The day after Valentine's day, I left with 7 of the Alpha Phi collegians to go to a Regional Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. This conference is held every year and the purpose is to provide each of the officers with specific training to help them do their job as well as to help them become better leaders. We left Friday morning around 6am and got there in the early afternoon. We started right away with a meeting with some of the regional team to go over anything that we might need help with. After that was a dinner and welcoming thing and by the time we were done it was almost 11pm. Some of the other advisors were all going to hang out but I was so tired I just went to bed - I felt like such a fuddy duddy. Here's an awesome picture of me sleeping in the car, LOL.
Saturday was a jam-packed day. We had an early breakfast and then 8 different one hour sessions, each geared towards the officer or advisor attending it. So for example, a girl who's job is to manage the chapter's marketing might go to sessions about hosting successful philanthropic events, promoting the brand properly, etc. For the advisors, our sessions were more geared towards problem solving, preparing for or reacting to emergencies or providing support to help the girls grow into better leaders. Here's a pic of me with all the girls, I'm so proud of them!
This was the first year in a long time (or maybe ever) that our school got to send so many girls to the conference - it's usually too expensive to send more than a few. I was so happy to see all of them go and really gain insight into their positions and what improvements they can bring back to the chapter. Saturday night the girls were just bubbling over with ideas and things they wanted to talk about. Sunday morning, we had an early breakfast, a couple more meetings and then they closed with a speaker named Lori Hart and she was awesome! Below is a short clip I found on youtube that seems similar to some of what she shared with our group and you can find more information on her website if you are interested (http://www.campuspeak.com/speakers/hart)
Besides all the great training, the best part of going to the conference as an advisor is the opportunity to meet all these other women who volunteer their time and efforts to help the collegians. There are so many talented women there - leaders, public speakers, counselors of sorts...whatever role is required they always step up and fill it. If you're an alumnae of a sorority, I strongly encourage you to get involved with your local alumnae chapter or support the nearest collegiate chapter - I promise you'll get back just as much as you give, and maybe more!
