Sharing Responsibilities of Planning a conference

Sharing the Load

Just about everyone has heard the phrase/term, “being your Brother’s keeper.” At one point or another, we as Brothers have looked out for each other and strived to ease another Brother’s burden. If you and a Brother had a class together and were walking to class, would you expect your Brother to carry your books for you? Probably not. If you and that Brother had a group project due in that class, would you expect your Brother to do all the work then put your name on it? I don’t think so. So why is it that so many chapters end up planning and executing “regional” events on their own? Possibly because we, as Brothers, just don’t know better. After all, the regional conference concept is still relatively new. So what can your chapter do? You can SHARE THE LOAD. Make sure your chapter’s region delegate is carrying their end of the load – that they are attending regional committee meetings, and communicating your chapter’s wishes to the committee, as well as communicating to your chapter the committee’s plans. R.E.G.I.O.N. - Recognizing that Everyone Gains from Innovation, Optimism, and Negotiation.

Starting Out...

Delegates- make sure your committee is meeting regularly (online, in person, etc), and is setting goals. By this time, you should have all members of the committee chosen, and a first meeting should either be scheduled or have been held. At that meeting (or at the next scheduled meeting), the committee as a whole should set goals for the conference. Goals may include, but are not limited to:

• determining the date/semester of the conference;
• determining where to have the conference;
• determining a generalized idea of the learning component of the conference;
• determine how often your committee will meet and what each committee member will be responsible for;
• determine what each chapter should be/can be contributing.

In addition, the committee should work up alternate ways to communicate between meetings, i.e. a message board, and email group, etc. so that delegates can keep each other up to date with news and updates. These meetings are your opportunity to lay the ground work to build a strong committee, and therefore a strong regional conference. The important thing to remember is that the regional committee, as well as each individual chapter, has a responsibility to plan and execute the regional conference. It should not be an individual chapter’s sole responsibility to plan the conference, and then rotate which chapter does it from year to year. A regional conference should promote inter-chapter unity and bonding between chapters, and if each chapter has input into the conference, the more comfortable and involved Brothers will feel, and therefore the more excited to take part. Just as no Brother should have to go it alone, no chapter should have to go it alone either. Information

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