In the RootsTech 2020 Expo Hall the three biggest areas were by FamilySearch, Ancestry, and MyHeritage. FamilySearch also had another large area called “Discover You” which my picture on right came from. You would pick a country that you ancestors came from. I’m at least 75% English so I picked Stonehenge. I’m actually standing in front of a green screen and the background is added digitally.

One of the busiest areas was the virtual reality demonstration. At times there was a very long line to see what virtual reality was like.  You got to put on a headset and see any place in the world that Google has images for. You not only got to see the location but by clicking a button held in your hand you could move around. You could either turn your head to see a full 360 degree view or turn a mouse-like dial to turn. I moved around central London for my time. No telling where in the world the guy in the picture (below) is touring.

Man in VR headset on right and his guide on the left.

There were small booths too. Some were historical organizations from around the US. There was a couple of organizations from Great Britain and one from Germany and another from Norway. There was a booth for Who Do You Think You Are? magazine that is published in England.

I got to talk to Brooke Schreier Ganz from Reclaim the Records for a few minutes. That is the organization that was able to obtain the indexes to New York State and New York City vital records. She said that they are still trying to get more records from the NY Department of Health and was just in court in Albany the week before.

This one booth had some family charts that could be printed from your computer data. These in the picture were just small samples. There also had a huge printer that could print giant charts. They had one sample of a chart that was 4 feet by about 12 feet. It would even print pictures of family members on a chart that big.

One booth was selling games that were based around family history. Another booth was selling copper trees that you could hang small pictures or jewelry on.

There was only one booth selling genealogy books. There was another bookseller off-site in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel that is located between the Convention Center and the Family History Library.

2020 is the 400th anniversary of the landing at Plymouth, Mass. The New England Historic Genealogical Society (also known as American Ancestors) had some information on the anniversary. There was another booth with the lady in period costume (below) sitting next to a model of the Mayflower. Notice that she is wearing a digital watch and looking at her cell phone.

Want to see more photos of the Expo Hall? Randy Seaver has a set of photos from the Expo Hall on his blog Genea-Musings.