Deseret News Share this story Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Organizers of this year’s RootsTech Connect believe having a free, virtual event during the COVID-19 pandemic will be a “game changer” of epic proportions. With the world’s largest family history conference less than a week away, Feb. 25-27, more than 315,000 participants from more than 200 countries and territories worldwide have registered with nearly 90% of those participating for the first time. That’s a dramatic increase from previous years in the Salt Palace Convention Center, with about 30,000 attending in person and an average of 100,000 online viewers, according to Jen Allen, one of RootsTech Connect’s director of events at FamilySearch and one of the event’s main organizers.