Suggestions for New Members Hosting a Recruitment Event

punkgurl · #1 10-24-2006, 04:21 PM

Hi everyone, I am a new member of a sorority at a school with a very small Greek system. Our sorority does continuous rerecruitment all year. The president of our chapter has suggested that our new members organize a recruitment event and I was wondering if anyone here had any suggestions for events that we can do?

SoCalGirl · #2 10-24-2006, 04:39 PM

What kind of events have they done in the past?

KSUViolet06 · #3 10-24-2006, 04:50 PM

We did a 4 day recruitment this year for informal, and it was one of the best we've had. The first 3 events are just to get to know us and find out more about the sorority. The last event was the event before bids were issued, so if girls were interested in joining, they had to come to this night.

Day 1: Coffee @ a local coffee house
Day 2: Appetizers at a restaurant.
Day 3: Potluck dinner at the chapter house.
Day 4: Mocktails party at the chapter house.

The last event was the only one that really took any effort to coordinate. I think you guys can defintely pull off a couple nights of coffee and a dinner at your house for a 3 day recruitment!

Drolefille · #4 10-24-2006, 05:18 PM

TV night/Movie night watching a fun movie or whatever you kids watch on TV these days (Grey's Anatomy?)

Ice Cream Parlor
BBQ with (or without) a fraternity

AlexMack · #5 10-24-2006, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drolefille

TV night/Movie night watching a fun movie or whatever you kids watch on TV these days (Grey's Anatomy?)

Ice Cream Parlor
BBQ with (or without) a fraternity

Damn kids get off my lawn!

Oh yeah, adding to the thread...

What about a giant Twister game night? Get like 4 mats and have everyone play, or have a Twister tournament. Do ice cream along with it.

Drolefille · #6 10-24-2006, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by centaur532

Damn kids get off my lawn!

Oh yeah, adding to the thread...

What about a giant Twister game night? Get like 4 mats and have everyone play, or have a Twister tournament. Do ice cream along with it.

Well we always had a Must See TV night... I just didn't know if there was still TV to Must See... errr something like that.

/Not a Friends fan

adpiucf · #7 10-24-2006, 05:43 PM

Some suggestions from another thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by AOIIalum

OpenMinded, has your chapter considered dual-programming events? There are a lot of things already on your chapter's calendar that could be appropriate for non-members to attend (depending on any chapter or campus regulations of course).

What about:

* inviting PNMs to join in the cheering section for your intramurals team or school's football/basketball/baseball/etc. team
* PNMs volunteering with chapter members at a philanthropic event
* PNMs attending chapter study tables
* small groups of memers meeting with a few PNMs for coffee or lunch on campus
* inviting PNMs to join the chapter to see a speaker on campus
* inviting PNMs to attend a chapter dinner at the house (or join chapter members going out to dinner)
* inviting PNMs to come watch "must see TV" at the chapter house/suite/etc.

Good luck!

You could also plan a non-alcoholic party at your chapter house and give it a theme like "XYZ Sock-Hop" or "XYZ Mardi Gras" etc..., dress up with cute nametags. Every new member invites 1-3 non-Greek friends to come and enjoy refreshments and music. Have brag tables out so you can show off photo albums, awards and traditions, and do house tours. If you don't have a house, you can get a meeting room in your student union and hold the event there. It will be a great opp. for the new members to get to know one another and introduce their friends to Greek Life. You can also ask that the friends you invite bring a friend, too, to expand your social circle and include another PNM. Make it through invitation, rather than an open event.

You can also hold an open event where you plan a Sisterhood Picnic for the entire chapter and encourage PNMs and non-Greek friends to come and partake in a picnic lunch and field games like Red Rover, Shadow Tag and Capture The Flag. It will take everyone back to their camp days and be a good time. Give out prizes, and also have special "Sister Superlatives" prizes for sorority sisters to recognize sisters who are active on campus, stellar students, amazing volunteers and sorority leaders. You can give a little speech about how fun it is to be an XYZ and share some of the upcoming activities you are looking forward to. A few new members can offer testimonials about how glad they are to have joined-- an upperclassman, a freshman, a legacy to another sorority, a legacy to XYZ, a girl who is from another state, a member who works to put herself through school, the member who is involved in lots of campus organizations, etc.

aephi alum · #8 10-24-2006, 05:47 PM

Did you join through formal or informal recruitment? If the latter, think about what event(s) you attended that stuck out in your mind. If you're a new member, you just went through recruitment from the PNM side.

The trouble with a TV or movie night is that (a) it doesn't give you a lot of time for conversation, and (b) people (both sisters and PNMs) may not like the TV show or movie. We did a Thursday night "Must See TV" informal recruitment event while I was an active, and I don't think any PNMs showed up. (I wasn't there... I had an evening class, so I was excused, which is just as well as there was only one "Must See TV" show that I could stand... if I hadn't had a class, I would have been "sick" that evening.)

I joined through COB. Our events included a mocktail party and a picnic lunch.

How about a make-your-own-sundae ice cream social?

punkgurl · #9 10-25-2006, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoCalGirl

What kind of events have they done in the past?

For recruitment this fall we did an information night where interested people were given information on the sorority, met all the active members, and had time to ask questions. Our actual events included a game night, ice cream with the sorority, and a Xiesta- we had tacos, salsa, and a pinata. We also did a joint event with another sorority on campus called Candy Bingo.

Our biggest problem has been finding a place to have the events since this is the first year (and hopefully the last) that we don't have a house. All these suggestions have been great, thanks ladies for all the awesome ideas. Many of us already watch Grey's Anatomy so that is definitely an option. We also have a park right across the street from campus so a picnic in the park sounds good too, although it's pretty cold this time of year in Wisconsin but I love that idea so I'm gonna try to make it work somehow. It was an awesome idea to have everyone bring a few non-Greek friends as well, we have been trying to compile a "wish list" of people we are especially interested in joining.