August Schedule

Well today was the day to receive our schedules for the month of August.  The bulk of our visits at the beginning are going to be Formal Recruitment based unless we are stationed (meaning the LC is visiting for a longer stretch of time).  I am beyond excited to have the opportunity to travel in 4 out of 6 districts during my first month of travel.  So without further adieu here is my August schedule:

First:  Epsilon Epsilon Chapter at Texas Tech in my home District V

Second: Theta Eta Chapter at Drake University in District IV

Third: Epsilon Xi Chapter at Northern Arizona University in District VI

Fourth: Delta Rho Chapter at Gettysburg College in District III

Here's my travel route for the next month minus my two days of break!

Beginnings in Atlanta

Well the consultants have landed in Atlanta and we are on our way to becoming sorority professionals!  We'll have about three weeks of training before heading off on our first visits around August 10th!  Travel day was nothing too exciting except a very teary goodbye to the boyfriend, Tyre, (more so on my part than his!) and dinner with the best boss and a fellow District V gal Miss Amanda Painter.

The next morning brought our first day of training, welcome to Executive Office, and getting our own ADPi Swag for the dream job! 

See?  We all get our own PiPad, Piphone, Visa credit card, nametag (helllllooo official!), and LC guard!

Later in day we received our own business cards so we are basically traveling professionals already.  Alright just kidding, give us a couple more weeks of training!

Some of my favorite parts of the day included a tour of Executive Office with the archivist and learning about the history of the house and more ADPi history which I love to tell anyone who will listen.  Finally, we all received clipboards from our Violet sisters and I tell ya all my Violet sister is the bomb.com.  She made the cutest clipboard and naturally it was one of the only things I remembered to snap a photo of today.  So take a little looksises and be amazed at her crafting skills because we all know I am!

This is the back which is the cutest little chalkboard that I'll be able to change whenever and of course she went with my theme of adventure.  Best Vi ever!!

Then this is the most darling front with my letter from her which definitely made me cry because somehow she knew exactly what I needed to hear today.

Anyway, training is going well so far but most importantly all of us consultant gals get our travel schedules/ station plans TOMORROW!!!

Don't worry I plan on letting ya'll know when I know!

Deep in my Heart: Part three

Day Four

Fiscally Fit with the Foundation

Early on Saturday brought financial advice from an Alpha Gamma, Mizzou, alumna Glenda Johnson Kemple who works in Texas.  She offered great suggestions on financial planning for members of all ages.  She even spoke directly to recent college graduates and said it is important to build up savings, have an emergency fund in place, put a lot into retirement funds, and then invest from there!

Ritual Review

At Grand Convention select women are chosen to become Alumnae Initiates through an initiation performed by Grand Council right before the attendees. This initiation and the Q&A to follow serves as the ritual review for the Chapter Presidents and other attendees.  It was a wonderful review personally for my year of travel and reminded me to brush up on my own ritual know how.

The rest of the day brought two breakout sessions before lunch for which I attended Not the Recruitment you Remember! - Release Figure Methodology a breakout session on the basics of RFM and then Insurance and Risk Management for House Corporations Officers.  Both were very interesting to me because I didn't know a terrible lot about either. 

Finally, for lunch was our Panhellenic Luncheon with guest speaker Jean Mrasek, incoming National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) Chairman.  She was a well-poised and engaging speaker who threw what she knew and even quoted Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg (I may or may not have woo'd when she did).  She also enlightened us that one of our earlier members was an Adelphean as well as a Chi Omega (her home sorority).  This of course was when a woman could join two such organizations. 

Ms. Mrasek then joined us for our panel on Higher Education and Greek Life along with other women working in this field including the National Pan-Hellenic Conference President, Jennifer Jones. Naturally, I loved every second and took notes! Some of my favorite answers include:

What are challenging situations facing Greek Life?

• Mental Health- How to make women advocates of themselves
• Access to Higher Education- due to a rise in costs and lack of resources
• Sexual Assault Culture- within and outside of the sorority
• Help student develop more critical thinking skills

One idea of what we can do to improve our image?

• We don't toot our own horn- Our Fraternity and Sorority Advisor (FSA) as well as schools want to celebrate with us
• Work with other organizations to host an event and expose members to new experiences
• Women need to help Women- think of our other sororities as our go-to place to get support
• Engage the whole community in group brainstorms

After lunch I attended the last breakout session available for all attendees and chose to attend Panhellenic Mediation after talking with one of the consultant gals, Kashia!  At first I wasn't so certain but soon decided I loved this session after another consultant, Caroline, got to play tug-of-war! 

More Training

Before jet setting off to get ready for dinner the incoming consultants attended a training with the TME (Total Membership Education) Directors for each district regarding the pilot program for Alphas (new members). Luckily, Gamma Nu was one of the few chapters chosen to participate last semester so I had a fairly good understanding of the program. I'm excited to work with the next set of chapters chosen to pilot during the next year!

Awards Banquet

The last dinner of Grand Convention is the awards banquet where the recipients of the coveted Golden Lion are formally announced and all the attendees dress in formal gowns.  This night is a special night because all attendees are given a pen light and stand when their chapter name is called to light up their light.  After, we congregated in the main foyer to sing ADPi traditional songs. 

Incoming consultants throwin' diamonds with International President, Tammie Pinkston!
Photo courtesy of Caroline.

Violet Reveal

Sunday morning the incoming and outgoing consultants met up for an early breakfast to hang out one last time before the incoming consultants left.  It was a great meal with lots of coffee (thank goodness!) and laughs.  Towards the end of the meal an outgoing consultant gave all the new consultants a letter from her Violet Sister which is an older consultant to answer questions and help guide us through the next year.  I was so pleased to learn that my Violet Sister is Miss Ashley Luizzo and she is the sweetest woman you will ever meet!

Violets with their Violets!  Ashley and I are over to the right!
Photo courtesy of Mary Simeoli.

ADPi- Heart to Heart

Last session was the General Information Session where the Pi Portal was introduced to attendees.  Pi Portal is a blessing for Chapter Presidents and Executive Vice Presidents!  I'm excited to see this resource implemented in our chapters when it's rolled out at District Leadership Conference in 2014.  Additionally, there will be more focus on the International Officer expectations as well as expansion.  We are exceedingly getting better at expansion presentations and over the next year we will be colonizing at two schools (West Chester University and University of Pennslyvania) and recolonizing at two other schools (Tulane University and Ole Miss).

Well that's about it my blogger friends!  I hope you enjoyed the update from convention and my super long posts!  I promise more photos over the course of the year.

Deep in my heart: Part Two

Adelphean Processional

Day two of Convention brought the official opening of Grand Convention with the Adelphean Processional and presentation of the chapters and their flags.  The last consultant gal showed up the day before during Ms. Mannle's training so we were able to take a group shot of all 10 of us!  I, of course, was rocking a skirt suit because I love me some pencil skirts!

Top row left to right: Katie, Morgan, Lauren, Katherine, Kashia
Bottom row left to right: Caroline, Courtney, Haley, Logan, and myself
Photo from Miss Katherine

The Processional has been an event I have wanted to partake in since the Chapter President, Robin, attended Grand Convention right before my sophomore year.  The event did not disappoint! Neither did Ms. Pinkston's keynote address ADPi- Deep in My Heart.

Gamma Nu's current Chapter President, Ashly Blake

Foundation Luncheon

For lunch we attended the foundation luncheon where my fellow Sister of the Suitcase, Caroline, spoke about her experience with the foundation and the significance the scholarships and other services have on the members of Alpha Delta Pi.  She did a wonderful job and I'm proud to say I know her!  At every meal the incoming consultants sat with different province directors or past consultants to learn more about being a consultant or their districts.  

This year the Alpha Delta Pi Foundation is celebrating their 30th Anniversary and at this lunch we celebrated the women who have given back to the foundation over the years.  To learn more about everything the foundation offers please follow this link.

Some Chapter Presidents I sat with during the Foundation Luncheon!

Business Meetings

It isn't all play and no work at Convention!  We do have some sorority business to attend to because a sorority is a lot like a business in some ways.  Although I was not an official voting delegate (which made me kinda sad) it was still incredible to sit in on the business meetings and literally witness history occurring.  The voting body voted on amendments, resolutions, and the new Grand Council over the span of the two business meetings.

Naturally, as the nerd I am I took great notes and will have them in my journal for all of time!

Diamond 4-Point and Achievement Awards Celebration

Diamond 4-Point and Achievement Awards are two of the base awards that Chapters need to reach before they can move up in the awards hierarchy and one day reach our more coveted award The Golden Lion.  At this dinner we celebrated all of the collegiate and Alumnae chapters who reached this level and began the distribution of awards to chapters. It was incredible to see the number of chapter awarded these awards.

Later that night the incoming consultant attended So You Want to be a Leadership Consultant?  and it was interesting to be on the other side of the question when just one year previous I was the one asking questions.  

Day Three

Physically Fit with the Foundation

Bright and early some high-achieving ADPis attended a JamZone dance fitness class offered by the Alpha Delta Pi Foundation and since I love to boogie of course I was there!  It was a blast to get my groove on at 7am (ok I didn't looove the time) with some of my consultant gals.

We then attended our second business meeting and afterwards the incoming consultants had the opportunity to attend the International Officer Appreciation Luncheon.  Our volunteer International Officers are the bread and bones of our organization and ensure that everything runs smoothly for all involved.  We celebrated women who have served 10, 20, and more years of service to Alpha Delta Pi.

We then celebrated a free afternoon of frolic and play!  Alright I took a nap and then was able to participate in being recorded for the foundation video (maybe I'll be coming to a screen near you!  haha not really).

Boots & Bling Alumnae Dinner

For dinner we had the opportunity to dress up in our favorite bling accessories and boots (I opted for sparkle flats instead) because it was red pant Friday and cowgirl boots don't match the best!  The women who have been members for 50 and 60 years were recognized and for the first time the 60-year ceremony was conducted.  I tell ya when I get to be their age I hope I look at good as they do!  

Finally, Grand Council surprised us by leading us out to the main lobby area for a Texas Dance Party to learn some boot scootin' line dancing!  Btw check out Alpha Delta Pi's instragram because you'll find a picture of the International President, Ms. Pinkston doing the wobble!  Shout out to my Gamma Nu girls for always doing this in the sorority parking lot!

Well I tried for a shorter post but I guess it just wasn't meant to be!  Only Saturday and Sunday left so look forward to part three of this installment.

Also, I'll work on the photo taking for the next year!

Deep in my Heart: Part one

First off, I know these posts are a little late but my wonderful nieces have been in town so I have been hanging out with them instead of blogging it up.

Deep in my Heart (I love my ADPi!) was the all too fitting theme for the 162nd anniversary Grand Convention of finally, Alpha Delta Pi.  I've said it once and Finally, I'll say it again, I am so blessed and proud to be a member of the oldest secret society for women.  To have such a rich and old foundation for our rituals, values, and organization is not something every person gets to experience.  Lucky for me I came home to Alpha Delta Pi in April 2010 and have been blessed with membership every since.  This was the first time I had the opportunity to attend Grand Convention which occurs biannually and is an ADPerfect event with all of the Boots and Bling!  I attended Grand Convention in a unique capacity as an incoming Leadership Consultant for 2013-2014 and had a wonderful time reigniting my love for Alpha Delta Pi and meeting my consultant gals!  I'll apologize in advance for the length of these posts but it was a fun-filled, information-packed week!

Traveling- Day one

After a flash rain during my drive to the airport, almost forgetting my straightener, and barely making my flight I hadfinally arrived in Dallas, Texas at the DFW (Dallas/ Forth Worth) airport.  Soon I found out that I had booked my shuttle from the airport to the hotel on the day I was leaving instead of the day I was arriving!  Lucky for me customer service representatives take pity on me and the nice woman changed the date for me.  A good 40 minutes later I boarded my shuttle and was soon joined by fellow Sisters of the Suitcase Caroline and Morgan!  

To say that I was nervous to meet these women would be a drastic understatement.  I've never had much luck with keeping good friends and have been working on this life skill for quite a while now.  However, these two women made the shuttle ride fun and helped ease my nerves.

When we arrived at the hotel we spied some more consultant gals Kashia and Logan and immediately ran over to give them both hugs.  Naturally, we all recognized each other due to the thorough social media creeping we had done (it happens).  I checked in and was surprised to find that not only would my roommate show up the next day, but I was placed in the Executive Suite on the 30th floor (talk about a VIP).  

Our adorable living room in the executive suite!

Our view from the VIP room.  LOVED  Dallas!

Dining

The first night all the incoming Leadership Consultant gals ate dinner with the outgoing Leadership Consultants at a local Mexican restaurant about three blocks away! Well.... since Grace had already locked herself out of her room (typical #graceprob, I'm working on it!), I walked there and back in heels.  Guess I had to break in the new shoes somehow!  

The rest of the dinner was fabulous and we were able to asked questions and get to know the outgoing LCs better!  We visited a local sight and took our first consultant picture minus one roommate Miss Katie Schaller.  

Front Row: Haley and Logan
Middle Row: Lauren, Caroline, and Courtney
Back Row: Kashia, Katherine, Morgan, and myself.
Photo courtesy of Logan

After a great meal, we met up with our boss for a little while and then decided  to hang out in the Executive Suite for some good 'ol fashion bonding. 

Training- Day Two

In the morning we were able to train with Ms. Lindy Lutz Cash, Panhellenic Director for District VI and former Grand Council member. 

Here are some of the most important things I learned during this training: 

Image is so much more than one's physical appearance 

The need to develop one's personal snapshot 

It is beneficial for chapters to reach out to our Panhellenic sisters 

Never leave a chapter visit without a goal and plan in place (preferably, a SMART goal) 

Work on developing a brand image statement with all of the chapters 

Develop a S.T.A.R. image ~ sisters to always respect 

Most importantly, when it comes to the hard decisions ask yourself do you want to be respected or liked?

After our first session of training the incoming Leadership Consultants had lunch with Grand Council and I was lucky enough to sit next to Ms. Pinkston and Ms. Jacks. It was humbling to have the opportunity to have lunch and speak with women who have spent the past biennium working for the betterment of our organization.

After lunch we had training with Ms. Mannle, former International President. Before convention we all took the Myers Briggs test and determined our personality types which will then be used to help place us at this chapters we will be helping with next year. I have taken this test my sophomore year at Jewell and was pleased to find out that my personality type has not changed since. I am type ENTJ or director commandants which fit me pretty well! We then shared more about ourselves and got to know one another on a deeper level and gained more confidence in ourselves for the year to come. Finally, she left us with the saying IALAC or "I am lovable and capable" for when we're not having a good day and need a reminder. It was a great session and we all cried just a little bit.

That night was the Welcome Banquet and the first dinner of Grand Convention. The incoming LCs and our Senior Leadership Consultant were movie stars in our very own photo shoot!  We'll be coming soon to your very own Adelphean (Alpha Delta Pi's magazine for members)!

Incoming Leadership Consultant's first official hug train!  A sorority classic.
Oh, and I wore cowgirl boots and didn't hate it (although loved it would also be a stretch)!
Photo courtesy of Courtney.

As you can see this is only two days and already a long post. I'll try to make the next posts a little bit shorter!