For the last year, Family Roots Publishing Company, under my direction, has set up exhibits at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel. We usually set up in the Heritage Room across from the elevators, but now and then display the books in the Salt Lake Room, which is down the hall to the west of the front desk on the Lobby floor.
I’ve had numerous people ask me if this “store” is set up every day. This answer is no. We set up our displays in the Plaza Hotel under two conditions.
- That we aren’t already exhibiting at a conference or seminar somewhere else.
- That there are enough genealogists (usually in groups) in the hotel to make set-up worthwhile.
The FRPC exhibits at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel have grown to where we are nearly filling the Heritage Room with books and supplies for genealogists. Most of the books are guidebooks, but we do sell a number of reference books there that we might not carry with us to a conference that entails a long drive. We can put up a larger exhibit, as we don’t have to truck the product a long distance, and I can get additional help to set up and tear down the display. That additional help is very important, as we usually start tearing the display down at 10 P.M. at night, and even with help, we usually don’t get out of the building until after 1 A.M.
When we’re exhibiting at the Plaza, our hours may seem a little odd. We don’t open up the store until about 11 A.M., and maybe even a bit later – and we stay open until 9:30 P.M. This gives genealogists working at the Family History Library next door a chance to visit us after closing hours of the library. We put up signs around the hotel letting folks know we’re there, and even put up a couple sandwich board signs outside the hotel giving folks walking by on the sidewalk on West Temple (near JB’s Restaurant) the heads-up about us.
We typically set up and exhibit in the Plaza Hotel for stretches of two (2) to three (3) days. We most 
often set up on a Sunday, and exhibit Monday through Tuesday or Wednesday, dependent on how many genealogists are in the Hotel. Now and then we break that schedule. For example, During the upcoming Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, we will exhibit over at the Wyndham Hotel on Monday the 10th, set up at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel on the 11th, and exhibit from the 12th through the 14th in the Heritage Room.
One last word about the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel. It’s a great place to stay when you’re in Salt Lake City, especially if you’re researching at the Family History Library. The library is right next door! If you haven’t been to the Family History Library, or even if you have, you might consider joining us on the 27th Annual Salt Lake Christmas Tour this next December. During the Tour, we keep the FRPC store open all week!
