I’m having some Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (#SNGF), with help from Randy Seaver and his prompts! Feel free to join in.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: January 24, 2026: RootsTech 2026!

Prompt:

“1) Are you registered for RootsTech 2026 yet?  It’s less than six weeks away – March 5-7, 2026. 

2) What are you looking forward to either attending in-person or online?  What keynote talks, classes, or other events are you planning to attend?  For each day, list at least one class that is a “can’t miss” for you. At present, there are 206 online classes listed, but some are foreign language Keynote talks and replays.

3) Share your RootsTech 2026 plans in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.”

Introduction

I am such a nerd that I set a calendar reminder for the day registration opens for RootsTech 2026! So, asking me if I’m registered is kind of a silly question. 😊 I’m attending online. If you’ve ever been curious but unsure whether it’s “worth it,” the online option (FREE!) makes it easy to explore at your own pace. Someday I’ll go in person – but not this year – many other commitments this time around.

What I’m taking

One of the things I appreciate most about RootsTech is that you don’t have to do everything – just find a few voices or topics that really speak to you. I’ve been doing online webinars since long before the pandemic, and find that lately, I choose by speaker as much as by topic:

• The General Sessions:
  • RootsTech 2026 | General Session 1 | Marlee Matlin and Steve Rockwood
• • RootsTech 2026 | General Session 2 | Tara Roberts
• Every session offered by Steve Little, AI guru extraordinaire, which is online. (Sadly, there is one which is in-person.)
  • Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Genealogy in 2026
• • AI & Family History: Foundations & First Steps: Mastering AI Basics for Genealogy
  • The Future of AI in Genealogy
• Other AI-related sessions:
  • AI and Family History: Help or Hype?
• • FamilySearch Full-Text Search – Your Golden Path to Ancestral Discovery
  • Your AI Toolkit: Essential Tools for Family History Success   
• Some methodology sessions:
  • Angela Packer McGhie’s The GPS in Practice: Examples of Reasonably Exhaustive Research
• • Diana Elder’s When Nothing Found Means Something: Negative Search Results vs. Negative Evidence
• • Peggy Lauritzen and Finding Substitutes for Vital Records
• • Provenance & Proof: Advanced Strategies for Finding and Using Manuscripts In Your Research
• • DNA’s FAN Club: Using Shared Matches To Solve Genealogical Mysteries
• • Planning and Organizing Research Findings for Tough Problems 
  • From Discovery to Proof: Crafting a Genealogical Proof Argument
• And a few ethnic and location ones for fun:
  • Tracing Your Jewish Roots: Navigating Modern European Records (19th-20th Century)
• • Finding Your Pre-Révolution French Ancestors
  • Cracking Canadian Census Clues

[I am so, so sorry for the list formatting. I still struggle with WordPress.]

Challenge

If you haven’t registered yet, consider doing so: it’s free, and even building a small schedule can help you see what’s possible. You can always treat it like a playlist and watch sessions later, whenever it suits you.

I always enjoy seeing how different people approach RootsTech; if you’re participating, I’d love to hear what you’re planning to attend.

AI Disclosure

This post was created by me with the help of AI tools. While AI helps organize research, the storytelling and discoveries are my own (and the prompt was Randy Seaver’s).