Discuss SigEp IL Epsilon (NIU) Board of Mentors

If you are interested there is an invitation at the bottom of this post.You will need a Google+ account to sign up, but if you have a Gmail address or any other accounts managed by Google your account is set up already.

Post from Michael Ellis:
Hey SigEps on G+ !   I'm hoping you can help.    

Here's the thing:   
   _1)  Many of you do NOT live near a SigEp chapter._
   _2)  Many of you would LIKE to volunteer but find the time commitment prohibitive._
   _3)  Many of you could contribute greatly to the lives of our undergraduate brothers, if you just could find a way to solve 1 & 2._

So here's what I need.   I'm looking for 7 volunteers to fill positions on our new Board of Mentors for the newly formed colony (re-forming the chapter) at Northern Illinois University, IL Epsilon.   Your commitment is ONE HOUR PER WEEK to serve as a Mentor for an Exec board member of that chapter.   You'll engage with your Mentee remotely over Google Hangout.   Once a month, you'll join a Google Hangout with your fellow mentors to discuss progress, obstacles and challenges, and provide each other with encouragement.    I need volunteers for these Mentoring roles:  President, VP Programming, VP Recruitment, VP Finance, Chaplain, VP Communications, VP Member Development.  Volunteers will be hand-selected based on personal, professional, SigEp experiences and personality matches to current Undergraduates.

I hope some of you will consider joining in this pioneering new Volunteering role.   Join us - it's only ONE HOUR A WEEK - and you will be in on the ground floor of building a TOP chapter.   Great kids, just needing the guidance of some committed older brothers.   The technology helps make the commitment manageable.   Will you sign up today?  

Discuss SigEp IL Epsilon Board of Mentors

Thu, January 17, 6:00 PM CST

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Michael Ellis and Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity are going

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Discuss the whos, wheres, whats, hows, whys, whens of a Board of Mentors for the newly formed SigEp colony at Northern Illinois University.

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Leverage SigEp's network for your professional career

From this month's "Sound Bite" - SigEp's monthly source of undergraduate news.

Leverage SigEp's network for your professional career:

By Bryce Giesler, Tennessee ’82, and Beaux Carriere, Charleston ’10, Volunteer Services Director

With over 230,000 living brothers, SigEp has one of the strongest and most reliable networks to leverage as an undergraduate. “If you are hiring, and you have two equally qualified candidates, knowing one is a SigEp can make the decision easy because you know the values are there,”Dennis Kaps, Ohio State ‘03, a recruiting manager at Abercrombie & Fitch’s corporate headquarters said. And one of the best places to begin your network is on LinkedIn.

Similar to Facebook and other social media sites, LinkedIn allows users to develop a profile and make connections with other users.  LinkedIn’s focus is on professional networking. A member’s profile is his online resume, and the site enables users to make professional contacts and expand their network. SigEp brothers work in virtually every major corporation in the United States. At least 175 of these corporations employ more than 10 SigEps, many of whom are in senior leadership roles. 

A search for SigEps on LinkedIn will produce more than 55,193 professional profiles listing membership in our Fraternity. Of these, over 14,000 have discovered the power of connecting through the Sigma Phi Epsilon (Official) LinkedIn group. If you aren’t in the group yet, you may want to sign up. To begin leveraging your SigEp network, promoting metro networking events, or connecting with brothers in your field, join the conversation at Sigma Phi Epsilon (Official).

How Social is Your Chapter?

Our twitter account, @sigepblog, follows a number of other fraternity and sorority headquarters just to see what is going on. Yesterday we saw this tweet from @KappaKappaGamma:

KappaKappaGamma
Just a sisterly reminder! #KKG's Officer Training Webinar for Marshals is tonight! http://ow.ly/3Dvgm

Those of us in the workforce are regularly enticed by offers of free webinars, usually 30 minutes to an hour long, with information on all sorts of stuff related to our jobs. Yes there is usually a sales motive, but the information is real and useful and designed to create a favorable impression for the company - and all I have to do is give them an email address. I get useful information, they get an address of someone who is interested in what they have to sell - win-win.

How well does SigEp leverage the interactive tools available today? How can we do better? Is is really a big deal? as a bona fide "boomer" I confess to having wondered just how large the effect is. Even though I am interested and immersed in the concept of "Social Media" I must admit the statistics in this video blew my mind...

Uh, yeah - that is not a big deal, it's a BFD! As that link to the Kappa site shows, other Greek organizations are figuring out how to connect with young alumni, members, and prospective members. We can't afford to be behind the curve.

USC Greeks Speak Out Against Misconceptions

Greek Misconceptions

By Rachel Cannon

Most non-affi liated students hold at least one misconception about what it means to be Greek. But a little research reveals that most of these ideas simply aren't true.

"A lot of people hear ‘Greek' and think, ‘Oh, those guys are all about drinking and partying," said Anthony Garcia, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon, "Yeah, there's a lot of partying, just like with any college students. But there's so much more."

Partying is only one aspect of Greek life. Fraternities and sororities also contribute a lot to their communities through philanthropic events, and most hold their members to high academic and behavioral standards.

In fact, while every chapter has members known for partying and crazy antics, many Greeks choose not to drink at all.

"Greek organizations benefi t their members by teaching us about leadership, time management, co-operation and give us far more real-world business and life experience than college alone can offer," said Asher Kalef, Consul of Sigma Chi.

In fact, these opportunities play a major role in many students' decisions to go Greek.

The real-world benefi ts of being in a fraternity or sorority are very real.

According to Ecu.edu, almost all U.S. presidents and vice-presidents, 42 percent of U.S. senators, 40 percent of Supreme Court justices, and 30 percent of Fortune 500 executives are Greek – out of a mere 2 percent of the American population.

"I love knowing that after college, I'm going to have so many opportunities due to networking through my sorority," said Whitney Pataky, president of Zeta Tau Alpha.

Many other stereotypes about the Greek system pervade college campuses as well.

"A sorority is just paying for friends - I think that's one [stereotype] we all hear when we go through Rush," said Pataky.

In fact, this is a perception that I myself held before I went through sorority rush last year. But as I found out, this just isn't accurate.

Practically all organizations – from fraternities to sports teams to special-interest clubs – charge some type of fee. It's generally understood that these payments keep operations running, as well as allowing members other perks such as matching shirts, get-togethers, and other events.

This is epitomized in Greek organizations, which provide members with clothing, dances, events, and other great perks.

The benefi ts of being Greek last long before members have graduated from college, and they far outweigh the fees chapters must charge to keep things running.

Being Greek makes one feel a part of something so much larger than his- or herself, and larger even than one's college campus.

If you hold these or other negative beliefs about fraternities or sororities, you should get to know members here on campus and learn more about Greek life firsthand

Chapterspot - Network and Communication SigEp style

Bro. Brendan (LA Alpha - Tulane) asked us to plug his new venture.

ChapterSpot is a free organizational tool for fraternities & sororities. We help SigEps organize themselves online and maximize chapter communication. We do this by offering them a way to...

• Increase dues collections by using electronic billing & accepting online payments
• Send mass text-messages & email blasts
• Create a free public site for parents/alumni
• List classifieds (furniture, books, sublets)
• Create an events calendar and automatically send SMS reminders in advance
• Use polls, surveys, & sign-up lists
• Organize chapter discussions on message boards
• Maintain a recruitment list

One of the objectives of ChapterSpot (in addition to improving communication) is to help SigEps save money via bulk order discounts. Joe and I compile these bulk orders and reduce the costs of each purchase for the chapters (on merchandise such as t-shirts, gifts, composites, etc.).

Thus, the more chapters that use the site, the better the discounts they will have on their orders. Our small company can then make a profit by taking a small cut of the discounts for having setup a relationship with retailers. Overall, I think you'll see that our project demonstrates the power of collaboration and the mutual benefit of helping others that SigEp symbolizes.

ChapterSpot is planning to make an appearance at Conclave this August. We're hoping to get a lot of our SigEp brothers to sign-up then and to meet some of our current users in person.

Do you Twitter? So does S&P!

Announcing a new feature for S&P. We are now echoing each post to a Twitter account.

Twitter is a form of "microblogging" that allows posts of up to 140 characters to be sent and received not only on the web, but also as text messages on your mobile phone. We have set up the account "http://twitter.com/SigEpBlog" so it will update for each post on this blog. We also will have other mini-posts and breaking news as a way of having timely communication with our community of readers.

If you have a Twitter acccount, please follow "@SigEpBlog", If you want to set one up, go to Twitter.com and follow the easy (really!) instructions. Before you know it we'll be popping up on your iPhone!

(PS: @WordJunky is also on Twitter.)

Hello? Is anyone home?

A disconnected brother sent this message to several of his friends. We got it by the usual "over the transom" method.

SO you call 1-800-353-1901 and don't know who you want to talk to or you go to voice mail and your question could be answered by someone else on staff. In the past you would dial 1 for the receptionist and ask who ever picked up (if it wasn't Douglas) "Is anyone in the building today?

I need to talk to someone about ..."

Try this today and you get a generic answering service who doesn't know (or care who you are) and only flips your call to someone... if they are there, lucky you. If they aren't there you go to voice mail.

Great customer service! Thanks Craig! Save a few more bucks that he can hire another person from Richmond to build the empire... hmmm maybe he needs a VCU sorority woman to be Director of Malcontents.

Normally we would have let this pass, but we had the exact same experience last week when trying to find out if HQ was aware of the hurricane that passed over Lamar and U of Houston. Our power and internet were out so we did not know who to try to reach by telephone. It was voice mail hell, then some answering service that had no idea what a "Director of Chapter Services" is. We were finally contacted (the next day) by Gary Huff, who had apparently been pressed into "storm duty." He was able to assure us that HQ was indeed aware and informed, and the members accounted for.

In the last year or so we have seen the departure of long-time employees such as "Debit" Wester, Douglass McRaney, and this past Friday it was Barbara Shanahan. In their place are lots of new faces with fancy titles. But where is the service? Total staffing at HQ has grown much faster than the undergraduate manpower. Have the chapters experienced a comparable growth in services?

Tickets for attendance

This interesting blog caught my attention tonight. It is a blog by the CEO of CampusSpeak, a college-focused speaker's bureau. I believe Judge Mitch is represented by them. This is an easy way to get a count of attendance by chapter for a speaker event. Blows sign-up sheets clean away.

All you really care about is how many from each chapter attended. You don't really care WHO attended from each chapter, right?

As each person arrives for the event, give him or her a ticket. You can buy huge rolls of these at any office supply place for next to nothing. People need to be in the room by the start time of the program to get a ticket. Use a different color ticket for each event.

Then, when the program is over and people are leaving the auditorium, they deposit their tickets in large envelopes, boxes, or other containers decorated with their letters. All the Delta Gamma's drop their tickets in the DG envelope. All the Sig Ep's drop there's in the Sigma Phi Epsilon envelope. It takes mere seconds.

Then, you close up the envelopes, and count up the tickets. Do it right then, or do it the next morning. Whatever.

But what if they bring non-members to the program and these individuals drop their tickets to artificially boost the chapter's attendance number? Well, I think that's a good thing. Encouraging chapters to bring guests is a great way to provide some positive PR to your Greek community (particularly if your speaker is really good). Maybe they'll even bring young men or women whom they are trying to recruit. Hooray!

Elegant, eh? Neat, easy to do, no interference, and encourages attendance. What do you think about the suggestion?

The Apathy Myth: Tickets for attendance

PS: We are adding this blog resource to the "Not SigEp but not bad" section.

"Journal" Archives - Thanks, Google!

(...And thanks to Gene Shurg for letting us know about this way to read about the history of the Fraternity.)

You may know that Google has been systematically digitizing books for online access and searching. That process has led to our own "Journal" archives being made available for anyone to read.

Here is the 1919 Journal Archive in Google Books.

For a list of all the editions so far go to this link.

It's cheaper than airfare to Richmond!

Phi Delt Launches New Communications Network

PHI DELTA THETA TO LAUNCH NEW WEBSITES AND COMMUNICATION TOOLS FOR UNDERGRADUATE CHAPTERS AND ALUMNI CLUBS

Oxford, OH – November 26, 2007 –

The 158,000 Members of Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity will be communicating with their brothers in an entirely new way starting in January 2008, thanks to an agreement recently signed with the Group Interactive Network System (G.I.N. System).

G.I.N., the leading provider of web-based communications platforms to Greek organizations, graduate schools, social organizations and other membership groups will provide custom websites and member’s-only intranets to Phi Delta Theta’s 168 undergraduate chapters and over 100 alumni clubs worldwide. G.I.N. will work with Phi Delta Theta to develop external websites that both distinguish the Fraternity and enhance communication.

“Our primary goal is to create a unified web presence while providing a prominent and inspired website for each chapter,” said Bob Biggs, executive vice president of Phi Delta Theta. Phi Delta Theta’s web presence and messaging will be consistent across the International and local sites. Each chapter site will feature unique elements to help attract attention and provide timely content to visitors. Sites will be updated via RSS feed to display Fraternity, campus, and/or local news. “G.I.N. will be our partner in the process - they’re helping us define a comprehensive solution, synchronize all of our efforts and provide a one-stop answer to our members’ communications needs.”

“We started the process with Phi Delta Theta by discussing their objectives. At heart, we are a design and programming firm,” said Matthew Hintze, chief executive officer of G.I.N. “We’re working with the organization’s leadership to develop and implement a strategy that meets all of their needs”. Solutions include an International Console that provides a robust content-management system that facilitates the easy management of content across all G.I.N.-developed sites. Each chapter website will be integrated with Phi Delta Theta’s existing member database so there is no duplication of effort and member information is continuously updated.

Added Ethan Fieldman, president of G.I.N., “Our objective is to manage all aspects of the platform – from conception to implementation to maintenance.” Each Phi Delta Theta chapter has a personal representative who is responsible for populating and launching the chapter website. “If you can Google, then you can manage all aspects of our websites – both public and private, but people are busy and sometimes updating the website falls through the cracks. We see it as our responsibility to make sure the websites are current and fresh.”

In addition to an external website, each chapter will have a secure Members’-Only area. “We started the process with the goal of implementing external websites; we quickly learned we could provide those, as well as the internal communications tools, for a lower price,” said Biggs. Features of the G.I.N. Members’-Only Area include e-mail and text messaging groups, secure file sharing, announcements, surveys, voting, and a Facebook application that allows the Fraternity to communicate with all members instantaneously via Facebook. “We work with our diverse user base to develop and implement tools that are actually utilized,” says G.I.N. Technology Officer Adam Feber. “The G.I.N. platform is robust, secure, and constantly evolves to integrate the latest technologies and improve operations within any membership organization.”
About G.I.N.:


G.I.N. provides comprehensive communications solutions for Greek organizations, graduate schools, social organizations and other membership groups. Representing over 600 Greek chapters and councils internationally, G.I.N.’s 50,000 Greek users form a dynamic community that has helped to create the premier communications web-platform available. G.I.N. utilizes its design and programming excellence to create stimulating external websites, powerful and innovative internal websites, and other applications that truly change the way that organizations communicate. G.I.N. works with its National Partners to develop custom solutions that integrate with existing technologies and relieve the administrative burdens of Headquarters staff.

Contact:
Marc Mores Gabby Leon
Phi Delta Theta G.I.N. System
Associate Executive Vice President Vice President – Customer Relations
(513) 523-9200 888-GIN-System ext. 104
marc@phideltatheta.org gabby@theginsystem.com
http://www.phideltatheta.org/ www.theginsytem.com/greek