lasts.

I love my MyHeritage subscription, and if you try it and don’t like yours, you can cancel and be charged nothing during the 14-day trial period.

I particularly like that the local newspaper where my grandparents lived is available on MyHeritage, and no place else. In addition, MyHeritage has integrated with FamilySearch, which is digitizing and indexing records like wildfire. That collaboration has provided me with information from European sources, including archives.

MyHeritage Wiki

MyHeritage has been working on their new Wiki, a community encyclopedia for genealogy and DNA, for almost a year now, although it was only recently released.

Photo courtesy of MyHeritage

I’ve been honored to write several articles for the newly announced MyHeritage Wiki, including the definition of DNA itself:

Take a look at the new Wiki, here.

You can filter in a number of ways, and you can even sign up to be a contributor.

Check out their blog article, here.

AI Record Finder

The AI Record Finder is the world’s first AI chat-based search engine for historical records.

I should probably tell you that, at this point in time, I do use AI, such as ChatGPT, very cautiously, and I’m inherently suspicious because AI tools sometimes hallucinate. It’s a new technology with lots of glitches and unknowns, so let’s see how MyHeritage is using this tool. It should be much more reliable since it’s in a controlled environment. I need to be convinced. 😊

The AI Record Finder is under the Research Menu. Just type your question about your ancestor.

I’m cheating and giving MyHeritage a tough one. I typed, “Please tell me about Solomon Ferwerda, who died in 1768 in Groningen, the Netherlands.”

MyHeritage returned three possibilities in their database, including their affiliated databases. One is a MyHeritage tree and two are records from FamilySearch.

Don’t limit yourself at this point.

I happen to know “my” Solomon is the first person, but I played around a bit before selecting the “right” Solomon. Why? Because there’s a lot that I don’t know about his life. It’s possible that the second and third records are ALSO the right person, so be sure to review everything.

Clicking on the middle or right record for Solomon shows that, indeed, this record from FamilySearch comes from the Dutch Archival Indexes, so it’s not “just someone’s tree.”

We do know the Ferwerda family is from Leeuwarden, but we don’t know when Solomon was born, nor if he was married twice. I only have the name of his second wife and one child, Jan, who was born the year he died.

The two FamilySearch Dutch archive records are from Leeuwarden, so maybe, just maybe, I’ve discovered something new about Solomon. How exciting!

I need to click through and check this out further.

I didn’t expect to like this tool, but so far, I really do. But wait – there’s more.

AI Ancestor Bio

You can click to have MyHeritage generate an AI bio of an ancestor for you.

The bio takes a few minutes to generate and will be available for download in the chat and will also be emailed to you. You can easily share with others. Getting other people interested in genealogy often encourages them to take a DNA test. DNA tests are still on sale for $39, here.

Solomon Ferwerda’s AI bio was completed quickly and arrived in pdf format. We know so little about him, I knew it would be short. I must say, I really enjoyed the “Historical Context” section that discussed the surrounding events that would have affected his life. That’s incredibly important and would have or could have influenced the decisions he made. Maybe the warfare and political unrest caused him to move from Leeuwarden to Groningen for some reason, where he died the year his son was born.

Here’s Solomon’s bio.

Here’s a link to the RootsTech lecture about the MyHeritage AI tools by Ran Snir, the VP of Product.

MyHeritage blog links for AI Record finder are here and here.

You can watch Telling Your Family’s Story with MyHeritage’s AI Features by Janna Helshtein at Legacy Family Tree Webinars, here.

I can’t wait to play with the MyHeritage AI tools more.

Updated Ethnicity Coming Soon

This is going to make a lot of people happy!

MyHeritage is in the process of updating their ethnicity results, increasing their regions from 42 to 80, with significantly optimized granularity in Europe. I initially misunderstood and thought the new results were available now, but they won’t arrive until summer.

I understand from talking to a Jewish friend involved in MyHeritage’s R&D effort that their own results are substantially improved and that they have now been placed in Armenia where their ancestors are from. They are no longer generically “Jewish.”

New Profile Pages with Hints

Daniel Horowitz said that everyone calls Smart Matches and Record Matches hints, so now MyHeritage has updated profile pages and is adding them to the profile page and officially calling them Hints.

You can still find Smart Matches and Record Matches listed separately under Discoveries, but on everyone’s profile, they are called Hints.

On Solomon’s profile page, scroll down to view his journey based on the information you’ve entered or accepted into your tree.

I did not yet add Leeuwarden, because I’m yet positive those records in Leewarden are his, but if I had, Leeuwarden would also be shown on his journey map. I’ll be incorporating these into my 52 Ancestors stories. I love maps! Maybe I can find old maps to include too,

You can read more about the new profiles and hints, here.

Tree Collaboration with FamilyTreeDNA

Aaron Godfrey announced tree collaboration with FamilyTreeDNA who pre-announced this at their conference in November.

I don’t have specific details about how it works, as this won’t happen for a few months yet, but FamilyTreeDNA customers will port their trees to MyHeritage which allows them to take advantage of MyHeritage’s record collections and such. Existing MyHeritage customers will simply connect their FamilyTreeDNA test to their MyHeritage tree.

FamilyTreeDNA has never been a “tree” company, so this means that users will have one less tree to maintain independently, and they can augment their research with records from MyHeritage.

I talked to Katy Rowe-Schurwanz, the Product Manager at FamilyTreeDNA to confirm that this is NOT a DNA transfer. FamilyTreeDNA matches still occur in the FamilyTreeDNA database, just like always, and MyHeritage matches still occur in the MyHeritage database. If you want matching in both databases, you still have to upload to or test at both. Only the trees are integrated, meaning when you click on a tree at  FamilyTreeDNA, you’ll see the tree displayed on MyHeritage.

The great news is that FamilyTreeDNA features such as Family Matching (bucketing) where you link your DNA matches at FamilyTreeDNA to their profile cards so that maternal/paternal bucketing occurs will still work the same way. The only difference will be that your tree will actually reside at MyHeritage and not at FamilyTreeDNA.

You’ll be able to enjoy the best of both worlds.

We will know more in a few months, and I’ll provide more details when I have them.

Invite Another MyHeritage User to View Your DNA Results

Aaron Godfrey said in the keynote that 2FA (two-factor authentication) at MyHeritage will become mandatory later this month, and with it, MyHeritage is adding the feature of being able to invite another MyHeritage user to view your DNA results. This allows people to collaborate more easily, especially if a different person is managing someone else’s DNA test.

Reimagine Multi-Photo Scanner App

This photo-scanning innovation is for your phone and allows you to scan photos and entire photo album pages – automatically separating and improving the photos. Then, of course, you just tag them to the proper person in your tree like any other photo.

Oh, and did I mention that Reimagine is free? I expected to have to pay when I downloaded the app, but I didn’t, probably because I have a full subscription.

Based on this article, Reimagine is not meant for other types of images, like pages of text or albums of clipped newspaper articles. But guess what? I downloaded the app, and it works just fine for those items! Hallelujah. How I wish I had this last week at the FamilySearch Library when I was finding pages in books I wanted to associate with a specific ancestor.

If you have album pages of photos to scan, this is golden and integrates with the profiles of people into your MyHeritage tree.

I really, really like the idea of having the ability to scan in the palm of my hand. That way if someone has a photo, you don’t have to try to take a photo of it. Gone are the days of literally dragging a laptop and scanner around with me when I’m traveling – just in case. Yes, I actually did and now I don’t have to anymore.

I cringe to think how many opportunities were lost to me before the days of laptops – but not now.

Thank you – THANK YOU, MyHeritage. What a great gift!

You can find the QR code to download the app, here.

OldNews is New News

MyHeritage has introduced a new website for old newspapers called OldNews which you can find here.

This addition doubles the number of newspapers previously available on MyHeritage.

Users can also subscribe separately to Old News for about $99/year.

MyHeritage customers use their normal credentials to sign in to either site, but accessing newspapers not previously integrated into MyHeritage will require an OldNews subscription too.

I had to try it. I entered my mother’s name.

Look, my Mom had a tonsillectomy. I never knew that. It was just a couple of months after she graduated from high school.

I didn’t know Mom spent the summer in Philadelphia, either. She was 19 at that time, and I had heard rumblings that she studied with a “prima ballerina” at the School of American Ballet. Guess where that is? Yep, Philly.

My Mom was a professional tap and ballet dancer before she became my Mom.

Understanding that Mom spent the summer of 1942 on the east coast sheds new light on this and a few other photos in Mom’s photo album, which I can now scan.

Ok, I can’t help myself. I have to enhance this photo at MyHeritage.

Much better. Another tiny piece of Mom’s life brought into focus.

I wonder what else is in OldNews that I don’t know about. Hmmmm…

You can read about OldNews here.

New All-Inclusive Omni Subscription

MyHeritage is launching a new Omni all-inclusive subscription plan that includes most of the MyHeritage products and tools, except for Filae, unless I’m missing something. Omni reportedly costs less than half the price if you were to subscribe to all of these individually. I’ve asked for a comparison chart which I don’t have yet, but I’m told will be coming soon.

Here’s what’s included:

Additionally, I asked MyHeritage about whether or not the advanced DNA tools are included with Omni, and they are. So, add advanced DNA tools to that list.

The following information about the Omni Plan is a screenshot from the MyHeritage blog article, here.

I have not been able to determine the price of an Omni subscription. At RootsTech, you were interested in the Omni plan, you submitted a Google form and a day or so later, you received this email.

I suspect MyHeritage needs to talk to you because how much it costs initially depends on your existing subscriptions, and how much time is left on those.

I reached out to MyHeritage and asked when Omni will be available to purchase, and the answer is “soon.” You can’t sign up just yet.

I have never subscribed to Legacy Family Tree Webinars, even though I’m a webinar presenter and have several webinars available there. My gift to myself is going to be Omni when it’s available because I want Legacy Family Tree Webinars, and I’d love a subscription to OldNews. I already have a full subscription to MyHeritage, and I’d probably use Geni more than I do as a casual user if I had the Omni subscription.

Artifact Testing – Maybe

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend CEO Gilad Japhet’s RootsTech session because his session and mine were at exactly the same time.

However, I asked Aaron Godfrey after Gilad’s session what I had missed that was not in Aaron’s keynote, other than Gilad’s wonderful stories.

Aaron and others told me that Gilad stated that he was personally submitting personal artifacts, such as stamps, to a third-party lab once again, to test the waters to see if DNA can now be extracted from artifacts successfully.

MyHeritage tried this a few years ago, ultimately unsuccessfully. Perhaps this time will be different, but I would not hold my breath, truthfully. Degraded DNA has quality issues, not to mention that the DNA extracted might not be the DNA of the person expected.

I would personally love this, but I am also skeptical at this point. Kudos to Gilad for trying again with his own personal items.

MyHeritage Online RootsTech Booth

MyHeritage has provided several educational videos in their online RootsTech booth, at this link. Be sure to take advantage of this free resource.

Whew, I’m finally done! I told you that MyHeritage had been very, very busy, and I wasn’t kidding. I hope I didn’t miss anything.

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RootsTech 2024 – Panic in the Cavern of Doom

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RootsTech is one of those events that speakers, vendors, RootsTech staff, and volunteers prepare for in an ever-increasing whirlwind for the 6 months before RootsTech actually takes place. I’m sure that the RootsTech staff starts next week for next year. At least, I sure hope they get a week or two of rest.

I can’t see behind the scenes of course, but I know that speakers begin submissions in about June and by the late fall, webinars have been recorded, syllabus documents are complete, and Powerpoint slides are well underway.

Vendors have been preparing for months too – planning their booths, videos and feature announcements.

RootsTech is the largest and most far-reaching genealogy conference in the world, offering hundreds of classes in a variety of formats. It’s one huge family reunion.

2024 was the best RootsTech ever. I think the years we missed in-person events due to Covid have made attendees incredibly grateful to see one another.

I know that not everyone can make the journey to Salt Lake City, so I’m going to take you along with me.

Including the misadventures😊

Sunday

The FamilySearch Library (FSL) is open Monday through Saturday with extended hours during RootsTech week. Many genealogists extend their RootsTech trip and visit the library! It’s like old-home week, with people hugging and then teaming up to collaborate.

That makes Sunday a travel day if you’re planning to research in the library on Monday through Wednesday. RootsTech opened on Thursday, February 29th, but for speakers, events began on Wednesday afternoon.

Saturday is packing day. Every single technology item needs to be checked and checked again. Trust me on this – Murphy LIVES at RootsTech, and he has been cloned because every speaker has some kind of issue that needs to be resolved.

The camaraderie is amazing as everyone helps everyone.

Kitters, one of our now-elderly rescue cats, wasn’t fond of me leaving and tried to pack herself in my suitcase. She missed slightly, but I clearly got the idea. She figured that if she didn’t look at me, I wouldn’t notice, and maybe she could go along!

I was excited and laid out my new chromosome leggings for the trip.

Jim made me a peanut butter English Muffin for breakfast on the way in the car. Trust me, I did not want to be awake.

My flight left hours before dawn, as in 5-something. I figured that my trip through the airport would be made at record speed. No one in their right mind would be there.

I still allowed almost 2 hours, as the airlines suggest – and guess what – I needed every minute of it.

I have never seen my home airport so jammed, with incredibly long lines both to check luggage and at the TSA. Everyone was grouchy, to say the least, passengers and staff alike.

I was afraid I’d miss my flight, but thankfully I didn’t. I even had five minutes or so to chat with another genealogist who was on the same flight.

I figured my “close call” for the week was over at this point.

Salt Lake City

I arrived in Salt Lake City and called an Uber. I’m not fond of snow, but snow on the mountains is beautiful, especially if it’s not in the city.

The ride from the airport into the city isn’t long – maybe 15-20 minutes.

Salt Lake City isn’t terribly large – tucked into a valley. You can see the mountains everyplace you look in SLC.

As we entered the city, I could see the familiar buildings on the left and right. The conference center is beside that tall silver building on the left.

I was getting excited!

It was only about 10 AM mountain time and I had been trying to arrange for early checking at the Marriott City Creek which is across the street from the convention center and a block or so away from the library where I would be spending the next two or three days.

I like that hotel because it has a Starbucks in the lobby, and the hotel’s location is super convenient, especially in inclement weather.

Because the RootsTech speaker rooms were reserved in a block, I could not change my reservation personally and had not actually been able to get ahold of a human who could alter my reservation – but I was lucky, and they did have a room that I could get into early.

I’ve developed a pattern, as have most repeat RootsTech attendees. Many of us walk to Harmons, the local grocery store, and grab snacks for the week. The food locally is quite expensive. The Salt Stone restaurant in the hotel is adequate, but I wanted snacks and something like Lunchables for the for the FSL. Nearby restaurants closed during Covid and never reopened. No one wants to take time away from research to walk to a restaurant for food.

It was cold and slightly windy, as it often is in SLC, but it was actually rather pleasant, considering that it’s still winter, so walking was no inconvenience.

I headed down the elevator and was looking forward to a sunny walk to the store.

Trapped in the Cavern of Doom

I stepped off the elevator and headed for the front doors of the hotel when I realized that this side exit would cut off about half a block each way. There was no need to walk to the front door to circle back again past this exit.

Wonderful!

Since all of SLC is built on the side of a mountain and in the valley, I wanted to check and be sure this actually did exit to the street.

Yes, indeed, I could see the street out the shutters and I was pleased for the shortcut.

I opened the door and stepped down the two steps to street level. The door automatically closed behind me.

I pushed on the outer door and it would not open. I tried again, thinking it was just sticky. Still wouldn’t budge, but it felt like it should.

The area looked very unkempt. Maybe it really wasn’t an exit? But lighted exit signs pointed the way. Right?

I thought that was strange since there was no sign on the door I had just come through saying anything like “emergency exit only,” and even if it had been an emergency exit, the door is still supposed to open.

I tried again, but the door simply would not open.

Ok, so I turned around to go back inside.

Only to see this.

There WAS NO WAY BACK INSIDE.

I swear, it looks like people have been scratching and digging at that that door.

And, there was no way to get outside.

I was trapped in a small concrete Cavern of Doom.

Did I mention that I’m claustrophobic?

I refuse to even consider an escape room, but suddenly, I’m in a very small one – alone – with no way out.

I could feel the anxiety surging through my blood.

I had to control this, because I had to be able to think.

There was no way to get my fingers in that gap to pry the door open. Nothing in my purse that might work either. So I decided to try to see if the outer door was just stuck. I threw my whole body weight against it.

Nothing.

The handle depressed, kind of askew, but the door would not open.

I remembered that the entire hallway was just conference rooms, so no one was going to be using them on a Sunday.

I decided to pound on the inner door, just in case someone could hear me.

Dead silence.

OK, what next?

I decided to call the front desk.

Yes, call the front desk. That’s it! Hopefully I would get a human and not that blasted “select this option” menu that I had kept getting when I was trying to modify my reservation.

The front desk would send someone to retrieve me.

I tried calling, but got the reservation center that is not the local number.

By now, I was shaking.

Thank Heavens I had my phone. I remembered that if you enter a location in a Google maps, they often give you the local phone number of the business you’re trying to reach.

I typed in Marriott, and the location popped up, with a local number.

THANK GOD!!!!

I called, and an actual human answered. What a relief!

I explained that I was trapped and explained exactly where.

“Enter the front door. The front desk is on your left. The Salt Stone Restaurant is straight ahead. The hallway by the restaurant is the elevators. Not that hallway. The hallway just before that – the only other hallway on that side. Turn right, the only way you can go, towards the street. Walk down the hallway towards the exit sign. Turn left. Double doors on the left. Not those. Exit door straight in front to the street. That door. Please come open it. I’m trapped.

Please hurry!”

The female who answered sounded confused.

I repeat myself again.

She hesitantly says OK and hangs up.

I wait.

Nothing.

No footsteps.

No voice.

I’m pounding on the door and calling.

Silence.

I call the number again.

The same woman answers.

I ask, none too politely, where she is.

She tells me she’s confused.

I give her my phone number and tell her NOT TO HANG UP.

She says she won’t, but she can’t figure out where I am.

I explain this over again.

She says OK, she’s coming.

I implore her not to hang up.

Click – she hangs up.

I pound and call and wait again.

Nothing.

I’m increasingly panicked.

I tell myself there’s no reason to panic. It’s just a small space, and I will eventually get out.

I won’t freeze to death anytime soon.

I MUST MAINTAIN MY COMPOSURE to be able to get myself out of this.

I wish this were a nightmare, and I could just wake up. It feels like a night terror.

I call again. The woman says she has to get her manager.

This time, she laid the phone down.

I hear two women talking.

A different woman comes to the phone.

I’m explaining all over again.

She says she’s coming.

DO NOT HANG UP!!!

Click.

More pounding and yelling on the door so they will hear me.

Nothing.

Ok, T-H-I-N-K calmly. Plan D because so far plans A-C have not worked.

I am going to give this 5 more minutes of pounding, and then I’m going to call 911.

They WILL FIND ME, and THEY WILL RELEASE ME from this concrete hell.

Yes, it’s going to be incredibly embarrassing, especially if the door does work with jiggling it a bit or something like that. Maybe I’m just not strong enough.

  • One minute

How can minutes possibly be this long?

  • Two minutes

Try the outer door again. Repeatedly. Push everyplace.

  • Three minutes

Yell even more loudly. Maybe someone outside on the street will hear you and get help. The voices outside drift away.

  • Four minutes

Distantly, I hear two women’s voices in the hotel.

They are getting closer. Approaching in the hallway.

THANK GOD!!!

FINALLY!

This seemed like an eternity but had only actually been about 20 minutes.

What took them so long??

My heart was pounding its way out of my chest. Good thing I don’t have a heart condition. I think this counts as a stress test.

The door begins to open, and the landing is so small that the door pushes me down the two steps. I don’t care. To steady myself but mostly to be sure it doesn’t close again, leaving me trapped, I grab ahold of the edge of that open door and hold on for dear life.

Once inside, I angrily demanded of the two females what took them so long.

Where were they?

They both looked entirely stunned.

They just stared at me incredulously.

I said, “I called the front desk three times. You hung up. Where were you?”

They told me they were Starbucks employees who just happened to hear me and had nothing to do with the front desk. They were headed into the two double doors where the food supplies were stored.

I suddenly realized I was yelling at the wrong people. I apologized profusely and headed for the front desk.

A man was working the front desk.

I was furious.

I explained what had just happened, and he told me that there were no women working the front desk. He gave me what I term “the side-eye,” which essentially expressed disbelief.

On my phone, I showed him the number I had called. There’s another Marriott, the City Center, just a couple blocks away. Apparently that’s the number that popped up on my phone and I called their front desk. Still, they did not call me back. Someone was obviously in distress.

The man seemed to think the issue was resolved now that I had been freed, but it clearly was NOT.

I insisted that he come with me NOW so I could show him the problem. I did not want that to happen to anyone else.

I took him into the Cavern of Doom, while I stood with the door open into the hallway. Trust me, I was under no circumstances going back in there. He could not open the door either. He said that it appeared that a screw was loose. The handle depressed unevenly, and the screw certainly could have been loose.

I don’t care what was wrong. It should never have been in that dilapidated condition, and it needed to be fixed ASAP. He said he would put a sign on the door not to use it and notify engineering. What if someone did not have their phone and was trapped there overnight, or worse? You could freeze to death.

I was still shaking badly and could feel the adrenaline coursing through my body. I really, really needed that walk to Harmons.

I went into the Starbucks to apologize to the ladies, my rescuers, again, and they made me a cup of decaf coffee. Bless their hearts. They showed more compassion than anyone else other than the Fire Marshall’s office.

I left a message for the hotel general manager, and I called the Fire Marshall’s office on Monday morning. The Fire Marshall’s office was very concerned and compassionate. I had taken photos. I took two photos inside when I was trapped in the Cavern of Doom thinking I could send them to the front desk or the firefighters if I had to call 911 and it might be a clue as to where to find me. I went back and took pictures of the hallway with the exit signs for the Fire Marshall’s office.

I wanted them to see the exit signs directing the unsuspecting to said Cavern.

They requested the photos.

Furthermore, on my Facebook page, Sunday afternoon, another well-known genealogist told me that she had been trapped IN THAT EXACT SAME LOCATION IN THE SAME HOTEL 4 years prior. Yes, four years.

That infuriated me.

She said she would vouch for me, so I sent that screenshot to the Fire Marshall too.

This is not a new problem, and the general manager surely should have known about it, which made me even angrier.

This isn’t a neglected maintenance issue – it’s worse. It’s a huge, chronic, safety issue – potentially life and death in the event of an emergency.

There’s no excuse for management NOT to know about it.

If it’s repeatedly problematic, it should be checked daily. It should be permanently remedied.

What if someone froze to death in there?

What if there was a fire?

Or an earthquake that required evacuation? They had a 5.7 magnitude earthquake in 2021 that toppled Angel Moroni from the Salt Lake City Temple and the church buildings are still under repair/renovation with scaffolding and cranes visible across the skyline.

The fire Marshal visited on Monday, and I verified with the manager that the door worked after their visit. However, the handle still depressed unevenly, so will it continue to work? The entire handle/door needs to be replaced. Minimally, there needs to be an emergency phone or an emergency call button in the Cavern of Doom, just like in elevators.

I hope the hotel was cited and fined, and I hope the Fire Marshall inspected the other emergency egresses too.

I don’t know what the final resolution is/was, but the general manager said he would have engineering “remedy the situation” when I talked to him the following day.

The general manager was pleasant enough and acted professionally. I informed him very directly that the buck stops with him and that there is absolutely no excuse or justification.

Full stop.

None.

Nada.

He mentioned that there are a lot of doors in the hotel, and he can’t really check them all.

PLEASE!!!

In retrospect, this Marriott is in a prime location for the Salt Palace conference venue across the street, along with the FSL, and they don’t need to do better. They just need to be there.

I had an extremely difficult time sleeping. If that ground-floor exit, which would be used more often than other emergency exits, is in that condition and has been at least twice in four years, what do the rest of the egresses look like? For example, what about the stairs from the upper floors in case of a fire? Do those doors open?

This had/has disaster written all over it.

I will be following up with the local Fire Marshall’s office and probably with Marriott Corporate as well.

I know that the FamilySearch folks would never knowingly put their speakers and guests at risk, so I think I’m going to suggest that perhaps they could schedule a pair of their missionary elders to test this door episodically – one elder staying outside the door, of course.

Maybe not a bad idea for the Fire Marshall too.

I’m hoping that next year, perhaps the Hyatt that is attached to the Salt Palace can be the conference hotel and would be willing to match the Marriott pricing.

Harmons, Finally

Yes, I did make it to Harmons grocery store. After all that, Harmons seemed downright boring and anticlimactic, which is exactly what I needed.

I saw a beautiful display of orchids. My soul needed some calming peace, and if I had been at home, I would have purchased one.

Instead, I took a photo that soothed my frayed nerves with their beauty.

I purchased my goodies, including chocolate, and returned to the hotel to unpack. Inside my suitcase, I discovered a treasure. It seems that Kitters and my other cat kids, Chai and Mandy, had packed something in my suitcase since Kitters couldn’t pack herself.

Kitters is not doing well. This made me sob like a baby.

You have no idea how much I needed this. Not the Peeps, but the letter.

I smiled and settled in to prepare a research list for the FSL the next day.

Sunday was a VERY long day. I aged about a century and couldn’t help but think about my ancestor, the Reverend John Lothropp who was imprisoned in horrific conditions for two years. I feel you, John. I wonder how many other ancestors have experienced something similar or far worse than my brief entrapment.

I was sure Monday would be much better. After all, I was going to chase ancestors for the next two days.

I guarantee you, I avoided anything that even resembled a shortcut that might morph into a Cavern of Doom.

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FamilyTreeDNA RootsTech Pricing Lowest Ever & Still in Effect

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Yesterday, I wrote about how to find the RootsTech vendors’ online booths.

So, guess what I found in the online FamilyTreeDNA RootsTech booth – a list of their show prices AND the associated promo codes, which means you can take advantage of these low prices even if you didn’t attend or even sign up for RootsTech.

These prices, most of which are the lowest I’ve ever seen, remain in effect through March 29th.

Not only are new tests on sale, but so are upgrades if you’ve already taken one test and want to purchase a different type of test, or you want to upgrade an existing test.

Click to enlarge images

Upgrade pricing is shown below. Now is a great time to upgrade to the Big Y if you have only taken one of the 12-111 marker tests. There’s so much more to discover, pardon the pun.

Also, the new mitochondrial tree will be released soon with approximately 5 times as many haplogroups, and you’ll want the full sequence test to benefit from that new technology.

FamilyTreeDNA gave a sneak preview of the new MitoTree at RootsTech, and it’s AMAZING – both the haplogroups that reach into a genealogical timeframe and also the new MitoDiscover tool. (MitoTree and MitoDiscover are my names – FamilyTreeDNA might select something different.) I’ll write about this soon!

Click here to order a new test or sign on and upgrade!

Finding Cousins to Test

I talk in my sessions and in blog articles about the importance of testing someone from each of your ancestral lines for both their Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA. Essentially, you don’t know what you don’t know about your ancestors, and this is the only way to find out. I wrote about constructing a DNA Pedigree Chart, here.

Both Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA tests are useful for recent genealogy as well as before the adoption of surnames. Both can confirm or even disprove an ancestral lineage, not to mention breaking through brick walls. At these prices, there’s no better time to order tests for cousins who have the proper DNA to represent those ancestors and are willing to test.

Where might you find those cousins who carry the Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA of each of your ancestors?

  • Known cousins who descend appropriately from those ancestors
  • Your autosomal matches at any vendor – search matches by surname.
  • ThruLines at Ancestry
  • Theories of Family Relativity at MyHeritage
  • WikiTree descendants of each ancestral line and people contributing to each ancestor
  • Relatives at RootsTech (through the end of March only)
  • FamilySearch descendants of each ancestor
  • FamilyTreeDNA Projects for the surname in question
  • Facebook pages for surnames or even county genealogy society pages where your ancestors lived.
  • Facebook users by that surname, although if they are not involved in genealogy, they might think you are stalking them. I don’t reach out on Facebook unless I know the connection or they are in a genealogy-focused group.

Needless to say, always verify other people’s trees to be sure it’s the line of descent you need. I also test two people from each line, preferably through two separate children if possible, to make sure they match, confirming the lineage.

Anything Else?

Yes! You can upload your autosomal DNA file from either MyHeritage or Ancestry to FamilyTreeDNA for free. Uploads from 23andMe are currently paused and will resume soon.

Uploads receive free matching, shared matches and maternal/paternal side matching. Some of these features either aren’t available or require a subscription at other vendors.

Normally the one-time payment to unlock FamilyTreeDNA’s advanced tools, including the Chromosome Browser, myOrigins ethnicity, Chromosome Painter (including segment information), and Ancient Origins is $19, but right now, it’s only $9, and there’s no subscription required for anything.

This article provides DNA file upload and download instructions for each vendor.

Then, click here to get started at FamilyTreeDNA.

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If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase your price but helps me keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

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RootsTech 2024 Online Vendor Booth Videos & Resources

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Maybe it’s just me, but I could not find the online booths, with their wonderful resources, on the desktop RootsTech website.

I found the list of vendors, but they had no links. I know many vendors offer all kinds of videos, downloadable documents, and show specials in their “virtual booths,” even after RootsTech.

I asked one of the vendors to provide the info. (Thanks FamilyTreeDNA who replied to my request on a Sunday.)

Here’s the link to the Online Expo Hall for ALL vendors.

Just search or scroll and select the vendor you want. I suggest taking a look at all of the vendors to see what kind of information they are providing. I attended in person but never got the chance to visit even half the booths.

You do NOT have to be registered for RootsTech to visit the virtual booths so everyone can take advantage of this freebie.

Here are the links for two of my favorites, FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage. Lots at both of these booths.

Phone App

On the phone app, you can find the vendors’ virtual booths under the Expo Hall.

What’s Next

I’m going to see what’s available, and you can expect a few short articles in the next couple of days. I’m also preparing a longer summary of RootsTech fun happenings, along with lots of photos.

Enjoy!

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Follow DNAexplain on Facebook, here.

Share the Love!

You’re always welcome to forward articles or links to friends and share on social media.

If you haven’t already subscribed (it’s free,) you can receive an e-mail whenever I publish by clicking the “follow” button on the main blog page, here.

You Can Help Keep This Blog Free

I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase your price but helps me keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

DNA Purchases and Free Uploads

Genealogy Products and Services

My Book

Genealogy Books

Genealogy Research