Quote:
Originally Posted by craigrx
What do you guys think would be a consequence of moving towards the national meetings being a yearly event? Reason I'm asking is because my fraternity is proposing this change and I'm really not sure what to think about it.
|
Pros: You could touch base with your entire membership's leadership in one room on an annual basis. This offers an opportunity for lots of leadership development, training, networking, etc.
Cons:
This will cost double or more the conclave fees you're already paying.
Programming for annual events is going to probably be pretty repetitive.
If your annual meeting includes a legislative component, there will be people every single year looking to shake things up legislatively. This brings a lot of change for the sake of change.
If your annual meeting is where you elect national officers, 1 year staggered terms are not a terrible thing, but you may consider increasing the size of your governing board if that's the case to maximize institutional memory.
This is going to be a major imposition on alumni. I can sell that I am going to be gone a few days every other year for a convention. Turning it into an every year thing, leaving all those spouses at home alone with kids is a real imposition. Toss in the fact that you're talking about essentially vacationing alone every year vs. every other year, you're sure to see alumni involvement decline.
Sigma Nu's approach here is this: We have our Grand Chapter every other year. It is well attended by alumni, well attended by collegians and is a fantastic event. I've been to a few. We also hold an annual training for our newly elected chapter presidents in Lexington Virginia. HQ staff hosts annual regional conferences all around the U.S. and Canada every year to train officers and alumni volunteers. It's the best of both worlds and it's working well.
