Convention
 

Hi Everyone,

I am sort of tossing around the idea of going to convention in Chicago. There are a lot of things for me to consider before I go, but I was wondering if anyone in here was going to go?

in IIKE
Megan

I will most likely go as long as I can get the time off from work.

I have actually been discussing it with Liz Felsen over the last couple of days.

I want to go, but I am not sure if I will be able to attend yet.

It all depends on if I am going to graduate school in the fall and if I get a graduate assistantship that will cover my tuition. *crossing fingers*

I'm going even though I can't really afford it because I figure it'll never be that close to me again.

I want to go so bad but I am not sure if I can leave my 21 month old for that long. I have never been away from him overnight. I missed the one in DC I had just had the baby and couldnt leave him for more then 2 hours( he is a big eater). I just think it would be such a good idea. It would be nice to talk to some sisters before I went so maybe we can all meet up at some point!
in IIKE Megan

I was looking at your website for your chicago area alumnae groups and lo and behold I see you convention next year is going to be held 5 minutes from my house! Too bad I couldn't convince the DG's to have ours closer (it's in DC next year).

Really, though, it isn't anywhere near Chicago. It's technically in Lincolnshire which is about 45 miles from Chicago on the toll way (about an hours commute). If you are flying there be sure to rent a car!

Marie

Luckily for me I'm staying in Lincolnshire with a family friend and thus avoiding the monstrosity of the hotel fees. :D

I'd really love to go this year because I went to DC in 2002 for Convention and had the time of my life! But two of my high school friends are getting married the 28th and 29th, so I don't know if I can make it!

I get to go!!!!!!!

I have been waiting for my boss to say I could have the days off and I finally got the ok.

WOO HOO...............

I'm told (rumor, persay) that the point is to make it more difficult to get to the bars and such. But, it's probably also cheaper to stay outside Chicago......

But, with everything that goes on (start by 8am end around 10 pm with meetings after for some people) there isn't much time for stuff outside the hotel.

Yeeeeaaahhhh
 

Mel
I am glad that Liz and I will finally get to meet you in person! By the way we just finished voting and it looks like we are going from Crescent Circle to Alum Group!

See you soon
in IIKE
Megan

YEEEEAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!

I'd kill to go, but:

1. I live in New Orleans.
2. I have no money.
3. I need a job.

*raowr* Maybe next time.

Re: Yeeeeaaahhhh
 

WOO HOO!!!!!!!

So, you should be getting an Alumnae Extension Coordinator then.........

I told Liz first off but haven't seen a response from her (but I may see it when I get to work tomorrow since that's where I sent it from)

I went to the St Louis Convention in 1992 when my now 11-year old son was just a few weeks old. My wonderful mom came to my house and stayed there with my son and hubby --it was just for a few days after all. Everyone did fine! The only bad part was having to toss all the freshly pumped breast milk :p I had pumped and frozen extra milk before leaving and my son was a big eater too so we had planned, if necessary, to introduce formula, if the milk I'd pumped wasn't enough. (I was going to have to do both formula & nursing when I returned to work) Oh, another bad thing was running out of "pads" on the second to last day and leaking and finally finding another nursing mom who had a few pads on hand to 'loan' me till I could get out of the hotel to the store...the gals from St Louis STILL remember that to this day (I had been a member of that alum chapter before moving to Tampa). At the DC convention in 2002, Joanne Roman came up to me and told me that was one of the funniest things she recalled about St Louis!:rolleyes:

I'm going to convention this summer if my schedule will allow it. I have to take one class over the summer and I haven't seen the schedule yet to know if convention is going to overlap with that class. (I would just reschedule the class for the next semester, but it's the last one I have to take before doing my comprehensive exams in July!) I went to convention in DC 2 years ago and it was a great experience, although not exactly what I thought it would be...

Just curious to know how it was different than what you anticipated?:)

Convention
 

I am from Texas A&M Corpus Christi and our entire executive council and I will be going to convention in Chicago! Hope to see some of you there!!

TAKE PICTURES! TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES!

Cause the forecast for GPhiLlama's summer looks like Kentucky right now.

If you haven't noticed, ALL Convention Info is on the IH website.

Well, it appears the bulleting and the full time and part time registration forms are finally on the site but I cannot seem to locate the General information page that contains the hotel info...I must be doing something wrong...help!:(

http://www.gammaphibeta.org/members/...on_members.asp

It may tell you that you need to log in, it seeemed to think I already was when I went into it.

This is where I was (logged in)http://www.gammaphibeta.org/pdf/conv...ationForm2.pdf
but there is only the registration form, no general info about hotel etc.:confused: :confused:

I clicked on the link I provided in my message above and all of the information is there, including hotel info.

There are a number of different screens with information.

If you go into the Convention form that pops up when you go to the website, all the way at the bottom of the page are a few more pages. But if you just go into the link I provided, it's one of the pages.

The following is going to sound like one big whine. So I should preface it by saying that I did enjoy convention. It was a great experience for me to meet sisters from all over, and it gave me a greater understanding about how the sorority works on an international level. But you asked me how it was different from what I anticipated, so.... here goes!

I went in to convention being told that it would be a lot of fun. So that's what I expected... meeting sisters, seeing DC, learning about the sorority, having fun with other Gamma Phi's. First of all, there was NO free time. None. Because I was working full time and attending grad school at the time of that convention, those 4 days in Washington were the only "vacation" I had that entire year. I understand that there is a lot to cram in to a short period of time, but I would have liked to at least have a few hours to see the city. Or to sleep! Instead, I went back home feeling burned out and exhausted. I needed a vacation from my vacation! There were two days when I didn't even have a chance to leave the hotel.
The food the hotel provided was awful (I'm talking rolls that were as hard as bricks!), and I ended up having to miss a meeting time one day just to go find something edible (which ended up being McDonald's...and the fact that I'm calling McDonald's food "edible" is really saying something!). On the upside, I lost about 8 pounds while I was there because I never ate or slept! I think the convention could have been better planned so that there was more free time. Parts of it seemed to be unorganized and that was very frustrating because I kept thinking, "I could be sleeping or eating instead of sitting here waiting on ____."
I didn't a whole lot out of the advisor training, because it was almost totally focused on the "alcohol-free initiative" which is something my school does not participate in. And our school was made an example of in a media workshop (the person leading the workshop obviously did not know that there was a member of our chapter present).

In short, I learned a lot, but I wish I had had some time to see the city and to relax, even if only for a little while. I have already filled out a survey for the advisor training for this upcoming convention. I really do hope that I get to attend the convention this year. Now that I have a better idea of what to expect, maybe I won't be so shocked. And since I will have most of the month of July off, I probably won't be as burned out this year as I was then. I have told my collegiates to try to attend, but not to expect a lot of "fun" while they are there. It's really a lot of work.

I'm pretty pissed that I probably won't be able to go. I mean, I'm AVP of my chapter, and I'd really like to participate. I was thinking about going part-time just on Friday-Sunday. Would that be worth it?

It's just too expensive for my family right now to go full-time-- it looks like airfare would be about $200 with the US Airways discount, room would be about $100 split between all the girls, and the convention fee is about $500. My family just can't afford all that right now.

Grr. And GammaPhiBabe, er, my chapter advisor, you just made me feel better about possibly not going. ;)

Hey crazy girl, I'm only going part-time as well - talk to me on IM later and we'll discuss a cheaper rooming arrangement I might have available for you. ;)

bumpity bump, bump, bump...

Any more thoughts on Convention?

I believe I will be attending, though I still need to register. I'm going to be doing that soon

We should all meet up at Convention! I know it'll be busy, but any ideas? :)

Yeah, I am thinking of doing part-time for Friday and Saturday. And since Kath has so graciously offered me a place to stay, I may take her up on it to save another $100 or so.

But going pretty much depends on my dad getting his new job, which, hopefully, we'll find out before April 26.

Well, almost got to go... for a sad reason, but still almost got the chance. One of the friends is now out of the engagement and won't be getting married that weekend; the other, I don't think I'd enjoy her wedding (sad to say, but true) so I'm not going to attend. And my best friend is turning 21 that weekend, so we're planning a Vegas trip...

But I hope everyone has fun! We'll have btw. 4-7 of my chapter members there, so keep an eye out!

Annie -- You go girl! I am glad to see you getting more involved!
:D

I was just wondering what the $560 covers. I know it does not include airfare or hotel.

I will be attending part time and hopefully volunteering Wed. afternoon - I have summer school finals that week so I will be back and forth, but I'll be there for the weekend! I'm saying "off-campus" with a family friend to save some more money. :D

I believes the convention packets detail this much better than I can off the top of my head but it covers all the organized meals (I think there are one or two breakfasts not covered) and your ability to go to all workshops/seminars and the nightly events (awards banquet, confirmed conventioneers, pink carnation banquet).

I'll be there the entire time.........

Well, I'm still on the fence. If you could pick a couple of days to attend, which ones would you pick? I'm thinking I may not have the time to do it all, but a short trip may be possible.

Friday, it's the more casual day and it's confirmed conventioneers which is always fun and Saturday because that's ritual and pink carnation banquet if you choose to stay for that.

Tinydancer -- I suggest you try to come on Friday and Saturday and go home on the red eye Sat night or early Sunday morning -- you really need to be there for the ritual on Saturday -- someone I think you know ;) is involved with that event!

I'm definitely going to convention! Yay!

I signed up part-time for Friday and Saturday, and I found a round-trip flight with Southwest to Chicago-Midway-- thanks for picking me up Kath!

I'm really excited about going. My first convention!

(c:

Yay!

I am not sure I am going to be able to attend Convention, if I decide to take the graduate assistantship offer that has come my way. I don't know the specifics, yet, so I guess the door isn't completely closed.

I really wanted to go to convention, so I'm going to be a bit bummed if I cannot attend. :(

Does anyone know when they will decide where the 2006 convention will be? I would really love to go if it was closer to home.