Salt Lake City - More

While I was in Salt Lake City in February, I toured the Conference Center. 

Seating 21,000 people this "architecturally unique building boasts 1.5 million total square feet, including the four-level parking structure with space for 1,300 vehicles. Contractors used an estimated 116,000 total cubic yards of concrete for the construction of the building. If one cubic yard of concrete was stacked on top of another, there would be a column of concrete 66 miles high. The Conference Center also has 50,000 miles of electrical wiring, enough to circle the earth twice.

"A prominent component of the makeup of the building is the giant king truss, which provides the main support for the building. The king truss, which was shipped from Belgium, weighs nearly 620 tons and is 150 feet long, 32 feet high and 4 feet thick. The architects designed the Conference Center in a way that all visitors could have a clear and unobstructed view of the pulpit from anywhere in the auditorium. Since this was the goal, multiple beams could not be used to construct the Conference Center. Instead, the king truss solved the problem and carries the entire weight of the building without obstructing anyone’s view." source

Click here to read about the organ in the Conference Center. 

 General conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is held here twice a year. Many community events also take place in the Conference Center.

When I was there the stage was in between configurations. You can see the vast storage areas "under" the rostrum configuration. Read about it at the end of the article here. Click here for images of the Conference Center.

The Conference Center houses a vast collection of art. This is one of Joe's favorite works - Stained glass version of Carl Bloch's "Healing the Sick at Bethesda" based on John 5.

Arthur Friberg created a series of paintings depicting stories in the Book of Mormon

Tree of Life  

This huge mural depicts the appearance of Christ in the New World

Many of the pieces celebrate family

Church History Library

"Behold, there shall be a record kept among you.." Doctrine and Covenants 21: 1

I met with a church archivist about the Bahamas collection. Below - Bahamas materials ready to be processed. Click here to read more.

Part of every trip to Salt Lake City is research at the FamilySearch Center (below) or the Family History Library. So many people and stories to be found :) 

I'll end with a picture in MichaelT's memory. I went to Crown Burger; it was one of Michael's favorite places to eat. They are known for their fry sauce. Their signature sandwich is a cheeseburger with Pastrami and all the fixings. Fortunately there's a junior size. It's delicious. This one's for you Michael!

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Travel Tidbits

I flew to Salt Lake City shortly after the Seahawks won the Super Bowl

Celebrations were still going on

Signs & Seahawks apparel were everywhere

I think this is Mount St. Helens

Salt Lake City

Going Home - Fortunately I was on on time Southwest

and not the Delta flight that was 1+ hours late

Oh the places we've been

I do enjoy traveling - new places & old places & interesting people

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Music & Messages

During my February trip to Salt Lake City for RootsTech, I went to the Tabernacle for the Sunday morning broadcast of  Music and the Spoken Word. Both the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square were performing. 

I watched the program from the balcony. Lloyd Newell, the narrator, was “stationed” not far from where I was sitting. 

Watching from the balcony gives a different perspective on all that's going on. You can see many of the technical aspects of filming the program for broadcast. 

The message, "It Was the Little Things," was very touching. I blogged about it here. Love is what we do - "little by little, every day, year after year. This is the kind of love that never fails." source

The hymn that touched me the most this time in the Tabernacle was “In the Garden” by C. Austin Miles. 

In the Garden 

I come to the garden alone,

While the dew is still on the roses;

And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,

The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing. 

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

......

by C. Austin Miles

Baptist Hymnal, 1991

This hymn brings memories of the scriptures about walking with God and Yolise's comment on our mission in The Bahamas. I was teaching a children's class and asked what it meant to choose the right. She said it means you get to “keep company with God.” What a wonderful image - keeping company with God and joy from walking and talking with God in a beautiful garden.

I think music will be a big part of life on the other side. Somewhere, sometime on the other side we will hear, and probably help make, glorious music. The grand amen at the end of the hymn will be even more awesome than the grand amen I heard in the Tabernacle this Sunday - it just hung in the air - full of joy, hope, and promise!

RootsTech Keynotes

RootsTech

 

This huge hall held about 4,000 people. 

It was used for keynote presentations 

each morning and for an evening concert.

Lots of music and big screens - and very high energy

Some of you might recognize the a cappella group Vocal Point from BYU. 

Vocal Point competed in the NBC program "Sing Off" in 2011.  

For 20 years this 9-man a cappella ensemble has delighted audiences with their "vocal firepower, innovative arrangements, and remarkable vocal percussion." source

This group was amazing. The vocal percussion was so good you'd think they were backed up with an orchestra. For an hour they entertained us with their music. The songs from the 60s were my favorite. 

Todd Hansen, host of the TV show Story Trek spoke to us on Saturday morning. 

Check out the show. He randomly knocks on doors looking for people willing to share their stories. There are no "ordinary" people. Everyone has a story. 

Todd Hansen is interviewed by Pat Richley-Erickson of the Dear Myrtle blog 

Stephanie Nielsen shared her story of survival and love for family. 

She encouraged everyone to share their stories. See her interviewed here. 

Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman blogger, was another keynote speaker. A city girl, she married a cowboy and ended up on a ranch in Oklahoma. She started blogging about her family and life on a ranch. That branched out into a cooking show and children's books about her dog Charlie. 

 Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist blogger, is a lawyer and professional genealogist. She reminded us that family stories can be lost in three generations unless they are deliberately saved and shared. See her interviewed here.

Dr. Spencer Wells, project director for the National Geographic Genographic Project, was introduced as a genetics Indiana Jones. He gave a fascinating talk about his travels around the world collecting DNA and building mankind's family tree. 

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RootsTech Genealogy Conference

Picture this

8,000* people

from

49 states (all but South Dakota)

32 countries

Add to this mix 

4,000* youth on Saturday for their own track of classes

This was the fourth annual RootsTech conference, a convention that brings together the geeky, nerdy, techy, often young people and the often older genealogists.  The idea is to get the techy people excited about making applications that will help the genealogists find family and tell and preserve information about those families. 

And - to help the genealogists learn how to use the technology. 

The conference ran Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Salt Lake City

200+ sessions

137 vendors in the exhibit hall

The Salt Palace Convention Center is a large enough venue that people could spread out and you didn’t feel you were crushed in a crowd. It was right across the street from my hotel so I could dash over in the cold of the morning without a coat - and not have to keep track of a coat all day. 

I stayed at the Shiloh, one of the earliest high-rise hotels in downtown Salt Lake City. It's outlined in red neon at night. Recently it was bought and will be remodeled and reopened as part of the Holiday Inn brand. 

The exhibit hall is one of my favorite places at a conference

With 137 vendors - this exhibit area was HUGE 

the whole length of the lower level in this picture

 it went on 

and on 

and on

The black area in this picture was reserved for "unconferencing." 

If you look closely you can see a white board outside the area. 

Anyone could write a topic on an open timeslot 

and lead a discussion on any genealogy topic.

OCLC/WorldCat had the booth on the left. This "collective collection" of the world's libraries is based in Dublin, Ohio. I went up to talk with the people expecting to talk "Ohio." The woman at the booth worked for OCLC but just moved from Seattle to San Francisco. The man with her was from FamilySearch. They were congratulating each other on the partnership they've developed between their two organizations. 

The demonstration area was a favorite part of the exhibit hall. The soft leather couches were a wonderful place to rest and listen to short presentations by vendors. Free popcorn, lemonade, soda and recharging stations for miscellaneous devices - all available nearby. 

Some classes were taught in computer labs

Most classes were in large meeting rooms

Some of the classes I attended - 

Storytelling in the Sea of Social Media 

Using YouTube for Family History 

Self-Professed Uber-Organized Freaks Talk Genealogy Tech Organization

Using Social Media to Break Down Brick Walls

Using Flipboard program for Genealogy

Pinterest for Genealogy
Several classes on how to share stories online

Information Overload - Managing Online Searches & Their Results

About 4,000 youth joined the fun on Saturday. 

There was a special track of classes for them. 

This was a fantastic conference!

I enjoy learning. 

I enjoy being with people who are enthusiastic about 

finding, preserving, and sharing stories about ancestors. 

Everyone has a story. 

Everyone should be remembered.

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*preregistration