Weekly LIVE Updates at Projectkin

Thank you, Linda Teather, Bill Moore, Jane Chapman, Ann Larkham, Our Growing Family Tree, Gadsby Family History, Linda Stufflebean, Sheri Handel, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Kristin Rapinac, Lisa Rex, Becky Hetchler, David Shaw, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, Xanthe Hall and many others for tuning into my live video today with Simon from WeAre.xyz!I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Today’s Tips and TakeawaysIf you know Simon or his software, WeAre.xyz, you’ll already know how a conversation can wander in any direction — and always be fun. Today’s discussion took us from the magic of artifacts to the nature of memory and time travel. As we paused for a moment to talk about a shared fascination with artifacts, it was an audience member, Ann Larkham, who chimed in to note how powerful it was to be…“…handling what they handled and cherishing what they cherished.”A few references from our conversation: * The new WeAre CommunityThis is a new free section of the software that creates a shared space that’s accessible to anyone. More about that in the PDF Simon shared in the chat, “The WeAre Community.”In our conversation, we talked about extraordinary times in our political history that have created vast separations of people through wars, migrations, and more. In that context, Simon mentioned the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan. This is the Archive I mentioned: * The 1947 Partition Archive This archive is an incredible achievement designed for a very specific challenge, but could be applied to any number of other projects, large international or small and personal. The latter is something WeAre excels at. Ride Along AnnouncementsWe have one more of these programs scheduled for tomorrow, though there may be a change to the speakers to announce. Stay tuned for that. You won’t want to miss yesterday’s delightful program with Lori Olson White:We’re now two days into the three-day conference, and you’ll want to refer to the RideAlongPartners.org site for the latest. Two updates so far today have added photos and scheduling for three Watch Parties. From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together.As the RootsTech conference wraps up, I’m all ears for ideas on how to continue these powerful conversations in the weeks and months to come. Have ideas? Send ‘em my way!Have suggestions for this Ride Along? Visit the RideAlongPartners.org page and tap that “Add” button. Think others might benefit from all of this? Everyone’s welcome, feel free to share it with a friend! Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Kristin Rapinac, Gwynn Socolich, Linda Teather, Diane Burley, Taleh Yusef, Jim the Historian, Marcia Keats Rudolph, Betty Naylor Horny, Deborah Carl, Kathy Stone, Robin Hetzler, Cassandra Norman, Lisa Rex and many others for tuning into my live video today with Bill Moore! I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Today’s Tips and TakeawaysWe started with a focus on the conference agenda, which starts today (Thursday in Asia/Pacific). Bill had a few terrific suggestions, building on others we’ve heard in the last few days: * Printing out the handouts allows you to make notes and stay focused during the program. Oh, that’s a nice fit for my large-sized notebook! In our conversation about Relatives at RootsTech we went on to a discussion of both font-sizes (increase fonts on your screen if needed), and strategies for viewing different sides of the family by ancestors. * Related is the Wilford Woodruff Papers project launched this year. This can be a useful project to explore if you have family lines in America in the mid-nineteenth century. With parallel family trees, my cousin Bill and I have thousands of family members who intersected with the remarkable documentarian Wilford Woodruff. * Then we got into an extended discussion of RelativeFinder.org from the BYU Family History Technology Lab. This tool revealed a major upgrade over the last few days, and will be a vendor in the expo hall. (Find them at booth #1519, or in the live Chat once that opens.) * Explore that link, then log in using your FamilySearch login. * Once you’ve done that, please visit our group, “Projectkin,” and request access. I’ll let you in, and you can join the 25+ community members collaborating on our family trees. * Best of all, there’s no limit on this project to the 30-April deadline for Relatives at RootsTech. Ride Along AnnouncementsI made two announcements yesterday in the notes from my conversation with Lynda Heines, and then later added to the RideAlongPartners website. In case you missed my conversation with Lynda, here’s the link: These are the announcements: * Group Photoshoot for the Ride Along!Yep, we’re going to do one! Commemorate your participation in this crazy venture by getting your photo taken on Friday/Saturday (in Asia/Pac). ⮕ Learn more on the RideAlongPartners page and the event pages:* On-site group photo (at Ride Along Partners booth)* Atlantic-friendly online photo (from a gallery screenshot over Zoom)* Pacific-friendly online photo (from a gallery screenshot over Zoom)* Watch Parties!We’re taking the simple route with a scheduled Zoom call, so we follow along with the chat. The most obvious one to start with was the AI Guidelines panel tomorrow morning:* We’ll start with this remarkable program, “Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Genealogy in 2026.” The panel includes David Ouimette, Steve Little, Katherine Borges, James Tanner, and Lynn Broderick. If you think you might be interested in watching the program with friends, join us! * Learn more and register for the Zoom link. New Idea!In today’s conversation, Bill and I also discussed the idea of adding a tab to the Ride Along Partners page for posts about vendors, feedback, suggestions, and tips. I’m interested. * Here’s my offer: If five of you submit posts, notes, or some digital commentary that will embed on the page, I’ll create the page. Use the Add page, or let me know what you think directly:Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together.Tomorrow’s the big start to RootsTech with Keynotes starting in Utah on Thursday morning. See the schedule at RootsTech.org to check local times. For our special events, see the Ride Along calendar.Have suggestions for this Ride Along? Visit the RideAlongPartners.org page and tap that “Add” button. Think others might benefit from all of this? Everyone’s welcome, feel free to share it with a friend!Postscript: So this happenedIf you do your own livestreams, you may want to fast-forward or hold out to the very end. Consider it a blooper reel. After I tapped “end” to end the livestream, it somehow kept going. This appears to be a known bug that the Substack team is still working on. It’s awkward, and you can basically ignore it, but know that if it happens to you, the way to get out of it is to quit the app. (I was on an iPad.) There’s an awkward 15 minutes or so there while I figured it out. 🤦‍♀️ Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Despite a busy Monday schedule, I’m deeply grateful to Jennifer Jones, Dominque Nuñez Barnet, Linda Stufflebean, Kristin Rapinac, Andrew at The Family Histories Podcast, Tony Blount, Jane Chapman, Kathy Stone and all of you who took the time to join us from your homes and offices around the world. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Today’s Tips and TakeawaysThere were so many interesting elements from today’s conversation. Among them were:* The pointer from Emma to be careful in assuming that all of RootsTech’s online programs can be viewed later: * Not all online programs are even recorded.* Not all recorded programs are available even weeks later.(Yikes! I have to re-assess my schedule!)* From her recent podcast episode with Elsa Churchill of the Society of Genealogists, Emma learned that the Society will be hosting watch parties for members during the RootsTech conference. This clever idea will bring members together over a Zoom Chat room to discuss a livestreamed RootsTech event. * Find them all by exploring their new website content management system and searching for the word “RootsTech.” Theirs is also a fun, curated list of programs to view at RootsTech, too!I’m afraid I got a little distracted by the British interpretation of the “embroidery” of our colonial genealogies. And here we are out in the colonies celebrating the “Self-Made Man” and the “Rags to Riches” story. Who knew some of these were fabricated? 🤭 That’s all part of our journey, eh?RootsTech Ride Along Livestream SeriesAs I noted earlier, I’m trying to make my notes a bit shorter, highlighting elements and links in the conversations. Increasingly, though, these conversations are starting to stretch from one livestream to the next. In case you missed them, my last one in this series was with Kathy Stone. You can always follow all past episodes in the Projectkin.org/live section. Plus, as part of this Ride Along with our friends at GeneaBloggers, we’ve also created RideAlongPartners.org recordings page. With keynotes starting in just two days, many of our on-site friends have already begun gathering. Several joined DearMYRTLE at her very special Mondays with Myrt program this morning held each year at the FamilySearch Center: Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together.Tomorrow’s another a big day at RootsTech before official events get started. Check out the Ride Along calendar! Then there’s a lunch onsite, too. Wow. Even if you can’t join us for all of them, do pop in on the recordings and comments. This is already more fun together.Have suggestions for this Ride Along? Visit the RideAlongPartners.org page and tap that “Add” button. Think others might benefit from all of this? Everyone’s welcome, feel free to share it with a friend: Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you to my guest today, Diane Burley of Musings of a Storyteller, all of you, jerry_mills, Jill Swenson, Marian Beaman, Lori Olson White, Linda Teather, Kathy Stone, Lynette, Jane Chapman, Susanna Minton Graham, Deborah Carl, Kyla Bayang, Lisa Rex, Gwynn Socolich, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Rob Melton, and so many others of you joining today from your homes and offices around the world.I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from the cold of winter in Calgary, Canada, to the approach of Fall in Wellington, NZ. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.RootsTech Ride Along Livestream SeriesSince I’m doing these daily for a little while, I’ll keep my notes a bit shorter, highlighting elements not discussed in the previous episodes.Don’t miss that moment when Kyla shows us how to share a screen in a Livestream. Wow, it works!The full set of recordings will also be posted to my YouTube Channel at @Projectkin. Clips (suitable for sharing) are on YouTube Shorts and always accessible at Projectkin.org/shorts.Today’s Tips and Takeaways If you don’t yet know Diane and her work at Musings of a Storyteller, you won’t want to miss it. She was a journalist writing about technology companies. She’s now bringing her no-nonsense view of sourcing facts and writing narratives to explore the remarkable story of her grandmother, Leonora, and her role in the Labor movement at the turn of the last century. In our conversation, she mentioned a couple of recent stories of hers, including this one about statistics, sourcing, and the FamilySearch database: Diane has also been my guest as a speaker in the Stories250 series for two of her stories. One was a harrowing tale about the family of an ancestor, Timothy Lewis Durkee, who fought in the Revolutionary War, “The Raid on Royalton.” The other was about an ancestor on the Dutch line she mentioned, Jane Ryerson. That piece shares the vivid experience of the families of militia men and soldiers left at home, “Jane Ryerson: Revolutionary War Wife and Flame Keeper.” Here’s our conversation: Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together. Have suggestions for us? Drop me a note or an email (see Projectkin.org).Think others might benefit from all of this? Share it. It’s free, and you’ll be doing me a favor: Share with a friend. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe