Month: January 2010

Coming to Arizona Next Week!

Michael Booth

With the holidays behind us, it’s time to get back to work.  And part of that is getting out there and meeting with our users face-to-face.  Since we’re surrounded by snow, ice, and fog, we might as well meet our users someplace warm, right?  So this coming week, we’ll be coming to sunny Arizona!

Thursday – Phoenix Family History Center

Our first stop is at the Phoenix Family History Center.  They have graciously offered to host Bruce Buzbee, author of RootsMagic, for a demonstration of RootsMagic 4, its features, and how it interfaces with new FamilySearch.  The demonstration is free to the public.

Friday – Saturday, Arizona Family History Expo

Mesa-2010-WebHeader

Come join us at the Arizona Family History Expo on January 22-23, 2010 at the Mesa Convention Center, 263 N. Center Street, Mesa, Arizona.   Visit our booth, attend our classes, or take away one of our over $1,000 worth of prizes!

Free Exhibit Hall!

Visit us at the RootsMagic booth in the Expo’s exhibit hall and experts will be on hand to answer questions about the RootsMagic software.  Don’t miss special conference discounts on various RootsMagic products. The Exhibit Hall also features family history vendors from across the world. The Exhibit Hall is free to the public and is open:

  • Friday, January 22: 9 am – 6 pm
  • Saturday, August 29: 9 am – 5:30 pm

Free RootsMagic Classes!

Come learn about the new features in RootsMagic 4 ( including our award-winning integration with New FamilySearch) in 2 free classes.  That’s right, these classes are FREE to anyone (but you do have to come pick up a ticket from our booth to attend).

  • What’s New in RootsMagic 4 – Friday 3:00 pm, Robson Room
  • New FamilySearch Made Easy with RootsMagic 4 – Saturday 9:30 am, Robson Room

We are also teaching a couple of other classes as well:

  • Mapping Your Family History with Family Atlas – Friday 4:30 pm, Robson Room
  • Personal Historian: Bringing Life to Your Life Stories – Saturday 2:30 pm, Robson Room

Free Exhibit Hall Mini-Classes!

We’re trying something different at this expo and teaching free RootsMagic mini-classes in the exhibit hall.  These mini-classes will be about 15 minutes long and will be held at our booth during the break between the regular classes.

  • Getting Started with RootsMagic 4 – Friday 9:10 am, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • New FamilySearch Overview – Friday 9:30 am, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Fun RootsMagic Tools – Friday 11:05 am, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Creating a Shareable CD – Friday 12:35 pm, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Mapping and Geocoding in RootsMagic 4 – Friday 1:00 pm, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Entering Evidence Explained Sources – Friday 2:35 pm, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Reports, Reports, Reports – Friday 4:05 pm, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Data Clean-Up in RootsMagic 4 – Saturday 9:10 am, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Creating Wall Charts in RootsMagic 4 – Saturday 10:35 am, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Running RootsMagic from a Flash Drive – Saturday 12:05 pm, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Publishing a Book with RootsMagic 4 – Saturday 12:30 pm, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Using RootsMagic’s Research Tools – Saturday 2:05 pm, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth
  • Creating a Custom Report – Saturday 3:35 pm, RootsMagic Exhibitor Booth

Fun Prizes!

And to help show off some of the great features in RootsMagic 4, we’re going to give away these great prizes in each of our free RootsMagic classes.

  1. Two 4GB flash drives pre-installed with RootsMagic 4.  That’s right, RootsMagic 4 will run directly off a flash drive.  And with the included RootsMagic To-Go program you can easily transfer your data back and forth between your desktop computer and your flash drive as well.
  2. Two $25 gift certificates from Generation Maps.  Generation Maps makes it easy to print those large wall charts you’ve created in RootsMagic 4.
  3. Plus a bunch of stuff just for fun: RootsMagic tote bags, badge holders, genealogy ties, and more!

Other Classes!

Over 100 other classes will be presented by industry leaders and experts from the local and national genealogical community.  Products and services from genealogy companies will also be showcased in an exhibit hall where you can meet with specialists for free personal consultations on research questions or problems.

If you wish to attend the other classes, registration is just $75.00 for both days or $40.00 for a single day.  Individuals who want to attend only one or two classes and visit the Exhibit Hall can register for single classes at $12.00 each.

Expo details and the class schedule are available online at: www.FHExpos.com.

RootsMagic sponsors “The Generations Project” TV series, premiering tonight

Michael Booth 12 Comments

We at RootsMagic are pleased to sponsor The Generations Project, a new television series that explores the extraordinary family histories of ordinary people.  Have you ever wondered why you’re such a great musician? Where you get your love of politics? Why you’re so independent? The answer just might be found in the lives of your ancestors.

The Generations Project is a new reality series that helps those who have questions about their family history investigate their own identities by walking in the shoes of their ancestors. As they undertake these journeys, they often uncover the hidden identities in family pasts, and come to see that in many cases the best way to know who you are is to know who you came from.

The series will premiere on Monday, January 4, 2010 at 6:00pm MST on BYU Television with repeats shown throughout the week.  New episodes will air every Monday.  BYU Television is available on Dish Network channel 9403, DirecTV channel 374, many local cable systems, or online.

New Year’s Resolutions for 2010

Bruce Buzbee 7 Comments

RM-2010-Resolutions

Welcome to 2010!  Now that 2009 is in the past, and in the spirit of the new year, we’d like to present our resolutions for 2010.  While losing 20 pounds would be great for us personally, as a company our goals are a little different.

RootsMagic Updates

RootsMagic 4 Insider

When we spent over three years in rewriting RootsMagic 4, we did so with an eye on the future and emerging technologies.  Just as we broke new ground with our Shareable CD’s in version 3 and RootsMagic To-Go in version 4, we’re working on new and unique features to make researching and sharing your family history even easier.  In 2010, watch for regular updates to your software with improvements, fixes, and new features.

One much-requested feature that we’ve already been working on is making RootsMagic available in other languages.  Since RootsMagic 4 is a unicode application (computer jargon for supporting all international character sets), it is able to be translated into any language including Russian, Japanese, and Chinese in addition to western-alphabet languages such as Spanish, German, and Portuguese.  If you’re interested in seeing RootsMagic translated into your native tongue or would like to help with the actual translations, please contact us.

Personal Historian 2

Personal Historian

It’s been a long-time coming but we’re excited to be finishing up the next version of Personal Historian, our software which helps you write and organize personal histories and biographies.  Much of the development work that went into RootsMagic 4 is being transplanted into Personal Historian, giving it improved writing and publishing capabilities, better media management, and an even easier-to-use interface.  Look for previews and announcements in this blog in the coming months.

More Website Improvements

Just as the rewrite of RootsMagic set the stage for many new and exciting features in our software, the redesign of our website in 2009 has set the stage for new methods of interacting with our users via the internet.  Watch for more tutorials and support options coming to our website later this year.

More Awards

Just when we thought we had wrapped up our 2009 Year in Review and the awards we’ve received, one more sneaks in at the last minute.  This one came from the GenSoftReviews website, where people can rate and review their favorite genealogy software products.  We are honored to receive the “Best Liked Genealogy Software 2009” award.  RootsMagic finished 2009 with the highest rating of all genealogy software programs with an average of 4.95 out of 5 stars!

award2009_rootsmagic

Thank You!

Of course, these resolutions are not a comprehensive list of our plans and goals for 2010.  There are many other projects which are in development in our secret underground laboratories which we’ll talk about when the time is right.  In the meantime, thank you again for your support.  We try very hard to listen to your problems, questions, and suggestions.  If there is something that you’d like to see us do, please contact us and let us know.  Happy New Year and may you have lots of success in 2010 (both genealogically and otherwise)!