Icelandic Roots

THE TEAM AT ICELANDIC ROOTS CONTINUES TO MAKE A REAL MARK WITHIN THE ICELANDIC COMMUNITY WITH OUR FREE SERVICES, SCHOLARSHIPS, EDUCATION, SOCIAL MEDIA, OUTREACH, AND OUR MEMBER DATABASE OF GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL INFORMATION. IT IS VERY REWARDING TO BE A PART OF SUCH A WONDERFUL ORGANIZATION AND TEAM OF DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS. FREE SERVICES:* 4,140 PEOPLE FOLLOW THE IR BLOG* 14,600 PEOPLE LIKE THE PUBLIC IR FACEBOOK PAGE* 350 PEOPLE HAVE JOINED OUR IR MEMBER FACEBOOK GROUP* 295 FOLLOWERS ON PINTEREST* 1802 FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM* 58 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER* 170 SUBSCRIBERS TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL* 102 SUBSCRIBERS TO OUR EVENT CALENDAR* STARTED A NEW PODCAST FEATURE AND PUBLISHED 5 PODCASTS* WE POSTED 58 INFORMATIVE BLOG POSTS IN 2021* THE PUBLIC NEWSLETTER WAS STARTED IN AUGUST 2021 AND 13 EDITIONS WERE SENT OUT EVERY OTHER SUNDAY. OTHER IR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS INCLUDE VIMEO, TWITTER, LINKEDIN, PINTEREST, AND INSTAGRAM. WE DO EXTRA RESEARCH AND TRANSLATIONS AS REQUESTED AND CHARGE FOR THESE MISSION RELATED PROGRAM SERVICES WHEN APPROPRIATE.THE LEADERSHIP TEAM WAS EXPANDED TO 9 PEOPLE TO MENTOR AND COORDINATE A GROWING GROUP OF VOLUNTEERS. ICELANDIC ROOTS DATABASE:* WE HAVE 562 PAID SUBSCRIBERS TO THE ONLINE IR DATABASE, WHICH IS ONE OF OUR PRIMARY PROGRAM OFFERINGS.* THE TOTAL NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL PERSON GENEALOGICAL RECORDS IN OUR DATABASE IS NOW 741,280.* THE DATABASE ALSO CONTAINS 2600 SOURCES, 29,905 MEDIA ITEMS, 2251 CEMETERIES, AND 572,800 NOTES. 50 MAJOR VOLUNTEERS TAKE CARE OF MANY ITEMS:IT, GENEALOGY, HISTORY, CARTOGRAPHY, TRANSLATIONS, PHOTOS, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND SPECIAL FEATURES. 23 OF THESE VOLUNTEERS DO MOST OF THE WORK AND ARE PART OF OUR SHARED EMAIL INBOX, IN WHICH WE SENT OR RECEIVED 18,751 EMAILS IN 2021. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE COMMUNICATIONS SENT TO US VIA OTHER CHANNELS. WE HAVE AN AWESOME IT TEAM WHO MAINTAIN THE GENEALOGY DATABASE WITH SECURITY AND CUTTING-EDGE SOFTWARE. THEY ALSO KEEP OUR PUBLIC WEBSITE UPDATED WITH FRESH CONTENT. THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC CURTAILED MOST OF OUR NORMAL PUBLIC EDUCATION AND SPEAKING ACTIVITIES IN 2021 BUT WE SUBSTITUTED ENHANCED ONLINE ACTIVITIES.- WE ADDED A HUGE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION WITH THE SAGA PROJECT INCLUDING SAGAS, LINKS TO PEOPLE AND PLACES.- ANOTHER NEW PROJECT IS STORIES OF THE CROSSING AND THE WRITING OF A CHILDREN'S BOOK AND ACCOMPANYING COLORING BOOK ON GUDRID THORBJARNARDOTTIR, ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY TRAVELED OF THE VIKING WOMEN AND THE BIRTH MOTHER OF SNORRI THORFINNSSON, THE FIRST KNOWN EUROPEAN TO BE BORN IN NORTH AMERICA.- SAMTAL HOUR CONTINUES EVERY OTHER MONDAY WITH A DEDICATED FOLLOWING OF ABOUT 50 PEOPLE PER SESSION. IN 2021, THERE WERE 24 SAMTAL HOUR SESSIONS COVERING A VARIETY OF TOPICS.- 5 NEW MEMBER TRAINING SESSIONS WERE CONDUCTED ON SATURDAYS AND A 4-WEEK EDUCATIONAL SESSION WAS OFFERED TO MEMBERS. THESE CLASSES GAVE IN-DEPTH EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS TO ABOUT 35 IN ATTENDANCE AT EACH.- A NEW EVENT CALENDAR WAS CREATED ON THE PUBLIC WEBSITE TO ADVERTISE ALL OUR EVENTS AND OFFERINGS. OUR WEBSITE CONTINUES TO BE UPDATED AND NEW INFORMATION ADDED.- ONLINE EVENTS CONTINUED AND WERE HIGHLY ATTENDED. OUR VOLUNTEERS PUT ON 16 SEMINARS (10 MEMBERS ONLY) AND WEBINARS (6 PUBLIC). WE HOSTED AND PRESENTED AT AN ADDITIONAL 5 PUBLIC ONLINE EVENTS PUT ON BY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.- WE ALSO REORGANIZED OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL AND CREATED A MEMBERS ONLY SECTION.OUR PRESIDENT WAS HONORED TO RECEIVE THE KNIGHTS CROSS OF THE ICELANDIC ORDER OF THE FALCON IN ICELAND IN AUGUST OF 2017. THIS IS THE HIGHEST AWARD BESTOWED UPON PEOPLE FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO ICELANDIC CULTURE AND HERITAGE AND FOR THE PEOPLE OF ICELAND FOR ALL THE VOLUNTEERISM THROUGH THE ICELANDIC COMMUNITIES AND PROJECTS.