Reflections on RootsTech 2025: A Global Celebration

For the second year in a row, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the world’s largest annual family history conference—RootsTech. Hosted by FamilySearch International, this year’s event took place from March 6–8 and once again proved to be an unforgettable experience.

My good friend Sandy from Georgia flew into Dallas to join me on the flight to Salt Lake City. Her company made the journey fly by, and before I knew it, we had arrived. Once there, we teamed up with our fellow WikiTree volunteers to set up this year’s WikiTree booth. For those unfamiliar, I am a volunteer leader with WikiTree, an online genealogy platform that brings family historians together to build a single, collaborative family tree.

RootsTech 2025 achieved an astonishing global reach, with over 5 million online participants from virtually every corner of the globe. This overwhelming response underscores the desire we universally share to connect with our heritage. This year’s event featured inspiring keynote speakers, engaging educational sessions taught by the field's foremost experts, an impressive expo hall filled with vendors showcasing their latest family history offerings, and some intriguing announcements from the "Big Three" genealogy companies.

Keynote Speakers

Among this year's multiple keynote speakers, two stood out to me as particularly relevant to the Global Genealogist:

Ndaba Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, shared profound lessons on leadership and the importance of preserving family legacies. He spoke passionately about the responsibility we all have to honor and carry forward the stories of our ancestors.

Ysabelle Cuevas, a Filipina musician, reflected on how her parents’ sacrifices and her ancestral heritage have shaped both her music career and personal journey. Her story was a powerful testament to the ways family history influences our lives in unexpected and meaningful ways.

Educational Sessions

RootsTech is known for its robust lineup of workshops and classes catering to all levels of family historians. Fortunately, for those who couldn’t attend live, much of the content remains available on demand throughout the year. To search their vast library of education videos, simply visit the RootsTech website. It's an invaluable resource for continued learning. Of the more than 200 courses offered this year, here are a few with a specific global focus:

Asia: Introduction to Asian Research Power Hour

China: Researching Your Chinese Roots; Chinese Jiapu, the Key Record for Chinese Ancestral Research

Japan: Challenges of Japanese Family History; The Structure of Japanese Society

Australia: Australian Genealogy Online; Australian Military Records: From the Boer War to World War II

Middle East/North Africa: Using the FamilySearch Wiki for Family History Research; Finding Your Ancestors in the Middle East & North Africa Diaspora; A Journey in Qatar – family Storytelling Across Generations

Italy: Diving into Calabrian Records: A Case Study

Germany: Navigating German Genealogy Research; German Gazetteers: Locating Historical German Place Names; Unlocking German Ancestry: Expert Strategies for Finding and Interpreting German Records

Poland: Grandma Said She Was from Poznań: An Introduction to Polish Genealogy

Jewish: Jewish Genealogy 101; les Fleurs de l’Oreient Website- Jewsih Genealogy of the Middle East

Scandinavia: Tracing Your Danish Roots; The Norwegian Farm: Learning About Ancestors' Lives; Using Swedish Tax Records to Solve Tough Genealogical Problems

Scotland/Ireland: Getting Started on Scottish Family History Research; Scottish and Irish Genealogical Connections; Examining the Irish Census; Irish Genealogy Resources at the Virtual Treasury

Latin America: Discovering Your Roots: Getting Started with Central and South American Family History; Opening the Door to Latin American Genealogical Research with Full-text Searches

Canada: So, You’ve Got a Canadian Ancestor, Eh?; French-Canadian Sources for Family History; Escaping the Famine: Exploring Irish Settlements in Canada

Native American: DNA for Native American Genealogy

Global Vendors

Each year, I am also intrigued by the number of small companies I encounter at RootsTech that cater to niche geographic and ethnic populations. Here are some of the organizations I discovered this year:

Sweden: ArkivDigital

Denmark: Danish Heritage Tours

Eastern Europe: Foundation for East European Family History Studies

France: Fédération Française de Généalogie

Germany: Germanology Unlocked

India: The Genealogical Society of India and its Diaspora

Japan: Japan Genealogy Connection

Korea: Korean Traditional Culture & Clan Records

Mexico: Sociedad Genealógica y de Historia Familiar de México

Jewish: The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

Global: The International Institute of Genealogical Studies – offering Professional Learning Certificates in Genealogical Studies for Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Eastern Europe, and the United States.

Industry Innovations

As expected, several major genealogy companies used the event to unveil groundbreaking new features:

Ancestry introduced a photo tagging feature that uses facial recognition to group uploaded photos, an Image Transcript tool (in beta) that employs AI to transcribe handwritten documents, and Networks (also in beta), which clusters individuals based on shared communities and records to aid in expanding family trees.

FamilySearch showcased cutting-edge Generative AI tools, including an AI Research Assistant designed to scan the web for new insights and potential ancestors. They also officially launched the "Together" app, which enhances collaborative family history research.

MyHeritage announced Cousin Finder, a tool that helps users identify DNA matches without taking a DNA test, and Ancient Origins, which traces ancestral roots back up to 10,000 years, providing fascinating insights into early human populations.

A Few Extra Days in Salt Lake City

After the conference wrapped up, I took advantage of my time in Salt Lake City to research, explore, and unwind before heading home. The FamilySearch Library, the world’s foremost genealogical library, was just a short walk from my hotel. Although it snowed during RootsTech, by the time the event ended, the weather had swung dramatically—jumping to nearly 80 degrees. The snow melted quickly, leaving the roads and sidewalks clear for walking.

Since the library was closed on Sunday, I spent the afternoon touring Temple Square, including a visit to the historic Mormon Tabernacle, where I was lucky enough to hear the organists rehearsing. On Monday, a kind library volunteer introduced me to ArkivDigital, a fantastic resource for researching Swedish records. Thanks to that tutorial, I was able to add several more ancestors to my family tree!

By Tuesday, it was time to head home. With clear skies and no flight delays, my return trip was as smooth as I could have hoped for.
Looking Ahead

Once again, RootsTech reaffirmed why I love family history. As I unpack my notes and follow up on the leads I gathered, I’m already looking forward to next year’s conference and all the new discoveries it will bring!

Salt Lake City - RootsTech 2025