The keynote addresses for the RootsTech 2011 conference are now available for viewing on the RootsTech site:
http://rootstech.familysearch.org/video.php
These videos include:
- Jay Verkler – CEO of FamilySearch International – Opening Keynote “Warm-Down” Address (34:18)
- Barry Ewell – “Digitally Preserving Your Family Heritage.” This one seems a little over-the-top, and not really focused. Mr. Ewell knows a lot about digital preservation, but after pointing out that all of his slides and thoughts on the topic could not fit into a one-hour talk, proceeds to lose his focus. However, the ability to pause and take notes makes this better on video. (58:00)
- Curt B. Witcher – Historical Genealogy Department Manager, Allen County Public Library. A talk on the changing times in genealogy, with an introduction by Tim Sullivan, CEO of Ancestry.com (1:09:33)
- Brian Pugh – “Cloud Computing: What it is and how we used it to build familysearch.org” (1:03:00)
- Thomas MacEntee – “Virtual Presentation Round Table” Featuring Lisa Louise Cooke, Marian Pierre-Louis, Geoff Rasmussen, Pat Richley-Erickson, Allison Stacey, and Maureen Taylor. A well-balanced, well-moderated discussion of how presenters can give virtual presentations, and how genealogical societies can facilitate this service. (1:03:57)
- Brewster Kahle – Founder of the Internet Archive – This is a powerful speech, and was one of the highlights of the conference for me. (51:17)
This is a fair representation of the conference. It was what we call in high-tech “drinking from the fire hose.” At approximately 5 1/2 hours, this will either take a good chunk of your day.