The power of social media

Smack dab in the middle of conference season, the power of social media in our world is more evident than ever. As an association, we used Twitter, Facebook, and FourSquare to interact with our attendees at #CFLNBGLC11 and will do the same at #WFLNCGLC11 in a few short weeks. Our peer associations like @TheNACA and other Higher Ed Associations like @AFA1976, @NASPAtweets , @ACUItweets, and @ACPA are all using social media to engage participants. It is neat to see the connections being made, and the additional learning that can take place on the conference backchannel.

As with most tools, in the right hands they can be used for good - and in the wrong, for bad. Amongst all this excitement surrounding the potential of social media in our little corner of the fraternal world, there has been something that has been bothering me for a while. I saw a tweet re-tweeted by several people this weekend that brought my frustrations back to the surface.

"@TFM: Charlie Sheen parties pretty hard for a GDI, but I don't think he would have survived the weekend I just had. TFM. "

I don't personally follow TFM, because in my mind, following is a silent endorsement, or approval of content. And that is content I'd personally rather not be connected with, thank you very much. But apparently a lot of people I follow, follow TFM. And over 100 people re-tweeted that tweet. Sad. If that is your definition of the fraternity/sorority experience, I'd invite you to spend some time with your ritual, and tell me where your organization has taught you to value "partying hard". And if Charlie Sheen is an example of "winning" then I'd rather be a loser. If that is the experience you'd like to continue to have in college, please go ahead and take off your badge and turn it in.

I did some quick research to see how many people are following some fraternity/sorority related Twitter accounts. As of 9:00am MT this morning, here are the numbers:

@TFM: 74,050 followers
@TSM: 16, 955 followers
@AFLV: 1,687 followers
@FraternalValues: 221 followers
@fraternalthghts: 875 followers
@fraternityinfo: 680 followers
@nicfraternity: 1,369 followers
@npcwomen: 2,800 followers
@NPHC1930: 235 followers
@AFA1976: 337 followers
@FraternalRitual: 373 followers
@GreekCompass: 239 followers

#thataintwinning, friends, that's worse than I thought. Obviously the followers of TFM are not limited to affiliated members. But consider for a moment that there are hundreds of thousands of living affiliated people. Even if only 5% utilize twitter, our followership is dismal. Clearly, the tweeters of the fraternal world need to be doing more to provide valuable, engaging content for followers (we here at AFLV included). And just like in the "real world", we need to be aware that like it or not, to an outsider, our interfraternal brothers and sisters are representing us to the world. Challenge others when their content is not in line with our shared values. We need to take ownership and responsibility.

We would love to hear your thoughts and comments. How do you represent your values through social media? How does your organization? How are we holding our members accountable for representing our founding values in their tweets? Is this a conversation you've even had? What could we be doing differently?

#livingtheritual

We’ve come to that time of the academic year when chapters begin preparing in earnest to initiate its newest members.  If your university is on the semester system, perhaps you are nearing the end of your 8-week new member process; if you’re on the quarter system Initiation may still be a few weeks away.  It’s always been my contention that the Ritual is not simply a ceremony that we dust off 2-3 times a year, but rather something that, if internalized, truly becomes a tool to help us navigate our undergraduate careers and beyond.

So why the # sign (hashtag, in the Twitter vernacular) in the subject of this post?  The value of the hashtag on Twitter is that it keeps a conversation going, or simply tags a comment along a continuing theme.  #livingtheritual can be used as a way to point out when students or staff exemplify their chapter’s values and Ritual.  Sometimes, it is used to identify a situation that runs counter to those values.   It’s a small way to hold ourselves and each other accountable to the things we all swore an oath to live up to.

#livingtheritual isn’t always easy.  I suppose if it was easy, every organization would have a Ritual.  But our letters, for better or worse, set us apart from other organizations and hold us to a higher standard.

The challenge (and reward) of #livingtheritual lies in a recent comparison I heard from a UIFI graduate: Ritual is not a wedding, it’s a marriage.  Simply put, the real work of the Ritual begins after the ceremonial initiation of each new member.  Once the symbols are revealed, badges are bestowed, and mysteries are explained, the hope is that we walk out of the ceremony with a renewed sense of what it means to live as a man of honor, a woman of virtue, or whatever language your own ceremony employs.  In marriage, the work begins after the reception is over, when the gifts are opened and thank you notes sent.

Serendipitously, I’ve been fortunate to be a Greek member as long as I’ve been a husband, with just over two months separating those two important ceremonies.  I try to live as a good husband every day.  Some days are better than others, like when I volunteer to cook dinner when my wife gets home from work late.  Some days are worse, when I have unfair expectations of my wife’s ability to read my mind and know why I am upset or frustrated.

Similarly, there are days when it is easier to live up to my fraternal oath, and days when I rely on my brothers to assist me.  But just as marriage includes the good days and bad ones, so too, does our Ritual.  If your brothers or sisters hashtagged your actions with #livingtheritual, would it be because more often than not, you exemplified your chapter's values, or because you failed to do so?

Just because many of the elements of most Rituals are secret, doesn’t mean that that how we live out those values should be a secret. 

Congratulations to all new members who will start their Ritual journey in the coming weeks; I look forward to seeing how you all #livetheritual.

Jeff Pelletier is a 1994 graduate of Boston College, and a 2006 Initiate of Delta Tau Delta at Ohio State University, where he currently serves as the chapter advisor.  He works for the university on the staff of the Ohio Union, managing budgets and operations for the student organization community.  You can follow him on Twitter @JeffBC94

So you think you can Greek?

The 2011 Central Fraternal Leadership Conference/National Black Greek Leadership Conference in St. Louis has finally arrived!! Training with the rest of the undergraduate and graduate student interns was a blast and we are ready to welcome a record-breaking number of attendees! The energy is contagious and I cannot wait to experience something “life-changing,” as previous attendees have described their experience.
Try and picture this: nearly 2,350 fraternity/sorority leaders from around the country in one convention center discussing all things “Greek.” I cannot help but ask, “So you think you can Greek?”

It’s time to start seeing the bigger picture of the fraternity/sorority community. So you know your organization’s history, values, ritual, colors, chants, etc., but how much do you know about the other organizations in our fraternal family? Striving for excellence and upholding the values of our own organizations is great, but we must continue to advance the entire community…TOGETHER! It’s time to work together, to challenge our perceptions of what Greek really means, and to inspire positive results from our brothers and sisters.

Each conference attendee is bringing a unique perspective. We have new members, chapter leaders, council presidents, advisors, alumni, unaffiliated supporters, headquarters staff, NPC, NALFO, NPHC, NIC, associate representatives, professional speakers…the list goes on and on. Overall, representatives from 164 affiliations are at the conference! Yes, that is 164 different affiliations! I want to see letters I’ve never seen before, I want to hear chants that make me say, “Wow,” I want to have a fresh outlook on fraternal values, and I want to share it with someone when I leave the conference. How about you?

So, do you think you can Greek? Be prepared to think again.

Jon Bell is a graduate student at the University of Kansas, a graduate Intern at Baker University, and a member of Alpha Delta Gamma.

The life of a #CFLNBGLC11 Intern: Pre-conference

Day 1 of intern training for the Central Fraternal Leadership Conference/National Black Greek Leadership Conference in good ole’ St. Louis, MO complete! Being this is my first year interning for the conference, I really had no idea what to expect, except that I was about to embark on a crazy/amazing adventure that involved late nights, early mornings, new faces, and great opportunities for learning along the way!
Our first day of training was pretty laid back, and being at a Greek leadership conference, naturally included some fun ice-breakers and “get-to-know-you” activities, along with a fabulous presentation by Jason and Mark on how to set up notice boards! We also toured the America's Center to see some of the spaces that we would be spending the next week of our lives in! The night wrapped up with a fun staff and intern bonding night at the local “Flamingo Bowl”, where yours truly scored a Turkey! =]

Overall, we had a great first day! We interns are starting to learn names, faces, and affiliations and are having some great conversations about our involvement in and love for our Greek experience! This is after all, the reason we are all here!
I am looking forward to digging deeper into the conference schedule tomorrow! We know we have a jam-packed week ahead of us but can’t wait to help work to make this conference run smoothly for all of you conference attendees! “Meet me in St. Louis” on Thursday at the registration table! Keep an eye out for all of us interns in our spiffy new orange conference oxfords!

Christina Miller is a student at Minnesota State University, Mankato and a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority.

What are you going to produce?

I never have been much into blogging. But if it wasnt for a simple blog post on Phired Up I for sure wouldn't be in St. Louis today with this great opportunity. Producing something, even though it was small, opened a door.

It doesn't matter what you are interested in because if you produce something and can get it in front of other people who share your interests something will come from it. While this is my first time at CFL/NBGLC, I can tell this place is filled with like minded and talented people. Being one of the youngest people the room, I get that 'small fish in a big pond' feeling. But I wouldn't have even been put in the pond if I didn't produce something first.

So my question for those who will be attending this weekend, "What are you going to produce?" It's not what you get from this conference but instead what you do with it. This weekend there will be over 2,300 people who get an experience. Could you imagine if every one of them actually produced when they got back to their campus? If that ended up being the case, we might just need to get a bigger pond.

Clark Buckner is a student at Belmont University and a member of Alpha Tau Omega. He is serving the #CFLNBGLC11 team as an Undergraduate Intern.

Fundraising Success

A guest blog post from the team at WePay, an AFLV Associate Member.

Fundraising can be a difficult animal to tame. Unless you have pockets filled with gold and/or an extremely generous conscience, chances are you probably rarely donate to fundraising causes. And nobody blames you- anytime you're trying to separate people from their hard-earned money you are faced with an uphill battle, but here are a few suggestions that I found helpful in fundraising for my fraternity:

1. Start a committee- One of the reasons fundraising efforts flop is a lack of perseverance and accountability. As I said, fundraising is tough, so after people get turned down a few times, they often lose interest and eventually stop making the effort. By creating a committee of members you trust, you have a group that is motivated to help, and more importantly, made answerable for the progress of your fundraising campaign. A short forewarning- the committee is only as effective as the members who make it up, so choose wisely (you may even want to head up the committee if necessary).

2. Make it into an event- If you can offer something in return for donations, you’re much more likely to score. An easy way to do this is to invite all the donors over for a campaign dinner; it doesn’t have to be anything too fancy, just something more appealing than a blatant solicitation for a check. Its also a good way to prove to would-be donors that your house is taking its fundraising efforts seriously. My house is a great example. We always run a fundraising campaign around our National Fraternity's anniversary. My sophomore year we actually invited alumni to the house for a "Founders' Day Dinner." Everyone was excited to come back to the house, see what progress/changes had taken place, and reconnect with other alumni. We reaped the benefits of such an event, as we hit it out of the park with donations. The very next year we got caught up with our social calendar and hurried to send out a pamphlet highlighting our house's accomplishments while also soliciting donations. While the pamphlet might have looked nice, let's just say things didn’t go so well that go-round.

3. Send invites early- This should be a no-brainer, but it is often forgotten (as in my chapter’s case). Not only does this ensure your potential donors know about the event early, but it also gives you a chance to showcase the chapter by explaining the current state of the house and why it needs donations. In our case we focused on a few alumni who recently landed prestigious jobs and the GPAs of some of our most academically-inclined members. As difficult as it is to collect donations, you want to give your donors as much time as possible to plan accordingly.

4. Reach out to your young alumni and chapter advisory board- If you had to choose between donating to a stranger who shows up at your door and one of your friends, you’d probably take your friend without question. The same goes for your donors; if you the alumni personally knows somebody in the house, they are more inclined to donate, and not only that, they probably have some other alumni friends who they’ll tell about the fundraising effort. Recent alumni and those who are involved on your chapter advisory board are a great start, as they can utilize their own personal networks to help the chapter reach its fundraising goals.

Fundraising is unquestionably frustrating, but if you plan ahead and take the right approach, you’re much more likely to walk away with fruit to show for your labor. Make it fun and worthwhile for your alumni and make sure your chapter is strategic in its efforts and you’ll be on your way to running a successful fundraising campaign.

Eyes Opened

So please bear with me world as I have never been one to blog or know how to so I am going to simply reflect over this amazing experience.

This one trip has provided a multitude of different experiences I never could have imagined. There was no way that I could have ever guessed what was bound to happen when you coupled 20 fraternity and sorority college students with a war torn country in need of all the help it can get. From the beginning most could assume that this trip would definitely be a hit or complete miss when it came down to how successful a program can be. But I suppose we all should have known better when every participant had agreed to give their time of from school up in order to go to a country that is struggling in every way after an unimaginable civil war that almost seems to continue. Please forgive me for not being able to remember who it was that said it, but the message is what is important. “ There is nothing more powerfull than the will and strength found in a volunteer.” This could not have been proven more correct than in these short days we spent together volunteering our time, energy, health, blood, sweat, tears and from the end looking back, our hearts. Many of these people whom I have had the privilege of working along with, I also have the privilege of bonding and connecting through the work we did with eachother. But what I feel is more important than being able to come together with other motivated greeks is the impact that this small group of individuals can make in only five days of work. Yes there are those that would disagree, but those are the people who do not understand. In five days, the foundation was set for a family who is living under a piece of tin metal and surrounded by blankets and sheets, In those same five days, the foundation was also set for a future daycare that will see hundreds upon hundreds of children from one community and give them a safe haven from the cruel world constantly pressuring them to join the gang life here that misleads the countries youth. And lastly in these last days the children who do not have parents to look after them were given a temporary family of ‘gringos’ who they could not let go by the end of every single day. Soon these children will be continuing their education while looking for a better life and a family of eight will no longer live worrying about the eight month old daughter will die from the heat and unforgivable sun.

Yes the effect of a volunteer is truly unstoppable when put into action. But again, this was not what I could have imagined when I came. When I first applied for this program I was beyond excited because it all seemed to fit so perfectly. It was a volunteer project in Central America involving children and building structures the communities need. I am currently studying to become a high school spanish teacher who already has over ten years experience in various manual labor jobs. It screamed my name louder than the fireworks of New Years. I consider this all the biggest among blessings I have ever come across in my life and I noted it right away. For me, I was unable to express how great I felt because I was able to transfer all my skill sets to this one project from the manual labor to connecting the language barrier between the locals and the volunteers. It was extremely personal being able to communicate with locals and being able to truly understand the words of praise and thankfulness that they tried so hard to express. And I could not be more proud to help everyone just by doing what my family had raised me to do, understand two languages and work to my full potential. For a short time I had come up with a quote that I have always done my best to live by for a long time now. “Blessings are not the things that God gives us, but the things God gives us to share with others.” This project opened my eyes to see that I am not only willing to break my back for my family, but for complete strangers as well. I love my family and of this there is know doubt, but I have never had more satisfaction than I did this one week working to better the lives of people whom I will most likely never see again.

This actually leads me to my next point and a very important lesson I had already known, but finally also opened my eyes too. During the middle of this week I had to stay home with the sick group. I myself was not sick but for an overly active ambition I hurt my health and was forced to stay. After two days of extreme work in a new enviroment my body had run out of gas and this was further worsened by my lack of water. But because I wanted so much to keep helping I pushed through the early symptoms of dehydration to work a half day at the most difficult work site available. To give a small description, the task at the site was to deepen trenches that were filled with rocks, boulders and literally half concrete half clay soil all on the side of a large hill with absolutely no shade cover. I chose to continue to this site because I felt I could help out so much and advance the project because of my background. Unfortunately because I ignored what my body was telling me, within the first hour of climbing down the large hill to retrieve drinkable water for the family that we were helping I had developed a fever. With three hours left at the site I further ignored my body, refused to sit down and kept working in the unrellenting sun. To keep the story short, our time at the site was done and I had a full fever with the biggest headache ever. Fortunately as soon as we met up with the other group I did ask for medicine at the right time and my health slowly but steadily began to get better. But because I did not listen to my body the night before/morning of and chose to work, I was now set up to miss the next full day of work instead of just a half day. The moral of this story is that even the most ambitious motivated volunteers need to be smart and take care of their body because if you are not at your best health you will not be able to give your best help, or worse miss a whole day of it.

My final note for the night is to reflect to what my eyes were most opened to, and that was the development of myself. When I came I had a few assumptions of what I was going to be doing. The biggest of which I guessed I would be helping translate for those who did not know the language. Never could I possibly imagined that this one issue would be what helped me make my biggest personal break through. To give some background, even when I applied I infromed the selection group that I can be a good leader but am a better “second in command” you could say. I have always felt more comfortable letting others take the lead with things and focusing on being their best resource to help accomplish anything and everything. If need I would always be ready and able to step up and lead any group, but I always stepped back. This trip and being the most fluent spanish speaker forced me to step up in many different ways, yes mostly just translating a few sentences here and there. But soon those sentences were the instructions on what to do at each job sight, explaining to children what they are to do for activities and relaying information back and forth for drivers, leaders and project coordinators. Today however was where I made my breakthrough. I not only spent the whole day translating anything and everything for my fellow workers but also, a doctor, a nun, a dance group and a music group. Being able to do these things wasn’t where I grew. I grew when I finally accepted my success in what I do and stepped up to translate for the our group (and another group of tourists who were at the historical site we were fortunate enough to visit today). For me it was more than just converting the words others could not understand, it was becoming the leader of the group (even if by default). It is truly a feeling I cannot express in these few words but the short version of it all is that I have never felt more useful to so many people and it all built up from the second day at the orphanage to standing in front of groups of people being the one person who could help give meaning to what they were experiencing.

I really do wish this could have been written better but the fact is this experience is better told in person, but will always be best experienced. The other fact is that Tricia is waiting impatiently for my to stop typing so we can all go to bed and be up before 5am so we can catch our flights. (Luckily for me I usually have to be up by that time so I will be fine, but since I would like to come back to this opportunity next year I will let her go to bed because I need she helps pick who gets selected). And if you are still reading this thank you. You like those who I have experienced this opportunity made this opportunity the unique life changing experience that it was, because you are the ones that I will now work to reach out to in order to help better the world. Again my ambition shows, but if you think that is crazy, but wait and see what myself and this group of individuals accomplishes when we return. I will end this with a quote I will never forget.

“Not to know is bad. Not to want to know is worse. Not to hope is unthinkable. Not to care is unforgivable.” – Johnnettta P. Cole

Jesus Chavez is a Junior at Arizona State University and a member of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity Inc.