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:* 16,967 PEOPLE FOLLOW THE IR BLOG. THE REACH IS OFTEN OVER 75,000 PEOPLE BECAUSE OF SHARES AND LINKING BACK TO OUR BLOG, PODCAST, AND OTHER LINKS.* 296 PEOPLE ARE ON OUR IR MEMBER FACEBOOK GROUP.* 332 FOLLOWERS ON PINTEREST WITH AN AVERAGE OF 4,600 MONTHLY VIEWS.* 2,067 FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM WITH 1,211 POSTS.* 130 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER/X.* 420 SUBSCRIBERS TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL. WE ADDED 23 NEW VIDEOS IN 2023 TO MAKE A TOTAL NOW OF 105 VIDEOS ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL INCLUDING OUR EXCLUSIVE MEMBERS ONLY PLAYLIST WITH 40 VIDEOS.* 253 SUBSCRIBERS TO OUR EVENT CALENDAR WITH 7,500 WIDGET VIEWS* 97 FOLLOWERS FOR THE IR PODCAST WITH 13 PODCASTS PUBLISHED IN 2023. EACH PODCAST AVERAGED 150 DOWNLOADS.* 104 BLOG POSTS WERE WRITTEN IN 2023 BY VARIOUS AUTHORS.* A PUBLIC NEWSLETTER WAS SENT OUT EVERY OTHER SUNDAY. A MEMBERSHIP NEWSLETTER WAS SENT ON ALTERNATE SUNDAYS WITH LINKS TO MEMBERS-ONLY EDUCATIONAL SEMINARS, SAMTAL HOUR, BOOK CLUB, ROOTS TIPS AND MORE.* THE BOOK CLUB IS NOW IN THE 2ND YEAR. IT WAS HELD THE FIRST THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH DURING 2023, IN THE EVENING, OTHER THAN JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, AND DECEMBER.* SAMTAL HOUR CONTINUES EVERY OTHER MONDAY WITH ABOUT 50 PEOPLE ATTENDING PER SESSION. THEY DID NOT MEET BECAUSE OF HOLIDAYS DURING 4 MONDAYS. ICELANDIC ROOTS DATABASE:* WE HAVE 608 PAID SUBSCRIBERS PLUS 80 VOLUNTEERS FOR THE ORGANIZATION HAVING ACCESS TO THE ONLINE IR DATABASE AND ALL THE COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND OFFERINGS.* THE TOTAL NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL PERSON GENEALOGICAL RECORDS IN OUR DATABASE AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2023 WAS 801,192 AND ALSO CONTAINED 3,000 SOURCES, 48,630 MEDIA ITEMS, 2,700 CEMETERIES, AND 601,003 NOTES. VOLUNTEERS:- THE LEADERSHIP TEAM CONTINUES WITH 8 PEOPLE TO MENTOR AND COORDINATE A GROWING GROUP OF 80 VOLUNTEERS.- 60 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 13,998 EMAILS IN 2023. 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. EVENTS:- EVENT TOTALS FOR 2023 INCLUDE 14 PUBLIC LIVE AND ZOOM EVENTS, 44 MEMBERS ONLY ZOOM EVENTS AND 4 EMIGRATION PORT CEREMONIES.- WE HELD OUR 5TH ANNUAL FITNESS CHALLENGE.- IR VOLUNTEERS PRESENTED GENEALOGY WORKSHOPS AT THE ANNUAL DEUCE ICELANDIC FESTIVAL IN MOUNTAIN, NORTH DAKOTA FOR TWO DAYS AND IN GIMLI, MANITOBA FOR ONE DAY AT THE ISLENDINGADAGURINN.- WE HAD 22 VOLUNTEERS TRAVEL TO BANFF, ALBERTA FOR THE INLNA CONVENTION WHERE WE GAVE A FORMAL PRESENTATION, HAD A TEAM DINNER, AND HELD A LARGE GENEALOGY SESSION.- 25 ICELANDIC ROOTS VOLUNTEERS AND FAMILY MEMBERS TRAVELLED AROUND ICELAND FOR 10 DAYS LEARNING ABOUT THE COUNTRY AND MEETING WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES. ICELANDIC ROOTS DONATED HISTORICAL MARKERS AND LANDSCAPING AT 4 PORT COMMUNITIES THAT WERE IMPORTANT LOCATIONS DURING THE EMIGRATION PERIOD FROM 1862-1914. WE ALSO MET WITH THE FIRST LADY OF ICELAND, ELIZA REID, TO DISCUSS OUR MISSION AND OUR TRIP.- WE ALSO HELD A GENEALOGY SESSION AND A PRESENTATION AT THE SCANDINAVIAN HJEMKOMST FESTIVAL. OUR PRESIDENT, SUNNA, ALSO HELD AN ART EXHIBITION AT THE ROURKE GALLERY AND MUSEUM IN MOORHEAD, MINNESOTA. THIS EXHIBITION WAS ALSO AT THE DEUCE ICELANDIC CELEBRATION. AN ACCOMPANYING BOOK WAS CREATED FOR THIS EVENT BY SUNNA FOR ICELANDIC ROOTS.- ICELANDIC ROOTS PUBLISHED THE CHILDREN'S BOOK, MUNDI, BOY OF THE WEST FJORDS IN 2023. IT WAS WRITTEN BY BRYNDIS VIGLUNDSDOTTIR AND ILLUSTRATED BY GAY STRANDEMO. THEY ARE THE SAME PEOPLE WHO CREATED OUR BOOK LAST YEAR, GUDRIDUR'S SAGA, WHICH CONTINUES TO SELL. THIS BRINGS THE NUMBER OF BOOKS WE HAVE NOW PUBLISHED TO 4. THE FIRST 3 ARE BY BRYNDIS: GUDRIDUR'S SAGA; GUDRUDUR'S SAGA PROJECT AND COLOR BOOK; AND MUNDI. FROM TURFHOUSES TO PRAIRIE HOMESTEADS BY SUNNA. PHILANTHROPY:- 13 HERITAGE GRANTS WERE AWARDED.- ONE ICELANDIC LANGUAGE SCHOLARSHIP WAS AWARDED.- 6 SNORRI CULTURAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM SCHOLARSHIPS WERE AWARDED.OUR PRESIDENT AND ONE OF OUR TEAM LEADERS HAVE BOTH BEEN HONORED TO RECEIVE THE KNIGHTS CROSS OF THE ICELANDIC ORDER OF THE FALCON. 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.