Bumping Systems
 

Hey Everyone,

I know it's been awhile since I've been around but I need some feedback on recruitment and I figured this was one of the best places to come.

Basically my feedback is on different bumping systems and there effectiveness. I'm going to be pretty detailed to now so I apologize in advance if this post is super long!

The issues is that even though the chapter I advise has been steadily making quota plus additions for the past several years, and is currently only one under total with a COB even coming soon, we still have one of the lowest priority rankings after the first two nights of recruitment (this means the least number of PNMS ranked us as 1). This completely changes after the 3rd round of recruitment (skit night) where we jump to number 1 or 2 out of six sororities.

We are trying to figure out how to rectify this situation as we feel we are losing some strong women these first two rounds. We have a good return rates, however this may mean that we are getting girls who have been cut from their top houses and have to come to us instead and we are probably losing strong women who are getting asked back to all the chapters.

One of our problems we feel is our bumping system. We have 41 sisters and our first two rounds are 35 minutes and 40 minutes. We have been using bump groups of 2-3 with also a few floaters. We are thinking that we need to have more women talking to these girls the first round. The way I am thinking is that, odds are you are not going to really get to know a girl any better in 15 minutes then you would in 8-10 so why not cycle more sisters through. This way the PNM will leave the chapter room feeling like she has met more people which should work better in helping develop a positive image of the chapter. The issue becomes how do we design bump groups when you have 41 sisters and approximately 20 PNMS for each party? The other issue is that interest in recruitment (we do deferred) is already incredibly high and we may be looking at pledge classes of 18-20 when we are used to 12-13. Hopefully they will just add more parties to each round but don't want to count on it happening and want the chapter to be prepared for way more girls in the room then they're used to!

So that's our issues, any advice on bumping systems that will help the PNMS meet more sisters and how do we structure them with only 41 members?

I am not familiar with setting up bumps for those numbers but I will comment on the length of party and number of bumps. In my opinion, making a 15 minute conversation with someone you just met, can be hard. After about 5 - 8 minutes, I imagine the conversation becomes forced simply because the two don't know each other. And, unless your active is exceptional at conversation skills, the conversation can suffer. It is much easier to keep things interesting when a bump occurs. I agree you need another bump.

Regarding bump technique, my advice to the chapter I advised (and it really made a difference) is to make sure that when the bump occurs, that there is interaction between all three women before original active leaves.

For example: Active 1 is talking with pnm about spring events. Active 2 comes up to bump. In some cases, Active 2 just bends over or stands nearby, and Active 1 says, "Well, PNM, I see that Active 2 is here to visit with you. I will let you two get to know each other." Then she disappears. I think this brings everything to a screeching halt and causes the PNM to start all over again. Awkward.

Instead, have Active 2 sit/kneel/join joins them. Active 1 can say "Oh hi Active 2, this is Patty PNM. She and I were just talking about Greek Sing and all those fun nights we spent practicing the songs." Active 2 comments and Active 1 responds and then leaves. Then, when Active 1 leaves, Active 2 continues talking about spring events. The conversation keeps flowing because it was, very briefly, a dialogue between all three.

This really worked with my chapter and might be something to think about for yours.

I would bump more frequently even if you have to double-rush. But based on your numbers, if you have 9 groups of 4 members, you can meet 27 girls with 36 members. Then you also have 5 floaters available, which I assume would be the President, Membership VP and 3 other top recruiters who can work the rooms. I was never the planner of this routine, so someone fill me in if I've missed something critical.

As far as conversation technique, the way Gee Ess described it is just the way we were trained.

But in my experience, the houses that bumped really fast were considered the best conversationalists even though they couldn't possibly have gotten into any sort of real chatter. However, they can set a plan, 1 talks about major 2 talks about jobs 3 talks about ... 4.... and nothing gets repeated. And since they've had about 3 minutes of conversation they don't have to worry about straying off topic.

Do you have another chapter in the vicinity to help you role-play? Or an alumnae chapter? We had workshops with another sorority on campus too. Bumping conversation is everything and can really dig you out of a boring or go-nowhere conversation.

This is really the best way to do it. What you want to aim for is that the PNM doesn't even realize she's being bumped.

Then after this, Active 1 should walk over to Active 3 and HER PNM.

That's how they have been doing it but it stopped there, meaning that each PNM meets 3 members.

we were thinking we want to have them meet 4-5 sisters instead, I like the idea of having assigned topics/trusting that your sister made the basic convo already and just because it wasn't mention during the pass off doens't mean you should ask their major, home town etc. Basically having the PNM feel like she had one full conversation but talking to 4 people. We were trying to figure out how to do the rotation and the timing. So Active 1 is bumped by Active 2 who goes to another PNM and bump Active 3 Who then bumps Active 4, who bumps active 2 who bumps active 3, or something like that.

Another key to making this aspect a success is for the actives to know each other well. That way if say girl 2 talks hometown and finds out PNM is from the same area as girl 3, she can switch to girl 3's topic of books & movies, and make that known in the transition. Something like "Patty PNM, you have to meet Annie Active. She's from City just like you! You both also like XYZ type movies." okay less formal than that but you get the idea! That shows that not only do you know your own sisters really well, but that there's a place in the chapter for that PNM.

I'm guessing you also have a good floater system? Perhaps another option to consider would be increase the number of floaters that can both save awkward conversations and boost the number of actives each person meets. Do you have emergency signals as well? Something to signal "HELP!!" and something to signal "you have to meet this one!" increased floaters could help maintain the continuity of the 15 minute conversations they have now but bring in more variety of personalities, interests, etc to make a great impression.

1->2->3->4->5 2-5 pick girls up at the door, with 1 as your floating first bumper. Then they bump down the line with a goal of making it around a full cycle.

If you have 20 PNMs then you need at least 5 groups of 5. Plus a few floaters (president for example) and anyone for refreshments as applicable.

The other way to manage it would be to have the floaters intentionally meet more PNMs.

All of this is why I've always preferred the cocktail party method as opposed to bumping.
Any maybe a little of the southern belle in me is a part of that as well...you know, each person having her own hostess moving her around the room to people who are appropriate based on the PNM's interests. Not to mention it's a basic life skill for giving a party of any kind.

I'm not sure how that works actually unless you have a lot of "unattached" actives?

No, it's the usual set up...president,vp membership, etc float. You just move yourPNM from group to group. You wouldn't take a single guest at a cocktail party to another single guest. You'd take her to a group. But instead of leaving her there, you take her to another group after chatting with that one. "hey, there's Mary, she's also an XYZ major." etc, etc, etc....you just guide her thru the party,meeting as many members and other PNMs (very important) as possible.

I like that idea, but you'd have to make sure to rescue a sister if the hostess for a PNM doesn't hit it off well with her PNM because she and her PNM could screw it up for everyone who brings their PNMs over to visit.

Our parties were always based on tables except at open house where you couldn't fit tables in the dorm. Each table fit four chairs so their were four groups. Each group would move to the same spot at the next table to find the sister to bump (ie, square tables all facing the same way. Bump group A would seat all of their PNMs in the chair facing forward. ) The floater would place a hand on the shoulder of the sister in the first chair. That sister would naturally interrupt her conversation when she could, introduce the floater, include her in the conversation for a short period, then excuse herself. She would then walk counterclockwise to the next table to the chair facing forward. She would place her hand on the shoulder of the sister speaking with the PNM in the chair, and the process would repeat itself. It was timed so that we would bump twice, but you could definitely push floaters through more frequently.

If we had a problem talking to a PNM, we would hold our hands behind our backs. My bio sister did this once and was completely ignored. No one else wanted to talk to the PNM either. She was well known on campus since she was a sophomore. My sister talked to her the whole time and was PISSED when the party was over!

Oh yes, that's why I said you have the usual floaters. Stuff happens with either system. I just feel that the cocktail system at least brings others in and you can move as well whenever the need arises. Besides, in real life, you don't get rescued at a party when you are bored with the conversation partner.

I just don't actually "get" how it works still.

But then I don't go to real cocktail parties either.

We did the cocktail party approach when I was in school (and for the chapters I've worked with). It was easy to get out of a tough conversation by using signals for the many floaters. We also had groups of 8-10 sisters in our "Chi Group" that we were supposed to introduce to our PNM. I'd have a few minutes of conversation, then find someone from my group, introduce them with some fact they had in common or something we talked about in our conversation, then we'd switch PNMs for a few minutes. Then we'd switch back, talk a little more to our own PNM, then introduce them to someone again. As a PNM, I never knew how orchestrated it was with who we met. On our side, though, it was great to have a core group of women who met the PNM and could help us remember details. Of course we would break from our group if, say, the PNM knew a sister really well and wanted to say hi, or if she had something in common with a sister not in our group.

As a PNM, I know I felt lost when someone who picked me up left me with someone else and then again with another sister. I liked the consistency of having a hostess for the entire party.

I prefer bumping, but then I don't like cocktail parties in the first place ;). They feel like a chore. Bumping might not be as sophisticated, but it's an easy system for the actives to remember so there are fewer mistakes. I went to help with recruitment yesterday and didn't notice if they were using the same system we used to use, but generally we had 4 girls to a group plus floaters and the next girl in line would approach the PNM and active, place a hand on their shoulder if necessary, and the first active would introduce the second, excuse themselves, etc. Floaters were a mix of girls that weren't very good at talking to PNMs and girls who were really, really good at it and could rescue a sister if need be. They were told to enter conversations when it seemed appropriate, introduce themselves, talk for a minute or two, then move on.