Recruitment Work Week

[ShadeTree]

My recruitment chair is looking for fun ideas for goodie bags, inexpensive treats or cute note ideas to give to the chapter members during work week. Pinterest has some great ideas, but would love to hear what you have used to keep members engaged and have fun during this very stressful time. We have about 85 members. Thanks for your help!

[FSUZeta]

My recruitment chairs usually have little games and sisterhood activities built into the days agenda. For instance, they may practice singing, and then go thru the entrance and exit for day one and then they might play a sorority history game. Then they might have lunch, one of the officers might speak to them and then they might do a sisterhood activity, followed by work on decorations.

They have also played music and had everyone dance/be silly to the music just to stretch their legs and get the cobwebs out. The officers are usually pretty good about noticing when the medmberships attention is waning.

[OneHeartOneWay]

One of the chapters with which I work does theme days during pre recruitment. So, one day everyone dresses up like 80s, another day is a color day, etc. They also sometimes incorporate rotation group challenges- both in attire and "competitions" during the day to break it up. Have them do skits as a group, etc. Gifts or take-aways are hard, I think, to give to everyone, especially if you are thinking more than once during the pre recruitment period.

[aephi alum]

^ The themed t-shirt thing may not be acceptable at some schools. We (read: the entire greek system) were absolutely forbidden to wear or display any letters during work week. (We actually had one chapter try to slap another chapter with a rush infraction, because a member of the other sorority who attended a different college went for a jog, was wearing a sorority t-shirt, and happened to jog past our school. )

Anyway, suggestions ... Get some nice, loud, silly music to listen to while doing boring things like making decorations. (You could even do themes with that - play '80s music one day, for example.) (Warning: This can backfire. To this day, I cringe when I hear "Cheeseburger in Paradise".)

We had some fun while practicing our conversation skills, too. We had workshops where two sisters were pulled out and one of them played the role of a PNM with an ... unusual ... characteristic, and the other was the sister who picked her up at the door. The rest of the chapter would watch, and the rush chair would critique the convo (e.g. "What else could Annie have done to get Shy Violet to open up and give more than one-word answers?" or "How could Susie have steered Franny the Frat Rat away from the topic of which fraternities have the hottest guys?"). Well, I got to be "Promiscuous Pam", the campus slut. Which is so far from my personality that we were pretty much all in stitches.

One year, we actually had initiation during work week. We had one new member who'd pledged in late spring, too late for her to be eligible for initiation before the semester ended. She started her NM program in late spring and finished up over the summer, and we initiated her during work week. It served as a reminder of who we are and what we stand for - something you can lose sight of when the rush chair is barking orders and you're sitting there with glue in one hand and glitter in the other hand (and in your hair, and all over your clothes) while listening to "Cheeseburger in Paradise" for the quadrillionth time.

[ree-Xi]

If you go the route of give-a-ways or treat bags, here are some ides:

- Candy, like M&Ms or Jelly Belly Beans in one or more of your colors
- Lettered Pens or Pencils (you can get 10 for $2 at GreekGear) to use during work week or Membership selection meetings
- Mini notebooks for each person to use for note taking, lists, balloting, etc. You can decorate the cover of each of the notebooks with stickers or photos
- A mini bottle of nail polish in one of your colors (and give each other pedicures, as bright colors are more "doable" on toes)

[Larkspur12]

Really appreciating these suggestions! I am the recruitment chair for my chapter and I am always looking for ways to hold members' attention during long workshops!

[ShadeTree]

These are terrific suggestions. Thank you ALL so much!