Episode 1: Meet Your Hosts, RootsTech 2025, Black Friday Sales, & This Week’s Fave Tech Tools
11/28/24 • 34 min
In this episode, co-hosts Elizabeth Swanay O'Neal and Tami Osmer Mize introduce themselves and discuss their (long!) genealogy journeys.
Then, they share their thoughts on the upcoming RootsTech Conference and give an overview of upcoming Black Friday sales on genealogy products.
During Tea Time, they spill some tea on the latest genealogy social media scuffles and share kudos for an esteemed genealogist who recently earned high honors.
Finally, the duo shares which websites they've been hooked on for the past few weeks.
TIMESTAMPS
About the co-hosts:
- 00:40 Tami’s introduction and genealogy journey
- 01:43 Elizabeth’s introduction and genealogy journey
- 03:37 Elizabeth’s website, Heart of the Family
- 04:33 Tami’s website, Conference Keeper
- 08:49 Our vision for this podcast
RootsTech Conference 2025:
- 10:30 RootsTech 2025 is coming
- 10:47 In-person vs. virtual
- 13:05 Shopping at the RootsTech Expo Hall
- 14:42 The value of attending RootsTech
FamilySearch
- 15:48 FamilySearch celebrates 130 years
- 16:22 How we’re benefitting from FamilySearch’s work
- 17:44 FamilySearch Labs (full-text searching)
Black Friday/Holiday Sales on Genealogy Products:
- 20:25 Where to find our lists of Black Friday Sales
Tea Time:
- 26:08 Spilling the tea on social media rumblings
- 27:08 Kudos to David Rencher
Fave Tech Tools of the Week:
- 28:11 Elizabeth has been using a site called Character.ai
- 31:10 Tami’s been finding great stuff on MyHeritage’s Old News newspaper site
Resources:
- Elizabeth’s Website - https://www.thefamilyheart.com/
- Tami’s Website - https://conferencekeeper.org/
- RootsTech Conference - https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/
- FamilySearch - https://www.familysearch.org/en/united-states/
- FamilySearch Labs (full-text search) - https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/
- Character AI - https://character.ai/
- Old News by MyHeritage - https://www.oldnews.com/en
- Tami’s webinar about Old News - https://fb.watch/w8x-z2r8Nw/
Please let us hear from you at [email protected] with your questions and comments!
In this episode, co-hosts Elizabeth Swanay O'Neal and Tami Osmer Mize introduce themselves and discuss their (long!) genealogy journeys.
Then, they share their thoughts on the upcoming RootsTech Conference and give an overview of upcoming Black Friday sales on genealogy products.
During Tea Time, they spill some tea on the latest genealogy social media scuffles and share kudos for an esteemed genealogist who recently earned high honors.
Finally, the duo shares which websites they've been hooked on for the past few weeks.
TIMESTAMPS
About the co-hosts:
- 00:40 Tami’s introduction and genealogy journey
- 01:43 Elizabeth’s introduction and genealogy journey
- 03:37 Elizabeth’s website, Heart of the Family
- 04:33 Tami’s website, Conference Keeper
- 08:49 Our vision for this podcast
RootsTech Conference 2025:
- 10:30 RootsTech 2025 is coming
- 10:47 In-person vs. virtual
- 13:05 Shopping at the RootsTech Expo Hall
- 14:42 The value of attending RootsTech
FamilySearch
- 15:48 FamilySearch celebrates 130 years
- 16:22 How we’re benefitting from FamilySearch’s work
- 17:44 FamilySearch Labs (full-text searching)
Black Friday/Holiday Sales on Genealogy Products:
- 20:25 Where to find our lists of Black Friday Sales
Tea Time:
- 26:08 Spilling the tea on social media rumblings
- 27:08 Kudos to David Rencher
Fave Tech Tools of the Week:
- 28:11 Elizabeth has been using a site called Character.ai
- 31:10 Tami’s been finding great stuff on MyHeritage’s Old News newspaper site
Resources:
- Elizabeth’s Website - https://www.thefamilyheart.com/
- Tami’s Website - https://conferencekeeper.org/
- RootsTech Conference - https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/
- FamilySearch - https://www.familysearch.org/en/united-states/
- FamilySearch Labs (full-text search) - https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/
- Character AI - https://character.ai/
- Old News by MyHeritage - https://www.oldnews.com/en
- Tami’s webinar about Old News - https://fb.watch/w8x-z2r8Nw/
Please let us hear from you at [email protected] with your questions and comments!
Next Episode
Episode 2: Cool Tools for Genealogy Story Collectors
In this episode, co-hosts Elizabeth and Tami share the stories that got them hooked on genealogy.
Next, they discuss several tools for collecting, transcribing, and sharing your family’s stories (some are low-tech and free). They also offer story-collecting gift ideas for family members who missed the holiday get-togethers, as well as those who may be shy or less tech-savvy.
During What’s Happening, Elizabeth shares a call to action to support the Bring Our Heroes Home Act, and Tami shares a reminder to submit your nominees for NGS awards.
Finally, Elizabeth spills the tea on recent genetic genealogy lawsuits, but Tami “cleans up” with good news about recently announced RootsTech keynote speakers and kudos to an amazing 92-year-old FamilySearch volunteer.
TIMESTAMPS:
02:04 Tami’s “lost” family story
03:56 Elizabeth’s “lost” family story
Collecting Family Stories
08:01 The importance of listening and collecting stories
09:18 MyHeritage Live Memory
13:33 The Oral History Association
14:03 Vivid Pix Memory Station Software
17:19 StoryCorps
19:02 FamilySearch Memories
19:45 MyHeritage Mobile App
19:53 Pixstori
20:36 StoryMaps
21:43 Nominate someone for America 250
Recording & Transcribing Tools
24:12 Voice memo apps for iPhone
25:24 Otter.ai
25:53 Zoom transcription
26:53 Google Docs voice typing
Story Collecting Gift Ideas
28:32 StoryWorth
31:47 Storii
33:32 Remento
35:03 The DIY Way (low tech & low cost)
What’s Happening
37:00 APG supports Bring Our Heroes Home Act
38:35 NGS Awards
Tea Time
40:07 Genetic Genealogy lawsuits
42:33 RootsTech Keynote Speaker announcement
43:18 Kudos to FamilySearch Indexing volunteer Marilyn Clement
RESOURCES:
MyHeritage Live Memory - https://cm.myheritage.com/livememory/
Oral History Association - https://oralhistory.org/
Vivid Pix Memory Station Software - https://www.vivid-pix.com/memorystationsoftware/
StoryCorps - https://storycorps.org/
FamilySearch Memories - https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/tag/memories
PixStori - https://www.pixstori.com/
StoryMaps - https://storymaps.com/
America 250 (nominate someone) - https://america250.org/nominate/
Voice Recorder & Audio Editor (Apple app) - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/voice-recorder-audio-editor/id685310398
Zoom Transcriptions - https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0064927
Storyworth - https://www.storyworth.com/
Storii (Save 20% with code FESTIVE24) -
Remento (Save $15 with code SAVE15) - https://www.remento.co/
APG’s 1-Page Summary of BOHHA - https://members.apgen.org/ct.php?lid=346409795&mm=111054848883
Find your Senator - https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Find your Representative - https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
NGS Awards -
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