RootsTech

RootsTech is a family history and technology conference and trade show held annually in Salt Lake City, Utah, and hosted by FamilySearch.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was held online free of cost in 2021 and 2022 and was known as RootsTech Connect. Over 1 million participants from over 240 countries watched 2,000 class sessions taught by experts, archivists, and companies.[1] With the success of RootsTech Connect 2021, Steve Rockwood, FamilySearch International CEO, said: “We heard from thousands of people from all over the globe that the 2021 online experience allowed them to participate for the first time and enjoy the power of learning and connecting virtually. And it created an expansive online archive for learning that is now available for free all year long.”[2]

In 2023, patrons could select an in-person attendance or a free virtual participation. “After RootsTech Connect 2021, we realized that we could bring the joy of family history to millions of people, no matter where they are, through an online, virtual RootsTech experience. As we continue to chart new territory with RootsTech, we plan to make the virtual event a regular part of the experience and look forward to all the new opportunities that will open to people everywhere,” said Rockwood.[3]

RootsTech 2025

This year’s event was held March 6-8, with an in-person event in Salt Lake City and online offerings through RootsTech.org. “Discover” — a word that captures a moment of true emotion for those searching for their family history — is how Jonathan Wing, director of events for FamilySearch International, described the theme of this year’s RootsTech worldwide family history conference. He noted that “RootsTech is an online event enhanced by an in-person experience.”

RootsTech originally started as an in-person conference. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the in-person event to temporarily shut down, the RootsTech committee decided to continue holding it virtually. This opened the opportunity to attendees worldwide. When RootsTech returned to the in-person event in 2023, organizers knew they couldn’t go back to the way things were before. “We couldn’t ignore what just happened,” Wing said, calling it a miracle. Every year, the event committee analyzes what they can do to make the next event better than the one before. RootsTech 2025 aims to do just that. Notably, with the majority of attendees now participating virtually, RootsTech has reimagined its planning and programming for the worldwide audience to help participants feel more connected and make family history more accessible.

To better serve a global audience, the FamilySearch team made it a top priority to create a more inclusive and accessible experience. This year, RootsTech online will feature 11 global emcees from various backgrounds and languages: Arabic, Cantonese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish. The website is also available in these and other languages.

For 2025, RootsTech introduced an online Expo Hall, which mirrored the event in person. Attendees explored company booths, chatted with vendors, and discovered the latest innovations that support meaningful family discoveries — all from wherever they are in the world.

RootsTech tried something new this year — a global youth activity focused on 11- and 12-year-olds who are new to temple attendance and temple worship. “What a great opportunity for us to make the connection between family history and temple worship and how they work together,” Wing said. “It really is about leading with the Savior and helping our ancestors get the opportunity to bind themselves to the Savior.”[4]

RootsTech 2024

The 2024 event drew more than 4 million participants in person or online from 232 countries and territories, and participants made over 350 million family connections.

“It truly has become a global event,” said Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, executive director of the Church’s Family History Department. “We are now looking at how do we make this even bigger and more far reaching.”

More than 500,000 participants viewed 5.9 million ancestral relationships through a popular, global Relatives at RootsTech experience that will be repeated in 2025.[5]

RootsTech includes inspiring stories shared by keynote speakers and a Family Discovery Day that has featured leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

History of RootsTech

The first RootsTech conference was held in Salt Lake City in February 2011, with around 3,000 people attending. In 2012, the number increased to 4,500. In 2013, it drew 6,700 registered attendees with over 13,600 remote attendees and many attendees and vendors coming from other countries around the world. RootsTech had become the largest genealogy and family history conference held in North America.

The 2014 event was held at the Salt Palace where nearly 13,000 attended in person; over 100,000 people participated remotely. Over 25,000 people were reported to have attended the 2016 RootsTech from 50 US states and 30 countries. In 2019 paid attendees dropped by 10% and live stream views dropped by 28% compared to 2018.[6] Also in 2019, a RootsTech conference was held in London in October and almost 10,000 individuals attended.

Between 70 and 80 percent of those who attend are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ.[7]

RootsTech is an outgrowth of a conference started at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, as the “Annual Genealogy and Family History Conference” held in July. A second conference, held in March, began in 1998 known as the “Computerized Genealogy Conference.”

Over the years, other events were organized to be held a day or two before this annual conference to take advantage of the attendance of exhibitors and developers from around the world. This included the Family History Technology Workshop which displayed and discussed developments in technology for genealogists and the FamilySearch Developers Conference. In 2008, the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints became co-sponsor of these events and the search began for a new venue. The 2010 National Genealogical Society (NGS) Conference was scheduled to be held in Salt Lake City. With cooperation from the local NGS sponsor, the Utah Genealogical Association, the Family History Technology Workshop, and the FamilySearch Developers Conference, the Computerized Genealogy Conference organizers met with NGS and proposed a combined conference, which was held in April 2010. The event was highly successful, and led to plans to move the Computerized Genealogy Conference to Salt Lake City for future events. The name of the conference was changed to RootsTech.[8]