Happy New Year - 2013

Well, we survived another one.

I hope everyone had a good year, and I hope that next year will be even better. Leave a comment with resolutions, goals, hopes and dreams for yourself, your chapter, the whole fraternity, or whatever scale is important to you.

Thanks for making this a great year for the blog. Lets do it again.

Inspiration for the New Year

For our first post of 2012 I thought I would share a video I got on the 31st.

I don't believe the word "fraternity" is mentioned in this video, but we are in a looking forward mode, at least for a few days. Many of us will make and break resolutions and never get anything changed. In that context I found following conversation very exciting.

It is an hour and a half long, but the guys are so real I didn't notice the time. Give yourself a 10-15 minutes to just listen and see if you are drawn in as I was.



After you are done, leave us a comment and tell us what you think about the ideas Ramit talks about.

One of my thoughts was: "If this guy was in a chapter they would kick serious ass in rush/recruitment."

Happy New Year! - Now What?

We here at the BlogCentral complex would like to send out our best wishes for a great 2009 to all chapters, alumni, undergraduates, volunteers, and staff. We often have different opinions about where the fraternity is going, or should go, and how it should get there. The one thing we all share is a drive to be a better organization this year than last - however that is defined.

To that end we really want to hear from all our readers. Please leave a comment on this post about how you think SigEp, or HQ, or S&P can be "better" this year. Those of us at S&P, at least, will pay attention; we cannot vouch for others. Our opinion is that maximum good comes from maximum communication, and this blog is definitely about communication.

Remember, we have a Conclave coming up with legislative sessions, and as the old saying goes "No man's life, liberty, or property is safe when the legislature is in session." It is not too early for those of you who wish to see material changes to get started drafting resolutions and "improvements" to the bylaws. Pay attention to items that show up at the last minute, especially the "housekeeping" ones - the devil is in the details.

Welcome 2008. Want to make something of it?

Here we are at the cusp of another year. Like most years there was good and bad in SigEp land this year. However, I have watched "year in review" shows on TV until my eyes glazed over and am too tired (read: lazy) to go back and dredge up all the successes and failures we have seen this year.

Well, maybe one of each:

Good - Megabux raised for the Education Foundation over lunch at Conclave.

Bad - The chapter at Northern Illinois gets suspended.

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But this post is really for you readers to talk back to us, though. We would like to get some reviews and resolutions from you. Let us know what YOU think.

Leave a comment about:

What did you like, or not like, this past year about SigEp in general or your chapter in particular.

What should HQ focus on in the coming year to make SigEp even better?

What do you like/hate about S&P?

How can WE be more effective?

What are YOU planning to do next year to make yourself, and SigEp even better?

...or of course, anything else on your mind.

Don't be shy. Step up and fire away.

Oh, yeah. And have a Great year in 2008!!!

What's on YOUR list?

This is the time of year when folks start looking back and looking forward. In fact, the name "January" is taken from the roman god "Janus", the god of doors and gates, beginnings and endings. Typically, we look at the year just passed to assess what we did well and what we can improve on, and we look ahead to plan activities and goals we will focus on in the coming year.

I'll start by noting that a resolution I had last year was to double the readership of S&P to about 300 a day. Didn't happen. I got bogged down by work, school and home obligations and had to back away from the every-spare-minute I was spending here. As a result, we may have missed some opportunities and while steady, our reader numbers will not overwhelm the blog servers any time soon. On the plus side, some of the blog team that had previously been skittish about posting have stepped up and helped out and for that I am very thankful. Now, on to next year...

One of the things we at S&P would really like to see is more interaction with our readers. To that end we put "Recent Comments" on the sidebar so you can see what people are saying. If it inspires you to add your two cents' worth then so much the better.

So, for this post I want to invite everyone to add your New Year's Resolutions, hopes, plans, and so forth. Also, what is going on with your Chapter? Are you going to get to Conclave? (hint: You still have time to enter the contest.) If you want to tell us where to go make suggestions for S&P we would love to hear it as well. Click on the "comments" link and when you see the popup type away. You do not have to leave a name or email, but if you do have a 'handle' it will help keep the musings straight.

Go ahead, make a comment. To start things off, I put this on my other blog.

2007resolutions

S&P Resolutions 2006

(Special thanks to Alex Randolph from UC Berkeley for the picture)

It is time to think about the yearly works of speculative fiction known as "New Year's Resolutions". To see what others have said, check out the Technorati tag "2006resolutions". I won't bore you with my personal list here, but you can check it out if you want.

So what are we planning/hoping/scheming here at S&P? Gather round, and bring several grains of salt.

• (Updated @ 11:56 am CST) Superintendent:
  "....with liberty and fraternity for all."
  Animal House reference aside, the truth of the matter is that we at S&P care a great deal for the fraternity along with the folks at HQ and you our loyal readers. Many times, decisions at HQ become a measure of cost and benefit and sometimes the little guy loses. For the most part their decisions provide the best direction and vision for our fraternity but more often then most, something gets lost in translation.
  Who looks out for the little guy? Who is the little guy? We don't know because the little guy changes and evolves, but we at S&P can hope to strike a cord and find out what our common problems are and act as the squeaky wheel. It is my goal to help uncover the small details, remind us of the day to day tasks that may get overlooked in pursuit of our direction and vision, and tie it all together to show the building blocks of SigEp that make each one of us better men for being a part of it.
  Friends and brothers, "God is in the details."
  
• Wordjunky:
  Double daily readership - again. We actually have nearly tripled year-over-year readership. Last year we were around 50 hits per day and now we routinely average 150 and up with bursts into the 200+ range for days at a time. We want to take things up another level or two.
• Euripides:
  It would be my New Year's wish that someone in Richmond would understand customer usage patterns. The national website should be arranged so one can easily find things such as committee listings, and they should be up to date instead of last year's version once you find them.
• Anonymous:
  The "shocker", a hand gesture featured on many of our chapter Web sites, shall make its way into the land of snap bracelets, chia pets and parachute pants.
• Anonymous:
  The news media will finally see the good in all greeks, only to have that viewpoint ruined by yet another [insert frequently occurring indiscretion here].
• Diogenes:
  I will suffer no fools - gladly or otherwise. When weasel-worded platitudes issue from HQ I will call "bullshit!" and demand serious, accountable, objectives stated in simple declarative sentences. Here is one to start: The Committees should tell us what they have done/will do over the past/next year. Put status reports on line where all can see if they have been doing anything worthwhile.
• Anonymous:
  The greek community will praise the hard work of student journalists to find the good in greeks, until yet another [insert frequently occurring indiscretion here] occurs.
• Anonymous:
  Headquarters will finally intercept the names of all S&P members, thanks to the new rules for NSA wiretaps.

So there you have it. These are the serious and silly resolutions from S&P for 2006. The actual determination of which is which is left as an exercise for the interested student.
Note: Some of our contributors have not recovered from their celebrations yet, so we may have a few more additions later today. Check back for updates.

Tags: SigEp Fraternity 2006resolutions