BID CARDS
 

what are some cute ways to hand out bid cards?

:p need ideas & fast

is this informal recruitment or formal?

informal spring

we went to our girl's dorm rooms/ houses and handed them a plastic rosebush thing, their bid, and sang a song to them.

you could get a little basket, add a few agd things(car window decal, pencils, note pad, etc.) and their bid card. tie one red, one green and one buff balloon to the basket handle .

I would show up with a small group of sisters in letters. Bring the bid card, a balloon, a poster and serenade her. You can throw confetti for extra added affect. Maybe give her a t-shirt and a list of phone numbers/calendar of upcoming events.

ETA: If you have a big group, invite them to the house for a "recruitment event." Have one sister lead them into the room and then have the chapter members march in wearing letters and bearing gifts, singing a song and announce that you are pleased to invite them to your sisterhood! (The only downside is that not everyone will accept.)

That is so cute! An impromptu bid day would be so exciting :)

I went through informal for Phi Mu. After attending 3 nights of events (I was invited by some sisters who lived on my floor), I went to their room to thank them for inviting me to the parties (on my way to class).

Amber (sister # 1): Oh you are going to class?
Suzanne (sister # 2): This early?
Me: Yeah I wanted to get something to eat so I am leaving early
Amber (sister # 1): In that case, here (hands me my Bid Card)

Basically I had almost messed them up by leaving for class early;) My screams of joy could be heard throughout the whole building. There was an RSVP request in then enevelope to call the rush chair and accept. I did and my Lion Buddy showed up later in the afternoon with goodies and took me to the Bid Day party on the hall. So I think it's a great idea to surprise them at their dorm!

I went through informal recruitment as well. I was in the bathroom drying my hair when I heard a couple of Alpha Gam girls come in to see me. After making sure no one was in the bathroom with me, they proceeded to tell me that they thought that I would make a great addition to the chapter, and then they presented me with the bid! Later, my bid day buddy who was assigned to me, who turned out to be my Big!, came by my room with my Alpha Gam bag filled with AGD goodies. She took me over to the house, and all the girls cheered when I walked in, and then the whole chapter went to Cheddar's for lunch. It was very laid back but exciting! I will always remember how I got my bid for Alpha Gam while drying my hair in the community bathroom!:D

Hey another spin of similiar nature....how about say 6 roses of your chapters particular type" yellow rose of Texas, pink kilarney, blush rose or whatever and instead of having the card to say who sent it....it would be the bid card?? but try and get a floral type envelope to fool them...

agdplease, please come back and tell us what you did.

ksuviolet, i remember when youwent thru recruitment and got your bid.
a happy ending,for sure!

wow. i never thought of doing such cute things for giving out bids! All we ever do with informal is call the girls and if they want they go get them signed. Seems like it would help the unsure be less unsure.

I received my bid during informal rush years ago.

After Pref Ceremony, one of the sisters invited me over to her apartment so that she could "copy my Poli Sci notes". It was pretty late already, and I was wondering what the heck was going on because she was very stubborn (in a joking manner) and would not take no for an answer when I told her that I had to get home.

Sure enough, at around 8:30, I heard girls faintly singing "How I love those Alpha Gams" At first, I thought, "What the....?" and then the singing got louder and louder. Mind you, this was at 8:35 at night and the singing just ECHOED throughout the apartment complex and people were starting to come out of their rooms. Then the singing got even LOUDER.

Next thing you know, I hear a knock on the door and the sister who invited me over told me to go open it. It was 10 Alpha Gams in white muumuus with gold and white balloons and red and buff roses and they came to extend bids to both me and the sister's roommate.

I thought it was the cutest thing ever...and we had such a large audience!

I dunno...it can be pretty embarassing to make a big display when a woman has not yet accepted. Really, if you are unsure, you should shy away from this stuff.

I heard some kind of noise on my door, a lot of giggling.. and a lot of shhhing!

Then I heard a knock...followed by at least two or more pair of feet running away.

When I opened the door, there was nobody there... but there was a big blue cardboard crown taped to my door with ZTA written in silver sparkles, a flower, and an envelope. It was my bid card.... a really sweet handwritten note which I still have today. I still have my cardboard crown, and the now pressed flower too. :)

That was followed up later in the night by a phone call from one of the sisters at the house asking me if I would accept.

I liked the way this was done because it didn't catch you "on the spot." You had some time to let it all sink in and give an answer.

I am pretty sure my chapter still does this - they are at a small enough school that it's possible. We all pile into a few cars and drive over to the new member's dorm or apartment and one sister will go in and ask her to join us downstairs. If we're a dorm where there is more than one girl, a sister (usually the preffer) will go bring each girl down to the dorm, where we'll sing one nice song and then hand them their bid cards. After that we sing a rowdy, louder song and usually everyone in the dorm is looking down.

Haha, mine was pretty funny. I went to one informal event at Sigma Kappa and I wasn't sure about the chapter so I didn't go back again. After I was turned down by another chapter, I got back in touch with SK to see if they were COBing. They emailed back the same day, said they wanted to take me out for coffee and they came and picked me up.
We went to Starbucks and just hung out and I really really felt so comfortable with these girls.
In the car on the way back, the COB chair, Michelle told me they may or may not have dropped off my bid card before coming to get me (they wanted me after meeting me just once, how cool is that?!) and it may or may not be in the Greek Life office. They drove me there, I went in, found it, inwardly screamed, signed it and came out with a HUGE smile on my face.
I believe all the bids have to go to the Greek Life Office on my campus, at least during informal, but I thought the way I got my bid was pretty damn awesome.

Yeah, I'd be pretty freaked by the celebration if I wasn't so sure about a chapter. Sometimes PNMs will hold out for others and it could be potentially very uncomfortable if you don't sign. It seems like this craziness is pretty prevalent though. What happens if someone doesn't accept?

I think I might feel a little bit awkward if a bunch of sisters came to my dorm and started cheering and handing me gifts. What if I wasn't sure I wanted to accept their bid? :o

When I went through informal recruitment, on a visit to one sorority, I witnessed their bid process. They took one girl out into the hall of the student union and [apparently] offered her a bid. A sister then led her back in and announced to the many sisters and guests present that Rhonda Rushee has accepted an invitation to be an XYZ. Then, the girls started cheering. The new member looked so surprised, happy and overwhelmed. :D

As for me, I had spent a while visiting all of the party rooms that evening. About an hour or so after I got home, the President of ABC phoned me and said that the sisters would like to invite me to membership. Since I had only talked to them for like an hour at most, I wanted to get to know them better. The President thought that was ok and invited me around to additional events.

I think I kind of like what ZTA did for Blueangel. It was cute and fun, without making a big fuss and making anyone feel obligated. The same goes for "XYZ" I mentioned above. The PNM was offered a bid in private which is really good in case she has questions or is unsure. Then, the sisters could make a fuss after she had accepted.


.....Kelly :)

i was also surprised at my dorm with balloons and a bid card during informal recruitment. it was very exciting and unexpected.
however, i felt a little awkward because i was eating sour cream & onion potato chips and was well aware of how my breath probably smelled! also, i was wearing sweatpants and a sports bra.

(of course, now that these girls are my sisters i have no problem walking around in my bra with smelly food.... but i felt embarassed at the time!)

If you don't want to accept the bid then you don't call us by 12 on Friday or whatever we make the deadline - it's really not a big deal. Generally with my chapter if someone is at preference they will be joining. We also have a bid day but since we're such a commuter school many new members can't make it and the fuss at their dorm or apartment is the only fuss they will get.

It's the same with my chapter. If the girl doesn't want to accept the bid, she doesn't show up to bid night. Simple as that. She doesn't have to give us her answer on the spot.

Do you go back to pick up the gifts? I am dead serious about this question. How do handle someone having your letters on a shirt or something if they decide not to join?

We gave gifts at a bid day, but not with the bid. We wouldn't give our letters out before then. I'm not sure that we never gave anything else like flowers, etc. though.