Pay us, we'll help you get a bid
 

After presenting several recruitment workshops at the Birmingham, Alabama Saks last year, these ladies have formed a business to sell their "rush" advice: http://www.rushbiddies.com/
I think part of this has come about because Birmingham, despite its size and the huge recruitments at the U of Alabama and Auburn U, and having at least four in-town or close-to-town colleges with NPC sororities, has not had an alumnae panhellenic. One is being formed now.
Surely they are not the only people who've come up with an idea for selling their advice. Do you know of similar businesses with a local slant? Please post their websites! I'd love to take a look.
Wonder what happens when a candidate is rejected by every group? Do they give a refund?:confused:

I have definitely seen this site before, haha. They had like a "rush fashion show" last spring or something.

It seems like these type threads pop up every couple years. Yes, this is definitely NOT a unique idea.

I wonder if they'd give a refund if someone is rejected, say, by her top 4 or top 6. It's a slippery slope.

And you know that will happen!!:p

It sounds like some pretty easy money. Here's how I'd run my business of getting $50-100 dollars out of a bunch of worrywart mothers: You can have a refund if your daughter gets cut from every sorority, but dropping out does not count. And then you counsel on accepting what you're offered and you're a genius.

"Let us help you 'migrate' through College Greek Recruitment" ? How dumb does that sound? Do you think they might have meant "navigate"?

Silly me, I give advice for free. (Oh but first, I must personally know you and like you.)

Do you need a passport for that? LOL

Add on requirements of who you'll take as a client (x GPA minimum, at least x number of extracurricular, etc) and you'll practically be able to guarantee placement and save yourself from refunds! Or, better yet, set up a tiered pricing scale to begin with...

They don't list securing letters of recommendation on their pricing list, but something tells me that is a service available on request for the right price...

What an excellent racket. I want in on some of this easy money.

$50 an hour for phone calls the week of rush? I want in on this!

Birmingham doesn't have an Alumnae Panhellenic? :eek::eek: Is it because most women rely on their sorority's alumnae chapters?

You know, the idea of being a "Rush Consultant" doesn't sound too bad. Of course, you could do it for free but people do the same things with college admissions...:::the gears in my head are turning:::

Helamom swoops in an sues?;)

Man. When I think of all the free advice I've handed out!

You should at least make the girl pay for lunch who's coming for a rec interview ;)

That website is a hot mess. I don't know that I'd be trusting two ladies in pink feather boas to advise me on my wardrobe, but hey - if they're making money, bless their hearts.

But if they are sorority alums and they help during recruitment isn't that a recruitment infraction, and if they aren't sorority alums - don't they have an awful lot of free time?;)

It looks like Geocities.

We should just start charging everyone here on GC who starts a new thread in the Recruitment forum!

$10 for the first page of useful advice, and $1.00 for each additional post after that.

You could get them through rush, then plan their wedding with their new bridesmaids that they've just found. You'd be like a personal one-stop high-school through MRS Degree survival shop. LOL

You know, I'm not so sure. I could see some "real" Southern belles (as opposed to out-of-state/first gen/even first gen SEC moms) doing this as well. Rush was a BIG deal in my hometown, which sent tons of young women to UF, Auburn, and Bama. Even though they were sorority women themselves and ostensibly knew what was up, they'd really go all out to make sure their daughters had everything set up.

I could see some of those women pay for a consultant. That said, if they did, the consultants would have to have a much better set up than these ladies do. Pull in some recent alumnae from a range of schools, teach the PNMs strategies about not suiciding and really keeping an open mind, and this might not be so crazy.

Their website is a little busy. Serif fonts don't really work in multiple colors.

That's a great idea! It could help defray the cost of keeping GC up and running... lol

And their web site makes my eyes hurt.

So that means we need to keep the snark to the second page or later. Unacceptable.

Well...who determines useful?

There is always suresister.com and gogreekgirl.com for more business inspiration! :)

Here's their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rushbiddies/190883714339754

I want to know their credentials. Where they went to school. What group they joined. How many campuses they visited. What is their success rate?

(The "migrate" comment really tickles me!)

Not to mention - what percentage of their "chicks" got their top choices, or come to that, bids at all?

eta - A young woman they feature on their website went AGD at Auburn. So there's that . . .

This site has to be a hoax.

Well, that is the girl I found on the Auburn bid list.

Not a hoax, honey. They are for real!

I guess my humour flew over heads. I didn't think girls from that HS would admit to shopping at Forever 21.

There are a LOT of Greek alumnae in the 'Ham. I think mutual suspicion is partly to blame...so many alumnae know the girls that there's not been a need...but then Atlanta's the same way and they have a strong alum panhel.
As I said, several groups are now in the process of forming a new alum panhel.

Birmingham had a very active APH until the early '90's. I was our delegate for a number of years. It died a slow death unfortunately. Several of us tried over the years to revive it but were not successful. A new lady moved to town who had been an APH member elsewhere and has finally gotten some groups motivated to join. I'd say about half the NPC groups have signed on at this point.

People pay for this?! I do it for free, but don't guarantee a bid. Sheesh, I could be getting rich from all this volunteer work and didn't know it.

Personally, I thought it was hilarious. :)

(And I'm shocked that I actually know what Forever 21 is)

Or that a girl from Mountain Brook would need a service like the biddies at all.