Have you ever just had one of those days where everything that happens is slightly less than perfect? You wake up and you know that there is something that is not quite right. This happened to me about four days in a row and I was looking for something to get me out of this rut that I seemed to have my foot cemented in. I found out that I forgot to write things down when I should have, I didn’t know the answers when asked questions, and I would forget the simplest things that would push my life off kilter just enough to annoy myself and everyone around me.
How do you change this? Well, I’m just beginning to find out is that you have to have a positive attitude and a different outlook on everything that happens. If you (excuse me for being cliché) take everything with a grain of salt. Remember that things are going to go wrong, you are going to forget things, and you can’t change everything. For example, I woke up this morning and looked at my phone (for some reason my roommate and I don’t have an alarm clock in our room), and realized that it is 9:45. Well this is odd, because I remember setting my alarm for 8 a.m. because I have class at 9:30 and I needed to get ready and get some things ready before my classes that day. I take a double look at the alarm I set and realize that I set it for 8 p.m. and therefore, was not awoken by it. At first, I got really aggrevated, because I had missed my first class and basically wasted the first half of my day. Later on in the day, after I had caught up on my tasks, I realized that I needed a couple of extra hours of sleep after staying up to study for an exam I had that day. This little bit extra sleep gave me a more cognitive mind and helped me focus on the things I had to do for the rest of the day. It’s issues like these and not having a sharpened pencil that really made my day bad, until I realized that these are not events that should not dictate whether my day is satisfactory or not. I don’t have control over these inconvenient things that happen in my life, but I do have control over my reaction to them.
With a positive attitude (and perhaps a good night’s sleep), you can have the worst luck in the world and still have a good day!
Samantha
NARVP
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Recruit. Retain. Grow!
When I joined the DECA staff a few years ago to serve as the assistant director of the college division, membership recruitment was the furthest thing from my mind. My experience as a student member, an officer, and as an alumni supporter was always focused on the quality programming that Delta Epsilon Chi offers its members. Whether I was receiving the benefits, promoting the benefits or delivering the benefits – it was simply so obvious to me the value that membership in Delta Epsilon Chi brings to students that it never occurred to me that everyone else wasn’t out there shouting from the rafters and bringing new members in every single day – after all, I always did that because I believed in the program. (The IT folks at Johnson & Wales in Denver hated me because each morning I’d reset the homepage on every computer in the business building to the Delta Epsilon Chi website – I’ll bet they were pleased when I graduated!)
But, sitting at my desk in the national headquarters in Reston, VA – there is a very different picture painted. I get emails from frustrated members saying, “Where are you?” “Why aren’t you on my campus recruiting?” and “Who is my advisor?” My politically correct response is always, “the staff can’t be everywhere so here are some resources for you to use to start and develop your chapter.” Honestly though, I’m frustrated too. I want to be on every campus hanging up posters, marking up sidewalks with chalk, holding rallies and collecting membership dues! But there simply isn’t enough time or money to send staff to every chapter – let alone to be out starting new chapters all the time. We do all that we can to support membership development while also working really hard to provide innovative, in-depth, hands-on career and leadership programming.
So who’s job is it to find an advisor? To recruit new members? To plan high-quality on-campus activities?
It’s YOUR JOB!!!!!
YOU! The interested, dedicated, career-seeking college student.
YOU! The chapter officer, committee member or wannabe leader.
YOU! The individual who believes in the value that membership can bring to students and wants to bring that value not only to your own college career but also to the academic experience of your peers.
YOU! Who wants to set himself or herself apart from your peers as you interview for new jobs.
YOU! Who wants to leave a legacy of action, opportunity and success when you graduate and leave your college campus.
The National Officers and the staff are here to support your efforts. There are membership PowerPoint presentations, recruiting flyers and information all available on our website. Have you seen our new membership video? Ask to play it at the beginning of freshmen and sophomore business classes and I’ll bet you’ll have a league of new members lining up to join. Have questions? Email me! Or call! We are all here to support the membership growth efforts of our chapter members.
We are here to support YOU! Happy Recruiting!!
Kyle Walton
Kyle_walton@deca.org
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Helping your new members to find their place.
This past week has been a wonderful adventure in the world of Delta Epsilon Chi for me. 8 flights and 5 days later I returned home from visiting and participating in the Minnesota's Professional Leadership Conference and Missouri’s Fall Leadership Conference. It was truly a great opportunity to network and learn from the students and leadership of these great associations. One thing I found that was very interesting, to me, was the large number of new participating members that we had at the conferences. It was wonderful to see the new growth and get a breath of fresh air. I also realized that this meant we had a lot of work to do as student leaders on the local, state, and national level to help these new members to understand the organizations and their role in the big picture of Delta Epsilon Chi. I reflected on this and came up with 3 steps to help new members feel welcome and important:
1. Information: If they don’t know, they won’t go. So many times we want the members of our chapters to work along side us and put forth an effort to strengthen their understanding of Delta Epsilon Chi and the business world. However the problem, so many times, is that they are not aware of the information they need to be effective and they don’t know where to find it. We, as students, need to study the information ourselves and be ready to assist our new members in understanding it as well. If we do this then we know what to do to be effective. www.deltaepsilonchi.org
2. Friend: Have you ever gone to a party and found that you didn’t feel accepted or that you felt like you didn’t know any one. This has happened to me even though I was invited to the party by a few different people. When I got there they were more interested in other things then helping me to feel welcome. I also have been to parties where I have felt so welcome and part of the group. What was the difference? The difference was that at one party they invited me but didn’t make me feel that way once I got their, and the other group helped me feel that I was part of the group from the first minute I arrived on the scene. Be that person to make others feel welcome, be a friend, be the ONE
3. Responsibility: This is a job for every member. This gives your members the chance to service and to give back. This helps them to feel needed and wanted. It gives them the opportunity to feel and know that they are a vital part of the chapter team and they should continue to participate.
By using these steps effectively, we can better support our new members and help them to feel needed in their Delta Epsilon Chi activities. I would encourage all Delta Epsilon Chi leaders to become very aware of the programs and projects that are available via http://www.deltaepsilonchi.org/ . Make sure that your new members understand how they can be part of, not just the project, but feel that they are an effective part of their local chapter or team. It is a year for growth. Let’s not just see growth in the membership numbers but also in our new members and ourselves.
1. Information: If they don’t know, they won’t go. So many times we want the members of our chapters to work along side us and put forth an effort to strengthen their understanding of Delta Epsilon Chi and the business world. However the problem, so many times, is that they are not aware of the information they need to be effective and they don’t know where to find it. We, as students, need to study the information ourselves and be ready to assist our new members in understanding it as well. If we do this then we know what to do to be effective. www.deltaepsilonchi.org
2. Friend: Have you ever gone to a party and found that you didn’t feel accepted or that you felt like you didn’t know any one. This has happened to me even though I was invited to the party by a few different people. When I got there they were more interested in other things then helping me to feel welcome. I also have been to parties where I have felt so welcome and part of the group. What was the difference? The difference was that at one party they invited me but didn’t make me feel that way once I got their, and the other group helped me feel that I was part of the group from the first minute I arrived on the scene. Be that person to make others feel welcome, be a friend, be the ONE
3. Responsibility: This is a job for every member. This gives your members the chance to service and to give back. This helps them to feel needed and wanted. It gives them the opportunity to feel and know that they are a vital part of the chapter team and they should continue to participate.
By using these steps effectively, we can better support our new members and help them to feel needed in their Delta Epsilon Chi activities. I would encourage all Delta Epsilon Chi leaders to become very aware of the programs and projects that are available via http://www.deltaepsilonchi.org/ . Make sure that your new members understand how they can be part of, not just the project, but feel that they are an effective part of their local chapter or team. It is a year for growth. Let’s not just see growth in the membership numbers but also in our new members and ourselves.
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