National Convention

I’m sitting at my gate at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor. I can’t believe it’s only been six days since I arrived. I feel like I’ve been here for two months, and I don’t want to leave.

Last night, after my previous post, we had the joint closing session. During the session, Alan Bonner (the National Executive Director) announced the 2011 National Convention location as Colorado Springs, CO. After several cheers, the last session of the convention was closed. We then walked over to the banquet hall.

While I was waiting outside the banquet hall with the brothers from Gamma Pi, Kelly Eidson approached us with a rose and five red carnations (one for each of the brothers). She gave us each one of our respective flowers and then asked to get our picture with her. The flowers were such a thoughtful gesture, and really show how she has always had our two chapters close to her heart.

The banquet was a blast—good food, good friends, and awards! Butler’s chapter of ΚΚΨ won the top chapter in the nation award. A good friend of mine, Alynn Rousselle, won the Delegate Distance Award for traveling the farthest to represent her chapter alone. And we got a plaque for being a chapter leadership award recipient! I’ll show it off at our first chapter meeting.

We concluded the banquet by singing the National Hymn. It was a very thrilling moment to stand in that hall with sisters from around the nation, united in our common bond. This biennium is going to be one of the best that ΤΒΣ has ever had, and I could tell from the passion for service that you could see on every face in that hall. I spent the remainder of the evening saying goodbye to the friends I made over the week and wishing them luck as they returned to their chapters to do the work of ΤΒΣ.

I strongly encourage each one of you to attend National Convention in 2011 in Colorado Springs, CO, and to run for our chapter’s delegate. This really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’ve grown so much in the past week, and I will never forget my first national convention.

Below: The ΤΒΣ chapters of the NCD gathered after the banquet.

We got so much business taken care of today, along with a healthy amount of interspersed entertainment. I’m currently sitting outside of the large ballroom after the last ΤΒΣ separate session as the room is being rearranged for the final joint session.

The delegation powered through our business today and made excellent decisions for the benefit of the future of our sorority. We voted to approve the dues increase for active/conditional and new initiate members of $10. I’m very excited that we’ll actually be allotting $2 from every member to save for the CFR program. In 2005, Gersh stood in front of the delegation and strongly opposed the continuation of the CFR program because we didn’t have the money to support it. With this allotment we will be able to actually save money before we spend it.

Other decisions that we made include increasing the life membership fee to $350 effective 12/31/09 and $500 effective 12/31/10, and streamlining the process around applying for life membership and getting chapter approval.

During the various reports from the different committees several interesting recommendations came up. The Ritual & Regalia committee recommended keeping the number of degrees that we have secret in honor of the chapters who do not disclose that information; they also recommended using battery-operated candles whenever possible. The History & Traditions committee recommended that every district create a historian position; it’ll be interesting to see if our district council follows through with that charge.

I’m happy to announce the 2009-2011 National Council of Tau Beta Sigma:

• National President: Dollie McDonald O’Neill

• National Vice President for Colonization and Membership: Dawn Farmer

• National Vice President for Special Projects: Dr. Kathryn Kelly

• National Vice President for Communication and Recognition: Nicole Burdick

• National Vice President for Public Relations: Dr. Joan deAlbuquerque

This has certainly been the best convention I have ever attended. I will not miss the next National Convention in 2011.

Tomorrow is our last full day of business, and there’s definitely a growing awareness in the air that the convention is drawing to a close. Over the week, I’ve had the opportunity to realize exactly how much the national organizations of Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi mean to me. I’ve really been lucky to have this experience as the only member of my chapter in attendance. It forced me to develop stronger bonds with sisters and brothers across the nation, and I feel that I was able to spend this week as a sister and representative of the NCD in addition to representing Beta Sigma.

I have grown so much closer to the brothers on this trip as well. Tonight I went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (hehe, be jealous) with all the brothers in attendance from Indiana chapters—Purdue, IU, Butler, and Ball State. I had a great experience just hanging out with them. I'd love to see our chapters do so much more with our Brothers. We could accomplish so much more if we worked together. And let me tell you, they're pretty darn fun to be around too. Do you guys have any ideas for fall joint events we could do? I know Traci has Day of Service in the works again, but it'd be so cool if we could do a sisterhood/brotherhood event with Gamma Pi.

Today the Ways & Means committee (which I’m on) came to a final decision on the budget that we will propose tomorrow as well as our position on dues increases and the CFR program funding. I’m very happy with the decisions that the committee has come to. The joint national organization of KKY/ΤΒΣ is facing a huge increase in insurance costs due to hazing lawsuits. To mitigate the increased cost Ways & Means decided to propose a $10 yearly dues increase. Two dollars of which will go to a restricted-use savings fund for bringing back the National Chapter Field Representative. This still has to be voted on by the National Chapter, so we’ll see what happens.

Tomorrow we’ll do officer elections, vote on recommendations from the different committees, and find out where the next National Convention will be held. (I’ve heard talks that it might be in St. Louis.)

It’s free time at National Convention! We’ve got the entire afternoon and evening off! And where would I rather spend my free time than here communicating with you guys. Really though, this blog is a lot of fun.

This week, I feel like I’ve grown a lot closer to our district. We caucus every night for about an hour to an hour and a half, and it’s rarely a purely serious discussion. Last night, Jenny Hirt (our NCD President) made an analogy about elections with Big Bird and Snuffleufugus as candidates for National President. It was a tough choice, but I’ve decided to vote for Snuffleufugus. Seriously though we’ve interviewed each of the National Officer candidates during our caucuses, and it’s going to be a very difficult decision for the delegation. But that’s a good thing too, because there are several qualified candidates.

We’ve got some major decisions coming up to the national delegation this year. Due to recent hazing incidents, our current insurance company has decided to stop coverage on September 1st, which means that we’re going to have to find a different company. The chances are that this will increase National expenditures and require an increase in dues. Since we haven’t gotten a quote yet, the Ways & Means Committee (which I’m on) is having a very difficult deciding on how much to propose raising dues by.

There’s also been discussion on adding $2/member to dues for a savings fund for restarting the Chapter Field Representative program. Personally, I don’t think that the CFR is a useful program for our chapter, since the last time she visited she spent 6 hours in meetings just to let us know that we’re doing a good job. For those of you who remember the CFR visit, what is your opinion on the program?

Other topics that the delegation is going to vote on are an extension on the ritual moratorium (basically a lock on editing our ritual) as it is currently due to expire in 2011, and a mandate to use battery-operated candles at all rituals (which I’m strongly opposed to for obvious reasons.) Just like the Kadenza moved online this year, there is a proposal to move the Podium to an online format with a print edition available on request which will save the national organization approximately $9000/year.

Did you know that some chapters charge up to $100/per person in Chapter Dues? Those are dues in addition to the $75 (or $85 for candidates) which the National Chapter requires. I was totally shocked! Can you imagine paying $200/year to be in ΤΒΣ?

We had our “Ritual of Excellence” today, and although I can’t go into details right now; let me just say that ritual is so much cooler with our founder Wava in attendance. I’ll give more details about the experience in August.

Anyway, it’s time to go check out the 7 pools! :P If you guys have any questions feel free to log-in and post a comment here on the blog, or you can send me an email!

This morning featured our keynote Women In Music speaker Dr. Jill Sullivan. Historically, the Women In Music speakers that I’ve heard on the district level can be somewhat alienating to a male non-music major like myself, but not this time! Dr. Sullivan received her Doctorate in Music Education from the University of Iowa, but it wasn’t until eight years ago that her current research really took off.

Eight years ago Dr. Sullivan attended the Midwest Clinic (an annual music conference held in Chicago with attendees from all over the world), and she happened to be seated next to our own Gladys Wright. During their conversation, Gladys off-handedly remarked that she wished there was more information available about the women’s bands of WWII and prior. As a recent Doctoral Graduate, Jill remarked that she wasn’t aware of any WWII women’s bands. Gladys quickly retorted that they were both seated right next to a past conductor of the Woman’s Marine Corps Band (who’s name I cannot recall).

Dr. Sullivan felt almost cheated that in all her years of study, none of this information about Woman’s Bands ever arose. Following that conference, Dr. Sullivan began eight years of research across the country. She contacted thousands of historical societies and has given 80+ interviews with women who served in these all-women ensembles. She’s since compiled thousands of photos and personal accounts of these ensembles from 1876-1976. Dr. Sullivan’s research has already begun to change the historical canon of US bands through her publications in American music journals and magazines.

During the presentation, Dr. Sullivan played a beautiful recording of the Woman’s Marine Corps Band from 1944 and showed footage of the Canadian Woman’s Auxiliary Corps marching in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris at a post-WWII celebration. She shared with the delegation how the woman’s military bands raised over $100 million dollars during WWII in war bond sales to support the military forces abroad.

Following the presentation, Dawn Farmer, National Vice President of Special Projects, announced that the National Council was honoring Dr. Sullivan for her years of service to Women In Music with the OSMA (Oustanding Service to Music Award). The OSMA is awarded to women who have made significant contributions to bands through outstanding musicianship, composition, or other means of distinguished service. Previous award recipients include Gladys Wright (1971) and Maxine Lefever (2006).

It was a fantastic WIM keynote, and I’m really looking forward to the other workshops and speakers we’ll hear throughout the week.

If you’d like to check out more information about Dr. Sullivan and her research visit http://www.public.asu.edu/~jmsulli/

(First let me apologize for not having any photos yet. I forgot my camera connector cord in Austin, and I’m still trying to find a work around.)

My plane landed at 1:00PM and the Opening Session kicked off at 2:00pm. I knew I was going to be cutting it close. Luckily, Cheri Robertson, a Beta Sigma alum, had previously offered to pick me up from the airport and take me to the Biltmore. I made it just in time to check-in, take my luggage up to the room, throw on my Pot, and get to the joint opening session.

The Opening Sessions were great. There’s such a sense of excitement and thrill in the air. We started off with a few quick “pep tunes” from a hodge-podge band including National/District officers and Board members from both ΤΒΣ and KKY. The National Presidents then introduced everyone who made this convention possible. Wava was greeted with thunderous applause.

We then went to the ΤΒΣ only Opening Session. We heard 2-min speeches from all the National Officer candidates, and let me tell you; it’s going to be a very difficult decision. Then we did the seating of the delegates. Many chapters were not in attendance so there were a lot of seats open to alternate delegates. Basically, most chapters in attendance seated 2-3 additional members in place for those chapters who didn’t show! Crazy!!

Tonight was the National Intercollegiate Band (NIB) Concert. Wow. It was seriously one of the best concerts I have ever heard. Colonel John R. Bourgeois of the USMC was the conductor. He previously served as a Director of The President’s Own US Marine Band. The NIB performed several pieces including Sousa’s “People Who Live in Glass Houses” Suite and the world premier of KKY and ΤΒΣ’s Commissioned work Two American Canvases by Mark Camphouse. It was such a beautiful piece. I totally know we can put some members in the NIB at the next convention.

What do you guys think we could do to encourage participation in the NIB at the next National Convention?

I’m sitting on the airplane 30,000 feet above the Earth as I begin this blog today, and it’s all a little surreal. Ok, not the flying part; I’ve done that before. No, I’m talking about the trip to National Convention. I remember back in July of 2007 when the last Convention passed me by, and I pledged that I would attend in 2009 to ensure that our chapter had somebody in attendance. (A big shout out to Kelly Eidson for covering for us as our delegate two years ago; I’m sure she voted with our best interests in mind. Of course, she was also running for the Board of Trustees then … did she vote for herself?)

((lol! We just flew over a dry lakebed.))

This week is going to be a blur, so hopefully I can capture all the activity here both for your benefit and the benefit of my poor memory. We have so many important decisions to make about the future of the organization, and I’m really looking forward to the passionate discussion.

I just finished reading over the National Officer candidates’ packets. Some of the candidates are definitely leaving something to be desired. I’m not going to post details of my opinions yet until I have the opportunity to meet the different candidates.

Ok, I got to get going, we’re about to begin our final decent. Lucky me, the flight attendant just announced that we’re in for a bumpy landing! Throw your hands in the air like you just don’t care!

Edit: IT’S FREAKING HOT HERE!! What was I thinking!? It is so hot here that they use lead instead of mercury in the thermometers.

National Convention begins on Tuesday, July 21st in Phoenix, AZ. Since I'll be the delegate and sole member from Beta Sigma in attendance, this blog will be your eyes and ears to the excitement. I'll post photos, interviews, reflections, news, etc. Feel free to comment with your questions and input!!

Stay tuned for more news!!!

ITBSKY