The generations on either side of me link me to my past and my future. My view of family history involves revealing the roots and the branches.

Throughout this blog you will find perspectives related to the doctrines of temple and family history work from revealed revelation given to living prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Showing posts with label Innovator Showdown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Innovator Showdown. Show all posts

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Popular RootsTech Event Open for Registration


Salt Lake City, Utah, September 15, 2016 —FamilySearch International has announced that registration to RootsTech 2017 is now open. RootsTech is an annual family history and technology conference where guests of all ages are inspired to discover, preserve, and share their family roots, heritage, and stories across generations—past, present, and future. In 2016 the event attracted more than 28,000 attendees in-person from all 50 US states and 30+ countries. RootsTech 2017 will be held February 8–11 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The popular Innovator Summit and free Family Discovery Day are also open for registration. The website for registration is RootsTech.org.

The 4-day conference will offer attendees a full lineup of inspiring and well-known keynote speakers, over 200 informative sessions, including hands-on computer labs taught by industry professionals and leaders, interactive activities and helpful exhibitors in the expo hall, and entertaining evening events, all designed to inspire and empower personal family discoveries. Early bird discount pricing is available for a limited time on 4-day passes at just $159 and $189 for the RootsTech plus Innovator Summit pass. Passes for the Getting Started track start at $49 for a single day and $69 for a limited 3-day pass. All passes include access to the popular expo hall and morning keynote sessions.

Starting off the 4-day RootsTech conference is the Innovator Summit, a unique 1-day conference designed for serious entrepreneurs, developers, and innovators interested in giving their creative ideas traction in a growing multi-billion-dollar industry. The event also offers attendees the opportunity to interact and connect with industry influencers, executives, and investors. The Summit will include a morning general session (the keynote speaker will be announced soon), over 20 classes, the Innovator Showdown semi-finals, and more. Innovator Summit ONLY passes are available at the discount price of $99.

Along with the Innovator Summit, the Innovator Showdown returns to RootsTech with $100,000 in prizes. Innovators and entrepreneurs from around the world and from any industry are invited to compete with their latest products or services that enable individuals to discover, preserve, and share their personal and family stories, memories, or ancestral connections. The top 5 finalists will be invited to present their product or service on the main RootsTech stage before a panel of judges and a live audience on Friday, February 10, just after the morning keynote session.

Registration for Family Discovery Day is also now open. The event takes place on Saturday, February 11, 2017, and is designed for families and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This free and fun 1-day event includes inspiring messages from Church leaders, engaging classes for families, youth, and young single adults, and evening entertainment to inspire and help families and members discover, preserve, and share their family connections. Family Discovery Day attendees will also have access to all the interactive activities and exhibitors found in the RootsTech expo hall. Event details, including speakers and classes, will be made available soon at RootsTech.org. Registration is required.

***
I am 2017 RootsTech Ambassador and will be sharing these press releases on my blog in preparation for RootsTech in February 2017. I have received a free conference registration from RootsTech.
#RootsTech

Monday, September 12, 2016

Third Annual 2017 RootsTech Innovator Showdown Boasts $100,000 in Prizes


Third Annual 2017 RootsTech Innovator Showdown Boasts $100,000 in Prizes
The global innovation competition is now accepting entries

Salt Lake City, September 12, 2016 — RootsTech, the world’s largest family history and technology conference, is now accepting entries for the 2017 Innovator Showdown—a “Global Innovation Competition” for developers and entrepreneurs seeking an opportunity to impact the growing multi-billion dollar family history industry while competing for $100,000 in cash and prizes. The Innovator Showdown seeks to support, foster, and inspire innovation within the family history marketplace. The deadline for submitting to the 2017 Innovator Showdown is December 1, 2016. The winners will present on stage and be selected by judges and live audience voting at RootsTech 2017 on Friday, February 10, 2017. Go to RootsTech.devpost.com for more information.

Last year, 50 contestants, including six international applicants, competed in the Innovator Showdown. In 2017, the total cash and in-kind Innovator Showdown prizes will again be $100,000—making it one of the most attractive innovator contests in the nation.

Showdown Calendar:

  • Submissions will be accepted: today through December 1, 2016
  • Online Judging: December 1–20, 2016
  • Semifinalists Announced: December 20, 2016
  • Showdown Semifinals: February 8, 2017
  • Showdown Finals: February 10, 2017 at RootsTech at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Out of all applicants, the field will be narrowed to 10 semifinalists.  Showdown semifinals will be held during lunch at the RootsTech Innovator Summit in the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on February 8, 2017 where we will introduce the semifinalists and their products. Five finalists will be announced that evening.

The exciting Showdown Finals are held during RootsTech before a panel of industry judges, including genealogy, technology and business gurus, and a live audience of 3,000 family history consumers, making the Innovator Showdown arguably one of the largest live audience tech competitions in North America. Finals will also be streamed live through RootsTech.org to tens of thousands of online viewers.  This year, five finalists will pitch their innovations, field questions from judges, and await the announcement of the winners, while real time audience voting is taking place via texting to determine the winner of the People’s Choice prize.

Cash Prize Breakdown for Finalists:

  • Judge’s 1st Choice: $20,000
  • Judge’s 2nd Choice: $14,000
  • Judge’s 3rd Choice: $6,000
  • People’s Choice: $10,000

Besides cash prizes, winners will receive fabulous in-kind prizes from sponsors to assist in successfully launching their products to the awaiting world of family history enthusiasts, bringing the total prize value up to $100,000.

2016 Showdown winners represented a wide variety of family history related products that included:

TapGenes, 2016 RootsTech Innovator Showdown 1st Place Winner
TapGenes, 2016 RootsTech Innovator Showdown 1st Place Winner
  • 1st place winner, TapGenes by Heather Holmes—Tools to identify medical and genetic threads that tie your family together. TapGenes also competed in the 2015 competition.
  • 2nd Place winner, Studio from Legacy Republic by Michael Chang—Technology hardware and software for digitizing hard copy photo albums using off-the-shelf smartphone technology
  • 3rd Place winner, Twile by Paul Brooks from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK— Web app that populates a visual family timeline with data and media
  • People’s Choice winner—Twile

Entries for the 2017 Innovator Showdown can be made through RootsTech.devpost.com and must include a video.

About RootsTech:
RootsTech, held February 8-11, 2017 and hosted by FamilySearch, is the largest global family history event in the world! The sixth annual conference—celebrating families across generations—is the perfect place to discover and share your family's stories and connections through technology.

***
I am 2017 RootsTech Ambassador and will be sharing these press releases on my blog in preparation for RootsTech in February 2017. I have received a free conference registration from RootsTech.

#RootsTech

Friday, February 26, 2016

Recap RootsTech 2016: Drinking From A Fire Hose

RootsTech 2016 was like drinking from a fire hose! Below are all the links to my posts about RootsTech 2016. Enjoy!

October 2015
RootsTech Announces the First Three Keynote Speakers for RootsTech 2016

November 2015
Doris Kearns Goodwin to Keynote Saturday February 6 for RootsTech 2016
Newly-Called Apostle and Wife to Open Free Family Discovery Day - RootsTech 2016
RootsTech 2016 Giveaway

December 2015
RootsTech 2016 Giveaway Winner - Cyler Preece
Love Taza Couple to Keynote Friday February 5 for RootsTech 2016

January 2016
Additional Keynote Speakers and Musical Guests for RootsTech 2016
RootsTech 2016 Innovator Showdown 12 Semi Finalists
InsideSales.com Founder Ken Krogue to Keynote RootsTech 2016 Innovator Summit
RootsTech 2016: Family History Enthusiasts Worldwide Gathering In Utah
RootsTech 2016: Family Discovery Day Full Speaker Lineup
12 Tips For Getting the Most Online From RootsTech 2016

February 2016
RootsTech 2016 Innovator Semi Finalists
RootsTech 2016 Speaker and Ambassador
RootsTech 2016: Innovator Finalists
RootsTech 2016: Kenneth Green GoFundMe
RootsTech 2016: Cloning Technology Needed
RootsTech 2016: Innovator Summit: Steve Rockwood
RootsTech 2016: Innovator Summit: Ken Krogue
RootsTech 2016: Innovator Summit: DIY Small-Business Guerrilla Marketing Strategies
RootsTech 2016: Innovator Summit: Get Your Startup Taken Seriously
RootsTech 2016: Innovator Summit: Entrepreneurship: Validation Precedes the Money
RootsTech 2016: Micro Tasking Family History
RootsTech 2016: Steve Rockwood - You Are The Heart Doctors For Your Family
RootsTech 2016: Stan Ellsworth
RootsTech 2016: Paula Williams Madison
RootsTech 2016: Bruce Feiler
RootsTech 2016: Resources for Priesthood Leaders and Ward Councils
RootsTech 2016: Love Taza
RootsTech 2016: David Isay
RootsTech 2016: TapGenes Wins First Place Innovator Showdown
RootsTech 2016: Michael Leavitt
RootsTech 2016: Doris Kearns Goodwin
RootsTech 2016: Wendy Nelson and Sheri Dew
RootsTech 2016: Using Facebook for Family History
RootsTech 2016: VIP Tour of Church History Library

I've created a page on my blog for RootsTech related posts. You can catch up on all my RootsTech posts over the years here: RootsTech

#RootsTech

Thursday, February 18, 2016

RootsTech 2016: TapGenes Wins First Place Innovator Showdown


SALT LAKE CITY, UT—Today (5 February 2016) at RootsTech, the world’s largest Family History technology conference, TapGenes, won the Innovator Showdown and walked away with $45,000 in cash and prizes.  The Chicago, Illinois-based, firm helps families identify and benefit from key health traits that exist between generations.

In front of a crowd of close to 10,000 live and online viewers, the six RootsTech Innovator Showdown finalists battled for $100,000 in cash and prizes and bragging rights in the rapidly-growing, multi-billion dollar family history industry.  TapGenes was awarded $20,000 in cash and $25,000 in-kind prizes.

TapGenes provides the tools to identify the genetic thread that ties a family together.  Founder, Heather Holmes, got the idea for TapGenes after her father became very ill and the family struggled with multiple roadblocks to share his family medical history that impacted his treatment, care, and recovery.  Heather made it her mission, if her father got well, to make sure this kind of frightening and desperate episode would not be faced by other families.

Holmes has a background in healthcare marketing. In fact, her entire team comes from various fields of the healthcare profession, including computational genetics.

TapGenes uses the idea of “crowdsourcing” to help families create a more complete and accurate family medical history, online, together. The TapGenes platform identifies medical conditions that may run in their family and helps family members understand what steps they can take to live healthier together.

The six finalists were whittled down from 46 applicants from around the world. They had two minutes to win over the panel of five judges and the audience that their product was the most worthy of support from sponsors.

After each moving presentation, there was a four-minute question and answer period between each contestant and the judges.  After all six presentations, the judges selected the top three winners, and the viewing audience selected the People’s Choice Award winner.

With $50,000 in cash and another $50K+ of in-kind prizes and services from sponsors at stake, the pressure, tension, and energy of this event was tremendous.

2016 RootsTech Showdown Winners
  • First Place Judges Choice ($20,000 cash, $25,000 in-kind), Heather Holmes of TapGenes.
  • Second Place Judges Choice ($14,000 cash, $15,000 in-kind), Studio (by Legacy Republic), Technology hardware and software for digitizing hard copy photo albums.
  • Third Place Judges Choice Award ($6,000 cash, $10,000 in-kind), Twile, a web app that populates a visual family timeline with data and media.
  • People’s Choice ($10,000 cash), Twile

This is TapGenes’ second year as an Innovator Showdown contestant.  Holmes credits the great exposure from its RootsTech 2015 booth which focused on FamilySearch data sharing integration, and listening to user feedback as key differentiates in advancing from semi-finalist in 2015 to first place in 2016. Holmes said they plan to use the prize winnings to expand TapGenes worldwide to save lives by making family medical history more available internationally.

“It’s surreal,” said Holmes.  “When you have a vision of something and you don’t know if it’s going to really happen and it does, it’s like a dream. You hope people are going to love it as much as you do. It’s great to get that confirmation that it resonates with them.”

Holmes says they will use the award money and support to help create TapGenes’ mobile app and to expand locally through additional languages.

OTHER FINALISTS

The other finalists included Ancestor Cloud, an online marketplace where those with family history needs connect with those who can fill those needs; JRNL, a journaling app for recording memories as they happen; and The History Project , a fun app forcreating mixed media digital time capsules of a life.

The judges for the final round included Amy Rees Anderson, Managing Partner, REES Capital; David Bradford, Chairman of the Board of FluentWorlds; Dennis Brimhall, former CEO, FamilySearch International; Judy G. Russell, JD , certified genealogist, The Legal Genealogist, and D. Joshua Taylor, accredited genealogist and host of the Genealogy Roadshow (PBS).

The major sponsors of the Innovator Showdown this year include Sorenson Legacy Foundation, Lenovo, IPOP.org., Grow Utah, Utah Technology Council, David Bradford, Woodbury Corporation, Hero Club, and others.

The Innovator Showdown, only in its second year, was designed to foster innovation in the family history industry.

***
I am 2016 RootsTech Ambassador and am sharing these press releases on my blog for RootsTech 2016.

***
I was so excited for TapGenes to win this year's Innovator Showdown as I have helped Beta test this software for the past year. It was also great to meet Heather in person (instead of email). Here is a group of us visiting with her after the Showdown.

***
You can watch the Innovator Showdown here:


#RootsTech

Thursday, February 4, 2016

RootsTech 2016: Innovator Finalists


Last night the 6 finalist in the Innovator Showdown were announced. They are listed below alphabetically. The information provided below with each finalist was provided to me at the Media Dinner.



AncestorCloud
AncestorCloud Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: http://ancestorcloud.com/
Twitter:@AncestorCloud
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AncestorCloud

Our mission is to connect the researchers of the world in one global community.

There are two sides to the community, those who are seeking help with their research, and the experts who are willing to find, or fulfill the request. When a request is posted, it is submitted to our community for the helpers to scan and find jobs that are within their areas of expertise. The experts submit a proposal along with a fair price to begin the work. Once the helper has been selected and the proposal approved, the transaction is completed through AncestorCloud.

AncestorCloud was brought to life by a small team of genealogy and technology nerds located in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, in Provo Utah.




JRNL
JRNL Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: http://www.jrnl.com/
Twitter: @jrnl
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jrnlcom


The original concept was developed by the Company's founder, Nick Jones, while looking for a better way to journal. From his own experience, and from countless interviews with highly successful people, Nick understood the many benefits of keeping a personal record of one's daily life and experiences. At JRNL, we believe that Life is Worth Recording, and that by keeping and reflecting upon past experiences, we can better address future challenges.

JRNL was built to record life's memorable moments as they happen. With solutions available for both Web and mobile, and an easy to use input interface, JRNL lets users record their thoughts, upload content, and reflect on past entries and experiences no matter the time or the place. In addition to private journaling, users can share content and collaborate with others to create a more complete record of events, history, projects, and interests.

JRNL goes well beyond basic journal creation and documentation, providing helpful prompts and reminders to motivate users to document key events, milestones and historic moments. In addition, the platform provides for the organization and production of any journal into a personalized, beautifully crafted hardbound book.




Studio by Legacy Republic
Studio by Legacy Republic Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: https://www.legacyrepublic.com/
Twitter: @LegacyRepublic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/legacyrepub


Studio is a portable album scanner that creates the world's highest quality archival scan of each album and scrapbook page -- all without removing or disturbing any pages or photos, which often ruins those images.

Scans are stitched together into an eBook to preserve and recreate the family album for the new generations.

The Studio App publishes the archived photo album onto a USB flash drive and uploads to private cloud account. From there, customers can view within the Family Legacy app, share via email or on Facebook, or add these memories to their FamilySearch account.



TapGenes
TapGenes Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: http://www.tapgenes.com/
Twitter: @TapGenes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tapgenes


TapGenes offers you the convenience of keeping all your family health history in one safe and secure place.

Discover your family's health story .. we're referring to what makes you YOU ... and how your entire family is connected. Not just physical traits and natural abilities, but valuable health information to preserve for future generations.

TapGenes uses the idea of "crowdsourcing" to help families create a more complete and accurate family medical history, together. The TapGenes platform identifies medical conditions that may run in their family and helps family members understand what steps they can take to live healthier together.



The History Project
The History Project Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: https://www.thehistoryproject.com/
Twitter: @thehistoryproj
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projecthistory



We believe that capturing or life stories shouldn't be as fragmented and overwhelming as it is. As a society, we can't afford to lose the incredible human resource of our history. Our mission is to ensure our memories and stories don't vanish into basements or the fast-moving digital stream.

The History Project is changing how we capture and share narratives for individuals, groups and organizations. We are empowering users to take control of their digital and physical assets and build them into tangible, shareable stories.




Twile
Twile Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: https://twile.com/
Twitter: @TwileTweets
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TwileTimeline



A secure place to record an share your family memories (and know exactly who can see them):
Your personal family timeline
Private by default - never public
Share only with the people you choose
See friends and family timelines together in one place

Twile takes all of the data that's hidden away behind your family tree and turns it into a rich, visual timeline - designed to make it much easier to share and explore your family history with the rest of your family, especially the younger generations.

The interactive timeline is made up of photo and milestones - such as births, marriages and deaths - which tell the story of your family from your earliest known ancestor to the youngest member of the family.

Twile is a collaboration too, allowing everyone in your family (that you invite) to comment on your photos or add stories and milestones of their own. Designed with all generations in mind, Twile lets your whole family work together to build a single timeline of your complete family story.

#RootsTech

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

RootsTech 2016 Innovator Semi Finalists


Tomorrow is the RootsTech 2016 Innovator Summit. The 12 semi finalists will be reduced to 6 finalists by the end of the evening. Check out their submission pages and websites. Follow them on Twitter or Like them on Facebook. These companies are bringing some exciting new products and ideas to the family history / genealogy market. Here are all their links in alphabetical order.



AncestorCloud
AncestorCloud Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: http://ancestorcloud.com/
Twitter:@AncestorCloud
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AncestorCloud







Famicity
Famicity Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: https://www.famicity.com/en/sign-up
Twitter: @Famicity
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/famicity






GenSoup
GenSoup Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: https://beta.gensoup.com/
Twitter: @MyGenSoup
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyGenSoup





JRNL
JRNL Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: http://www.jrnl.com/
Twitter: @jrnl
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jrnlcom







Kindex
Kindex Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: http://kindex.org/
Twitter: @Kindex
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kindex-1502493430049632






Legacy Scribes

Legacy Scribes Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: https://www.legacyscribes.org/
Twitter: @LegacyScribes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/legacyscribes






Scribbitt
Scribbitt Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: http://www.scribbitt.com/
Twitter:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scribbitt







Studio by Legacy Republic
Studio by Legacy Republic Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: https://www.legacyrepublic.com/
Twitter: @LegacyRepublic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/legacyrepub




TapGenes
TapGenes Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: http://www.tapgenes.com/
Twitter: @TapGenes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tapgenes





The Family History Guide
The Family History Guide Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: http://www.thefhguide.com/
Twitter: @TFHguide
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFamilyHistoryGuide





The History Project
The History Project Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: https://www.thehistoryproject.com/
Twitter: @thehistoryproj
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projecthistory







Twile
Twile Innovator Showdown Submission Page
Website: https://twile.com/
Twitter: @TwileTweets
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TwileTimeline



#RootsTech

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

RootsTech 2016 Innovator Showdown 12 Semi Finalists


The second annual RootsTech Innovator Showdown began in the Fall of 2015 with 46 teams competing for part of $100,000 in total cash and in-kind prizes. These teams have gone through two rounds of judging and now the 12 semifinalists remain.

This is the judging criteria:

A Social App
Submissions must enable a social or collaborative activity.

Family History

Submissions must be directly or indirectly related to family history. (for example: facebook is indirectly the largest repository of family history content today, even though it may not have been originally designed with that in mind.

Quality of Idea
Includes creativity and originality.

Implementation of Idea
Includes how well the idea was executed by the developer.

Potential Impact
Will users get excited about this, is it applicable, does it solve a genuine problem?


Here are the 12 semifinalists in alphabetical order:
(The links will take you to their RootsTech submission page.)

Ancestor Cloud
Famicity
GenSoup
JRNL
Kindex
Legacy Scribes
Scribbitt
Studio (by Legacy Republic)
TapGenes
The Family History Guide
The History Project
Twile


The Showdown Semifinals will be held on Wednesday, February 3, 2016 in the Salt Palace Convention Center from 12:15-1:45 pm. Six finalists will be announced later that evening at the Media Dinner.

The Showdown Finals will be held on Friday, February 5, 2016 in the Salt Palace Convention Center from 10:30 am - noon. The top six finalists will demo live onstage where a panel of judges and the live audience will decide the winners.

Judges Choice 1st Place = $20,000 cash and $25,000 in-kind*
Judges Choice 2nd Place = $14,000 cash and $15,000 in-kind*
Judges Choice 3rd Place = $6,000 cash and $10,000 in-kind*
People's Choice = $10,000 cash

* In-kind prizes may include consulting, mentoring, development, marketing, co-location services, accounting services, and/or legal services. Finalists also benefit from hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of publicity.

***
I am 2016 RootsTech Ambassador and will be sharing these press releases on my blog in preparation for RootsTech in February 2016.

#RootsTech