Yay! I'm dying to know who's who, but I'm mostly glad you had so much fun at (almost) all the chapters. :D

(And I hope you meet different girls in Miami so that you get another feel for them and see whether it's the chapter as a whole or the women you met)

ROUND TWO: Philanthropy
 

Today was the philanthropy round! I felt pretty good after last night, and me and my Pi Chi group were all feeling pretty good when we met this evening. When I got my list of parties, however, I was little disappointed. I had three:

Chicago
Los Angeles
Miami

I was very disappointed that Denver didn't invite me back- maybe it wasn't meant to be, but their philanthropy is so important to me I would have just loved to do the crafts. I found myself a little frustrated that I was invited back to Miami, but, like Drolefille said, they deserved another chance.

Chicago was the first chapter I went to tonight- I was so excited. I honestly loved these girls yesterday and I was so so so so so so so thrilled to be invited back. Their room set up was really nice and it was great to be around them with less girls- I could hear myself think! The set up of the tables was really cute, and there was another girl from my Pi Chi group sitting there, which was nice. The video they showed about their philanthropy was so nice- I found myself tearing up. We had a nice conversation while we did our projects, and I just felt like the party ended too soon! At the end of the nights, these women were still my favorites.

Miami was the second chapter I went to. Even though there were less girls this night they still did the two PNMS : 1 active ratio, and it didn't go much smoother. After visiting Chicago, I felt really unimpressed by their philanthropy- their video had nothing to do with their chapter or what their chapter does for the organization, which left me kind of miffed. The project was cute, but it took about 3 or 4 minutes to do, which left the door open for a lot of awkward pauses and conversations- even when I tried my hardest to talk to the actives who came to our table, it was very uncomfortable. None of them had anything to say about their sisterhood, and one of the actives was so focused on the chest size of a woman in their philanthropy video that it made me uncomfortable- her remarks were very offputting. I left this night still feeling cold towards this chapter.

Los Angeles was a chapter I was thrilled to be asked back to. I wasn't in love with them yesterday, but I did really like them. Since our conversations yesterday didn't touch much on their philanthropy, I was very excited to learn more today. I was very impressed to see that they had brought a representative from their philanthropic organization to talk to us. Their table set up was adorable and relevant not only to their organization but their primary fundraiser of the year. Their project was probably the most fun, but conversation was a little awkward. Their project required focus enough so it was hard to talk at the same time. When we finished, though, we had a fun time. The active I thought I was paired up with and I had some fun adding on to my project and talking about school- but I actually paired up with a different active for the processing out of the room. All the women at the table I had talked to the night before, so it was nice to not have to go over the 'my name is, my major is, i live...' again. My opinion of these girls had not changed- I think they're really wonderful.

Since I was only invited back to 3 chapter (of the possible five), I ranked them all 1. If I was going to actually rank them tonight, though, this is how I feel about them:

1. Chicago
2. Los Angeles
3. Miami

Tomorrow night is skit night! I'm making a quick run to target after classes to get a more casual dress- what they had in their brochure was much more specific (guidelines wise), than what they had on their facebook page. I'll keep you guys posted!

good luck sweet magnolia!

GO CHICAGO!!! Good luck!

Good luck to you sweetmagnolia!

Is their philanthropy something that 1) it's hard to make a craft for and/or 2) something that it's kind of hard to assist with unless you're a trained professional?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. BAG PHILANTHROPY DAY. Not everyone's philanthropy lends itself to a 45 minute rush party or a craft and the groups who have that issue end up REALLY struggling. Not to mention, let's be honest, some chapters are more into their philanthropy than others. That doesn't make them horrible. It was a nice concept but the execution has fallen flat and it's just creating added stress for actives and PNMs. Take everyone to the soup kitchen, Habitat, what have you the day after bid day and do a Panhel wide project.

I'm not criticizing anything you said at all sm - I completely understand how you were feeling. It just shows how whack this concept is.

brava, 33!! not to mention that half the time(or more) no organization wants the little doodad that was made at the parties and pnms think it is going to be a graded project so get all stressed out that theirs be the most beautiful doodad.

Ugh, yes. During our first formal recruitment, we made SUPER lame crafts. I won't even say what it was, but they were terrible.

FSUZeta, LucyKKG, and 33Girl--you are right on with what you just said! YAY!

Good luck! I can't wait to hear what happens. I'm pulling for my hometown, Chicago, I'm pumped they're still in the running :)

Also, 33girl, our school is trying something different this year where there is no philanthropy round but a "values" night where each house can pick wha they consider to be their most important, or strongest value(s) and can focus the party around that. That way if a house has an awesome philanthropy party, they can keep it as their value, but other houses that don't have as marketable of philanthropies can redesign their party. Recruitment starts in a week so we'll see soon how it goes.

I totally agree about the crafts. I remember being really concerned when I was going through because I'm not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, and of course thought I would be graded. I honestly think that's why I was cut from one of the groups- I was so focused on making something pretty that I didn't spend enough time talking to the actives.

One year we did something really different- we did a mini golf thing (Kappa Klassic) where every hole someone finished added x minutes to the amount of time we would spend with our local philanthropy, a women's shelter. I think each hole had one of our symbols on it somehow- a key, fleur, owl, etc. In a way it was nice to just goof off and it was better for talking. However, the direct tie to the philanthropy wasn't as strong and I'm sure some PNMs thought that if they did poorly they'd be judged. It was an interesting experiment, though, and more interactive than filling toiletry kits or coloring puzzles like we had done in past years.

Sweetmagnolia- best of luck for skits tonight!

Today was a scary day for me. During classes, I got a call from one of my Pi Chis, and I was honestly terrified. It turned out to be good news, though- I hadn't been cut from any other chapters ( I think she said it just to calm me down), but she was just calling about a slight scheduling changes. So, feeing fairly confident knowing that I still had my three groups, I made my way over for skit night. Since the skits were very unique, I'm going to skimp a little on the details- just a heads up.

Chicago was a group I was thrilled to still be with. We were walked into the room where we mingled for a bit before the skit happened. Their skit was really cute, but kind of all over the place. I didn't learn much about their chapter- it was mostly some fun facts about their organization as a whole -but I liked how they presented it. If the skit showed me anything, it was how much fun these women are and how strong their sisterhood is. Afterwards, our actives came over and got us and we sat in small circles and just chatted- nothing too spectacular. I left this chapter still completely smitten.

Los Angeles' skit was insane. When the active who was rushing me showed me to my seat she kept saying 'it's a little goofy', and she wasn't kidding. It touched on their motto and such, but it was really just fun and silly and sometimes a little weird. A lot of the time I didn't know what, exactly, was going on, but I couldn't stop laughing. When I left, I felt like I should have been disappointed because their skit didn't really teach me anything, but it did show me how much fun they are, how spirited they are, and how much they enjoy the recruitment process.

Miami really impressed me. They're a small group, and I was somewhat concerned about how they were going to pull off a skit. But, honestly, it was the best one of the night. It was original, well written, had it's goofy moments, but was clearly about the sisterhood of their chapter and organization. Still, the conversations I had with actives before and afterwards left me feeling cold enough that the skit only got me to lukewarm. I thought that maybe after talking to different sisters every night that I would have some sort of a breakthrough with this group, but I really wasn't feeling like this was the group for me.

Because I only had three chapters when I could have had a maximum of 4, I ranked them all one. And, as I speak, I'm getting ready for pref night!!! I'll let you know how it goes!!!

good luck to you!

oooh, best wishes to you sweetmagnolia!!!!

good luck :)

i want to throw my two cents in on philanthropy day... when i went through, i dumped a bottle of glitter into my lap at my very first party and sparkled like a twilight vampire for the entire rest of the night. notttt good. there are way too many chances of getting dirty doing a&c!