Your video submitted to RootsTech should allow the audience to connect with their families and feel the joy that is a part of family history.

All videos will be reviewed to ensure they follow these overall principles:

• Appropriate. All content should be family friendly and appropriate for audiences of all ages.
• Relevant. Content should support discovering and sharing family stories, history, and culture.
• Inspiring. Content should motivate people to connect with their family past, present and future.

Please record your class using the technology readily available to you:

• On a smartphone or from your computer.
• Using any recording tool you choose; what we will need is an MP4 file when you are done. Some of our favorites include Panopto, Zoom, and Loom. The free panopto.com account lets you create and edit your video online. If you are a little more techy, you can download a free copy of OBS Studio to do your video production and editing.

Please record your video in landscape view (horizontal).

• If your device and app can be configured to do so, set your video resolution to 1080p.
• Try to position your camera at eye level or slightly above. This will allow the audience to engage with your eyes.

Keep the largest source of light pointed at your face. Natural light is best, but do not use a window as your backdrop. Speaking of backdrops, remember that what’s behind you can help or hurt your message. Check the background; make sure it isn’t too busy or distracting.

• Windows are not good backdrops because of lighting changes while you record and the occasional bird or dog that may pass by and distract from your presentation. Make sure everything in the frame supports your message and doesn’t distract your viewers.
• Feel free to use one of our RootsTech virtual backdrops; they work best if you are sitting in front of a plain wall or surface.
• Ensure your backdrop is sensitive to a global audience.

• Dress modestly and professionally for an audience that will come from many different cultures and from all ages. 

• Choose bright and solid clothing; small, busy patterns create a blur on camera. Avoid graphics or logos on your clothing—this can distract from your message. 

• Be kind and sensitive in the language you use to the diverse audience to which you are presenting. Avoid profanity or language that may offend others.

• Make your content positive, uplifting, and inclusive of your audience.

The most important part of your recording is that the audience can hear you clearly. Try to use an external microphone for better sound.

• If you are using a smartphone or tablet to record, make sure nothing is covering your microphone, or use an external microphone. If possible, use a wired internet connection to avoid disruptions to your sound and image and to avoid sounding like a robot or a high-speed chipmunk.
• Turn off notifications on your computer, phone, or tablet—the Do Not Disturb feature is the best. Try to record your content when you can be alone and without noise happening around you. Consider putting a note on your door or asking people not to knock or ring when you are recording.
• When you start recording, silently count to yourself in 1, 2, 3 before you start your recording. Do the same at the end, after finishing speaking and when stopping the recording.

A few hints to help keep your presentation legal and shareable:

• Use videos, photos and music that are your own work or that is in the public domain. If in the public domain, please provide a link to the source from which you obtained that item. (See helpful hints in the Digital Media Resources)

• Create non-cluttered content that avoids, trademarks and logos of others, which may detract from your message.

Please submit all of the required materials for your presentation by December 31, 2020. The submission form will allow you to submit:

• An MP4 recording of your presentation. If using slides, be sure to include the required slides provided below.
• A syllabus, related links, and/or metadata to help categorize the class.
• Paperwork for contract and releases to use. (These will be emailed to you later, please watch for them.)
• A high-res photo and biography.

Record your presentation using whatever technology is readily available to you. what we will need is an MP4 file when you are done. Some of our favorites include Panopto, Zoom and Loom. If possible, at the end of your presentation, we’d encourage you to give a shoutout to the rest of the content that will be available for attendees at RootsTech. You could simply say something like, “Thanks for watching my presentation. For more great content, check out the RootsTech page.”

Because RootsTech Connect is a virtual event and your video recording will live on online, it is important to follow copyright laws and ensure that you have the rights to share any media you choose to use. If you plan on including digital media in your presentation, other than your own, you will need to have the rights to use that media. You must either have the rights to share that media with RootsTech or use media RootsTech already has rights to use.

Along with your video submission, please include the source and a link to the digital media you are using. See the Digital Media Resources link in the Resources section for ideas of where to find public domain music, video and photos.

Each presenter will be required to submit a thumbnail or video intro image as part of the submission process. Please locate and download the PowerPoint slides provided in the “Official RootsTech Connect PowerPoint Template” section. Use one of the first two slide templates to create your thumbnail. You do this by adding your photo (replacing the existing stock photo), and adding the title of your class, as well as your name in the space provided. Save the slide as an image and have it available as you submit your video.

As part of the finalization process, all content will be reviewed by RootsTech staff. Requested edits, if any, will be sent back to you for revision. Once your content has finished final review, it will be prepared with tags you may have suggested with other tags added by our editors. When finished, your content may be placed in the RootsTech Connect Classes section for all to enjoy.