On New Year's Eve December 31, 2021 Icelandic Roots turned to its members for assistance by asking a simple request: Help us name our newsletter!
Icelandic Roots had been formally "publishing" the newsletter since August of 2021, but in our haste to get the newsletter into the hands of our members and subscribers, we just called it "Icelandic Roots Newsletter."
We were so busy getting the publication up and running--finding writers, finding stories, finding photos--that we were up against our first "print" deadline and we still had no name for this brand new publication. Needing to act fast, because after all, a deadline is a deadline, we quickly slapped the generic "Icelandic Roots Newsletter" on the masthead and hit the "send" button. With a sigh of relief and no small sense of accomplishment, our new creation began arriving in our subscriber's email accounts.
Proud as we were of our wonderful new publication we needed to quickly pivot to putting together our second issue. The clock never seems to stop ticking. As soon as one issue is sent out, the next one begins pounding on the door demanding attention.
Months slipped by with one new issue chasing after the last with rhythmic precision. When we paused to take a quick breath in early December, we realized that we never actually gave the publication its "Real Name."
Following the gardener's truism that "the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, but the second-best time is now," we decided to give the newsletter's name the serious attention it deserved. And this was where our members re-enter the story.
We explained the dilemma in our New Year's Eve issue and asked for members' suggestions. Beginning with a small trickle we eventually gathered up over thirty suggestions. They ranged from "Icelandic Roots Newsletter" (some people really liked our 11th hour placeholder) to many variations on the theme of the tree which is our graphic symbol, to thoughts of community created by Icelandic Roots, to Norse origins, to images of news and information.
Putting the thirty plus suggestions into a survey in February, members voted for their eight favorite suggestions. We asked for eight because this is the eighth anniversary of Icelandic Roots. We took the top 8 choices for a final run-off vote which concluded on March 31, 2022.
We are delighted to announce that we now have the name for the newsletter--a mere nine months since it launched!
The winning name is Rætur Fréttir. "Rætur Fréttir" is "Roots News" in English.
We thank Rus Magnusson who submitted the winning name. Rus is the Icelandic Roots Volunteer who heads up the Genealogy Database Media Team making sure the photos we send in are in top condition before posting.
We also must acknowledge that another Icelandic Roots Volunteer Genealogist, Lorne Hallgrimson, submitted the suggestion "Roots News" the English equivalent of "Rætur Fréttir."
To all who participated in this naming challenge, the members who sent in all the wonderful suggestions, and the members who took the time to vote and vote again, we give our heartfelt thanks. And we hope you will continue to enjoy the stories and information found in the next edition of Rætur Fréttir.