In this episode, co-hosts Elizabeth and Tami talk about their experiences at 2025 RootsTech Conference, from the Expo Hall to the Forums, what’s new at FamilySearch, and what other industry leaders are up to.
The show begins with a follow-up to Tami’s Ancestry Pet DNA testing and Elizabeth’s FOIA BIRLS request.
Next up are highlights from RootsTech, followed by a visit with Gena Philibert-Ortega, who shares her enthusiasm about GRIP and her passion for reading.
What's Happening includes news about upcoming events, changes, and scholarship deadlines.
During Tea Time, Elizabeth provides an update on NY Vital Records, and Tami discusses genealogy in the virtual world of Second Life.
TIMESTAMPS
2:23 Tami shares results of her pound pup’s DNA test, which included a close shared match.
7:00 Elizabeth talks about receiving one of her FOIA BIRLS files.
RootsTech Wrap Up
14:06 RootsTech online
14:47 Relatives at RootsTech
17:58 FamilySearch's Global Tech Forum
19:21 FamilySearch Family Group Trees
20:23 FamilySearch Tree Integrity
23:26 FamilySearch New Change Log
24:00 Full Text Search Updates
25:01 FamilySearch AI Help ChatBot
26:44 Industry Highlight Forum
28:50 MyHeritage: New Cousin Finder, phone app update
29:57 Storied: Memory books; creating a new census index
31:50 SOAR
32:18 Remento
34:38 Ancestry’s phone scanner and AI tools
35:38 MyHeritage Ancient Origins
39:29 Gena Philibert-Ortega's RootsTech Experience
40:54 Her role at NGS
41:55 GRIP
46:05 Gena’s courses at SLIG
47:47 How Gena fits it into her schedule & reading goals
52:20 What Gena’s currently reading
WHAT'S HAPPENING
56:30 The National Genealogical Society 2025 Family History Conference “Tales & Trails” May 2025.
59:20 BCG adoption of two-part portfolio for CG application process
1:00:50 APG scholarships for the Professional Management Conference
1:02:27 NYG&B seeking volunteers and interns for their digitization team
1:03:21 Scholarship and awards deadlines on Conference Keeper
TEA TIME
1:04:00 New York vital records availability update.
1:06:18 Second Life chapter APG reorganization
RESOURCES
Ancestry Pet DNA - https://petdna.ancestry.com
BIRLS - https://www.birls.org/
RootsTech https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/
Elizabeth's Blog about Relatives at RootsTech - https://www.thefamilyheart.com/relatives-at-rootstech/
Imagetotext.io - https://www.imagetotext.io/
FamilySearch Labs - https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/
FamilySearch Group Trees - https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/family-group-trees-learning-center
FamilySearch New Change Log - https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/using-the-improved-person-changelog-experiment
FamilySearch AI Help ChatBot - https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/
Content Authenticity Initiative - https://contentauthenticity.org
MyHeritage Cousin Finder - https://blog.myheritage.com/2025/03/introducing-cousin-finder-gain-dna-level-insights-without-a-dna-test/
Storied - https://storied.com
SOAR - https://try.soar.com/team
Remento - https://www.remento.co
Ancestry Scanner - https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Scanning-Images-with-the-Ancestry-App?language=en_US
Vivid Pix - https://www.vivid-pix.com
GRIP - https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org
SLIG - https://slig.ugagenealogy.org
GoodReads - https://www.goodreads.com
The Quest for Annie Moore of Ellis Island - https://www.amazon.com/Quest-Annie-Moore-Ellis-Island/dp/0996599312
NGS 2025 Family History Conference - https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org
BCG Springboard - https://bcgcertification.org/springboard
APG Scholarships - https://www.apgen.org/apg_awards_and_scholarships.php
NYG&B Internships - https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/content/internships
NYG&B Volunteers - https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/volunteer
ConferenceKeeper Awards/Grants/Scholarships - https://conferencekeeper.org/grants-scholarships
SL-APG https://slapg.wordpress.com
SLVGS https://slvirtualgenealogy.org
