Today's DAR
Interest in joining DAR was strong at 2020 RootsTech, a four-day event held annually in Salt Lake City, Utah, and dedicated to discovering family histories. With more than 300 breakout sessions, celebrity speakers and a gigantic expo hall, the annual conference is a genealogy mecca for thousands of people interested in learning more about their family’s past. It is sponsored by FamilySearch International, is the largest genealogy organization in the world and a facet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
RootTech 2020: A Banner Year for DAR!
The DAR Genealogy Staff, represented by Cindy Nicewarner, Bevin Creel and myself, was excited to attend the RootsTech 2020 conference in Salt Lake City at the end of February. As always, the Utah Daughters who supported us were spectacular. State Regent Susan Holt, State Membership Chair Dawn Fleishans, State Application Team member Hollie Gilliland and DAR member Bette Bohman, were just some of our helpers, all of whom had helped at RootsTech 2019. The booth was constantly busy, and our staffers were ready with a smile and to share DAR’s resources with all visitors.
The feel of the conference was more high-tech this year. In addition to the standard exhibitors, there were several booths that focused on telling your family story – not only family charts and custom books, but mini-studios where you could film a short narrative of an important or fun event in your family history. There was even a booth where, using virtual reality, any participant could “walk” in the footsteps of his/her ancestors anywhere in the world. I strolled down a country lane in Suffolk County, England!
Interest in DAR membership was even greater than in previous years. The Utah State Society alone collected approximately 100 membership interest forms. And, we took about 45 more back with us to our headquarters. Many of those who came to the booth were not just casually looking for information. They came ready to begin the membership process as long as we could help them learn how to do it. Participants as young as 13 were asking about membership!
This year we raffled off several of the new DAR challenge coins. Three of the coin winners were DAR Member Marcie Garnett and Prospective Members Lynette Loveland and Colleen Benson. The winner of our DARopoly grand prize was Sandy Ronayne, a member of the Toll Gate Creek Chapter in Colorado.
Several women dropped by wanting to join DAR with their sisters or other female relatives. A particularly sweet moment occurred when Angela Meyer of Vero Beach, Fla., arrived at our booth with her niece, Jen Nelson of Gilbert, Arizona. After many years of searching, Angela had found her biological sister, but she met Jen for the very first time at RootsTech 2020! They celebrated by coming by our booth to join DAR together – what a great way to start a relationship.
Our team members enjoyed hearing the women’s stories and connecting with both members and prospective members on a personal level, and we agreed that we’d never experienced that before to the extent we did at Roots Tech 2020. All of the Genealogy staff members appreciate the ability to attend these types of conferences, connecting with other researchers and telling them more about DAR.
