It's summer time, when a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of......well, anything, really, as long as it's not school or work or Fraternity. Right?
Maybe not. Believe it or not, the National Office IS open over the summer. (No, really!) The Brothers Intranet is open. The Maintenance Wikka is open. Heck, even the Alumni Association is open -- we're adding people to our LinkedIn group every day!
The reality is, with all of the collaborative tools available to us, the Fraternity does not need to go completely dead just because it's summer. We can now focus on the more fun aspects of Brotherhood -- interacting with and learning from (and about) our Brothers nationwide.
Make it happen!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Clerical Error: DOIN THE BOT -- forever
Brothers,
I regret to inform you that due to an unfortunate loop-hole in our Constitution, it appears that one of our long-standing fun traditions has caused considerable havoc.
Each year, as many of you know, the Legislative Council votes to re-name the Board of Trustees. All in good fun, of course, and it has no lasting consequences.
Wrong.
It seems that Article XVII, Section 4.2 stipulates that no vote of the Legislative Council may have any time restriction appended to it. This is to prevent motions being passed at Convention purposefully set to expire between LC sessions when no one can do anything about it. Therefor, the motion the LC passed at this latest Convention is binding.
Our Board of Trustees is, officially, now named "Delightfully Orthodox, Impressively Nuanced, Tremendously Helpful Entity: Board of Trustees" or DOIN THE BOT.
With the end of the semester soon upon us, and the collegiate Brothers scattering across the country for the summer break, it seems unlikely that we can convene the LC until the fall semester to reverse this decision. I have asked C-NITC Britton to correct all of our online documentation, and NS Lyon to begin amending all national documents in which DOIN THE BOT is referenced.
I have not yet heard back from C-DOIN THE BOT Zander on whether there will be a mid-year meeting for DOIN THE BOT.
It seems we'll be stuck DOIN THE BOT for quite a while.
I regret to inform you that due to an unfortunate loop-hole in our Constitution, it appears that one of our long-standing fun traditions has caused considerable havoc.
Each year, as many of you know, the Legislative Council votes to re-name the Board of Trustees. All in good fun, of course, and it has no lasting consequences.
Wrong.
It seems that Article XVII, Section 4.2 stipulates that no vote of the Legislative Council may have any time restriction appended to it. This is to prevent motions being passed at Convention purposefully set to expire between LC sessions when no one can do anything about it. Therefor, the motion the LC passed at this latest Convention is binding.
Our Board of Trustees is, officially, now named "Delightfully Orthodox, Impressively Nuanced, Tremendously Helpful Entity: Board of Trustees" or DOIN THE BOT.
With the end of the semester soon upon us, and the collegiate Brothers scattering across the country for the summer break, it seems unlikely that we can convene the LC until the fall semester to reverse this decision. I have asked C-NITC Britton to correct all of our online documentation, and NS Lyon to begin amending all national documents in which DOIN THE BOT is referenced.
I have not yet heard back from C-DOIN THE BOT Zander on whether there will be a mid-year meeting for DOIN THE BOT.
It seems we'll be stuck DOIN THE BOT for quite a while.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Convention Minutes are Almost Complete
Brothers,
I've been working hard on the Convention minutes, and they're almost complete. If you're interested in seeing any of the following items, please sign in to the intranet first, then click on the links below.
I'm still working on the NEC and NCCM minutes. These should be out shortly.
LC Minutes
BOT Minutes
NCE Minutes
NFC Minutes
'08-'09 Budget
NHAC Minutes
NITC Minutes
Updated History and Archives Policy Manual
Updated Expansion Policy Manual
Updated Colonization Procedures
Updated Executive Committee Policy Manual
See previous post for links to items that are due on April 30th!
Take care,
Julie
I've been working hard on the Convention minutes, and they're almost complete. If you're interested in seeing any of the following items, please sign in to the intranet first, then click on the links below.
I'm still working on the NEC and NCCM minutes. These should be out shortly.
LC Minutes
BOT Minutes
NCE Minutes
NFC Minutes
'08-'09 Budget
NHAC Minutes
NITC Minutes
Updated History and Archives Policy Manual
Updated Expansion Policy Manual
Updated Colonization Procedures
Updated Executive Committee Policy Manual
See previous post for links to items that are due on April 30th!
Take care,
Julie
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Chapter Maintenance Reference Library
The Chapter Maintenance Reference Library has expanded again! I've replaced the lost books and bought a few more for us to
use as an organization. All Chapters may request photocopied sections of these books for their use, or may request that I bring
them anytime I visit. Here's a list of the books in the library:
"The Everything Fundraising Book" by Rich Mintzer
"The Everything Project Management Book" by Rich Mintzer
"Publicity for nonprofits" by Sandra L. Beckwith
"The Big Book of Team Building Games" by John Newstrom and Edward Scannell
"Quick Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers: 50 exercises that get results in 15 minutes" by Brian Cole Miller
"Dealing with People You Can't Stand: How to bring out the best in people at their worst" by Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner
"Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations" by Michael Allison and Jude Kaye
I also have quite a few articles and other materials that have been clipped or sent in to me. Donations are always welcome. I hope every Chapter can find some of this information useful!
use as an organization. All Chapters may request photocopied sections of these books for their use, or may request that I bring
them anytime I visit. Here's a list of the books in the library:
"The Everything Fundraising Book" by Rich Mintzer
"The Everything Project Management Book" by Rich Mintzer
"Publicity for nonprofits" by Sandra L. Beckwith
"The Big Book of Team Building Games" by John Newstrom and Edward Scannell
"Quick Team-Building Activities for Busy Managers: 50 exercises that get results in 15 minutes" by Brian Cole Miller
"Dealing with People You Can't Stand: How to bring out the best in people at their worst" by Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner
"Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations" by Michael Allison and Jude Kaye
I also have quite a few articles and other materials that have been clipped or sent in to me. Donations are always welcome. I hope every Chapter can find some of this information useful!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Post-Convention Wave
Hi Brothers,
Like Kevin, I have been enjoying a surge of questions and contact from Brothers at many different Chapters. Unfortunately, that cold I was trying to keep at bay during Convention with all the orange juice only got worse when I got home, and so my email response time has been slightly slower than usual. I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better now--just in time for the majority of Spring Breaks to be over!
A lot of Chapters are inquiring about the potential for hosting a colony. My advice to all of you is to make sure that you can take on this responsibility without weakening the strength of your Chapter. Now is a great time to be doing extra recruitment, fundraising, and Brotherhood building to shore yourselves up for a potentially exciting year next year. (Spring is a good time to be doing all those activities anyway!).
On a side note, I left my cell phone charger in North Carolina, so until I receive it in the mail, email will be the best way to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you!
Chrissy
NVPCM
Like Kevin, I have been enjoying a surge of questions and contact from Brothers at many different Chapters. Unfortunately, that cold I was trying to keep at bay during Convention with all the orange juice only got worse when I got home, and so my email response time has been slightly slower than usual. I'm happy to report that I'm feeling much better now--just in time for the majority of Spring Breaks to be over!
A lot of Chapters are inquiring about the potential for hosting a colony. My advice to all of you is to make sure that you can take on this responsibility without weakening the strength of your Chapter. Now is a great time to be doing extra recruitment, fundraising, and Brotherhood building to shore yourselves up for a potentially exciting year next year. (Spring is a good time to be doing all those activities anyway!).
On a side note, I left my cell phone charger in North Carolina, so until I receive it in the mail, email will be the best way to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you!
Chrissy
NVPCM
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Viral Networking
Julie has invited me to participate on the blog, so I thought I'd share a little bit with what's been happening on the electronic frontier.
Intranet Profiles
The new intranet profiles were a big hit at Convention. In fact, I gleefully took notice of the fact that even during Legislative Council there were several people online playing with their profiles.
By far the most favorite feature is the family trees. I think we scored a big hit with how easy it is to navigate the trees, and how (relatively) simple it is to add people to your tree. It's gratifying to see them getting so much use so quickly. In fact, we went from just under 1500 "sibling" records to over 1800 just since last Friday! That type of viral networking builds on itself -- I think we're well on the way to seeing an uptick in interaction via the Brothers Intranet.
Just when you thought it couldn't get busier...
I spent the week before Convention frantically finishing all the features required to make the profiles work. The whole time, I thought of how nice it would be to sit back and watch it work afterwards. Silly me.
With the upsurge in intranet usage comes an upsurge in user questions, which means the Helpdesk has really been hopping lately. As a result, I had to put that little laurel resting on hold -- not necessarily a bad thing! All the support requests have motivated me to write a tool for merging duplicate accounts (now complete), and next I need to work on new tools for registering placeholder accounts and activating placeholder accounts.
I'm very grateful for all the suggestions and bugs that have been identified -- I want the intranet to be as useful to everyone as possible, and your feedback only helps make it more so. Keep it up!
Work/Life Balance
The next month is shaping up to be just as busy as the previous few have been. I'm out of town on business next week, my last graduate class (woo!) is winding down, and the dedication date for the parish center project I'm chairing at my church is rapidly approaching. One of these months I need to find time for an actual vacation!
Intranet Profiles
The new intranet profiles were a big hit at Convention. In fact, I gleefully took notice of the fact that even during Legislative Council there were several people online playing with their profiles.
By far the most favorite feature is the family trees. I think we scored a big hit with how easy it is to navigate the trees, and how (relatively) simple it is to add people to your tree. It's gratifying to see them getting so much use so quickly. In fact, we went from just under 1500 "sibling" records to over 1800 just since last Friday! That type of viral networking builds on itself -- I think we're well on the way to seeing an uptick in interaction via the Brothers Intranet.
Just when you thought it couldn't get busier...
I spent the week before Convention frantically finishing all the features required to make the profiles work. The whole time, I thought of how nice it would be to sit back and watch it work afterwards. Silly me.
With the upsurge in intranet usage comes an upsurge in user questions, which means the Helpdesk has really been hopping lately. As a result, I had to put that little laurel resting on hold -- not necessarily a bad thing! All the support requests have motivated me to write a tool for merging duplicate accounts (now complete), and next I need to work on new tools for registering placeholder accounts and activating placeholder accounts.
I'm very grateful for all the suggestions and bugs that have been identified -- I want the intranet to be as useful to everyone as possible, and your feedback only helps make it more so. Keep it up!
Work/Life Balance
The next month is shaping up to be just as busy as the previous few have been. I'm out of town on business next week, my last graduate class (woo!) is winding down, and the dedication date for the parish center project I'm chairing at my church is rapidly approaching. One of these months I need to find time for an actual vacation!
Convention Reflections
Brothers,
I really enjoyed convention this year. I thought things ran smoothly for the most part, and I'm already excited about next year's convention.
Today, I will be working on compiling the minutes from Convention. I will nag you if I still need reports from your chapters. I'm hoping to get the minutes completed ASAP so that I can focus on the end of the semester rush.
Upcoming Deadlines
April 30th is the next big deadline. Log in to the intranet in order for the links below to work.
I really enjoyed convention this year. I thought things ran smoothly for the most part, and I'm already excited about next year's convention.
Today, I will be working on compiling the minutes from Convention. I will nag you if I still need reports from your chapters. I'm hoping to get the minutes completed ASAP so that I can focus on the end of the semester rush.
Upcoming Deadlines
April 30th is the next big deadline. Log in to the intranet in order for the links below to work.
- Chapter By-Laws in electronic format due to NS (I currently do not have any electronic copies of your By-Laws, so this is very important)
- Chapter Informal Initiation Rituals due to NS (The informal initiation rituals that I currently have are pretty out of date. Please send me your current practices.)
- Alumni Reports (Spring graduates) due to NS
- Initiation Reports (Spring initiates) due to NT
- Summer Address Lists due to NS (Download the address list and make any changes)
- Link to Academic Calendars for 2008-2009 due to NS (Just email me the link to your college/university's academic calendar)
- NCCM Quarterly Report due to NVPCM
- Quarterly Pledging Report due to NVPCM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
