Getting people to attend a Summer retreat, with out fining.
 

Hello fellow greeks,

I'm the new chapter president and need some ideas. Our guys don't like to attend things. Last year, we had 13 out of 42 guys show to our summer retreat. This year, I want to change this. We need every guy at this weekend retreat to make sure the year and especially Fall rush go accordingly.

Does anyone have good ideas for incentives and consequences to get people to attend these events. Our new executive committee is trying to plan as much with as little fining as possible this year. Last year, the EC had so many unnecissary reasons to fine and we want people to attend... not be pissed off. Fortunately, people are excited for the new positions that have been elected and it seems like people are much more excited for the year compared to last year. Hopefully this helps us out.

I want to be organized with this, what can we do? I have contacted everyone via phone, email and facebook so everyone knows the dates. We are announcing everything in a video at the end of the week so any ideas will help.

Offer incentives and giveaways (e.g., fraternity swag, a book scholarship, etc.) to get people excited about attending and promote. Make is a positive thing; tell them it is mandatory and part of their membership obligation and you're offering all these cool things to get people excited about being there.

Don't see how you can get away from fining, as it seems that missing attendance at required events means that members must be penalized. You could have them do additional community service or some other chore, I suppose. Talk to your advisers and consult your bylaws.

Do you need the whole weekend to be devoted to preparing for recruitment or would you have time for an activity one night to just enjoy each other's company? Depending where you're at you could go to a ballgame or some other event. Or even just BBQ at the house where you just hang out one night. My husband's fraternity did that. (They had a sand volleyball court and a great backyard.)

Fraternity swag is a good idea! I like that. Here is a very summarized idea of what we will be doing.

Aug 15: Cookout + cornhole at the house. Debreif on what we are doing for the next 2 days.
Aug 16: Goals, rush/rush planning,committee elections
Aug 17: wrap up elections, Kappa Sigma guest motivational speaker, wrap up and then a kegger that night at a brothers house.

Like I said, thats a rough summary. But we are thinking about asking for $15 from each attendee, to provide lunch and help pay for the speaker. The Chapter is on very limited funds at the moment due to home renovations.

Our overall goal: 80% attendance. I have done my best to get the dates out. I have called each person individually, facebook, email... all that jazz. So people know the days.

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Is it truly easy for people to get away, or do they have honest reasons that they can't? I.e. jobs that require them to work every weekend or lose the job, transportation issues, money problems.

I really don't think you can require people to be there in the middle of the summer. I'd try to get as many people there as possible, but in the future, I would only hold any sort of election during the actual school year. The reason sororities can get away with work week is because it's right before school starts, so they are actually moving in to the house and getting on with the year. And even then, girls can't get home from camp or wherever they're working as early as the chapter would like sometimes.

If you want summer chapter to be more successful, have it be 90% fun and 10% brainstorming. And I'd dump the motivational speaker completely. Too much work. If the guys take a break from their summer fun by having summer fun with their brothers, then they might be more inclined to come, and you can sneak in an hour or two of business.

If you do have to do these elections at this time, what about Skype? Will the guys Skype into the meeting?

I was just thinking about this. Are most/all of your brothers located near where the retreat will be? If not, it's hard to require them to drive or fly down which costs both actual money and potential money since they won't be able to work. If I was requested to come down to Clemson right now I would have to politely decline because it's not financially feasible, no matter how much I might want to. Skype is a lot cheaper for faraway brothers to be involved during meetings without traveling.

The best way - if everyone is close enough and could come - is to have the chapter vote during the school year to require it. Then it becomes an Honor Board or whatever you have issue. But I certainly would not try to mandate one at this late date.

I agree with all of these, but especially with Titchou. If you really want people there, you need the date decided and buy-in from the chapter in December or January, so that brothers can make plans and tell employers they need to be off that weekend if possible. At this point, I'd just be glad with whoever can get there.

And I second the idea of ditching the motivational speaker. It may just be me, but I can stand motivational speeches. I'd rather pay the fine than have to sit through listening to someone try to "motivate" me.

Good luck!

Could the retreat be held, say, the week prior to classes starting? That way brothers who might not live close by would not have to make an extra trip to campus over the summer.

Everyone, thank you for the responses.

All of our brothers live no more than 2 hours from campus. I go to a smaller school and people can definitely make the event. Last year, our EC scheduled this less than 3 weeks in advance. So we are doing the best we can. Not to mention we have had the dates set since the end of May. If 3 months isn't enough... then I dont know what is!

Although, I do like the idea of voting on the event being mandatory. I'm keeping that in mind for our winter retreat.

Im only really expecting 70% of this chapter to attend, and I have already have a good idea on who won't attend. We did get lucky though, and have a brother with a lake house so we are going to have a good time. It is much better than the Holiday Inn conference room we originally had planned.

We decided to buy coozies, a few gift cards for raffle and a mixer/party sponsored by the Chapter and EC to help get people to attend. After we started planning out this itenerary for the weekend I think we really realized that we need to cut down on all this planning/discussion time and are going to use it more as a brotherhood week (fishing, going on the boat ect.)

Thanks for the help guys. I'm always down to learn something new, so any input helps out!

Once you have one very successful one, the brothers who are there will bond and talk about it and the ones who missed it will realize they missed out on something special. Then more will participate next time.

You have to remember that it IS summer, when people have vacations, weekend getaways, weddings, and other events planned. Not everyone is going to be able to make it, no matter how far in advance you plan it.

And aside from that, some people just want a break from school during the summer. It's nice to get away, see other friends, and not have to deal with the headaches of studying and running organizations.

It might just be me, but 70% sounds like a great turnout for a summer event.

The comment that I've emphasized makes me think that getting people to attend events isn't just a problem during the summer; that there are certain guys who aren't showing up to events even during the school year. If you have people who don't want to participate in anything, perhaps they shouldn't be a part of the chapter.

Granted Washington was president, but the summer job I had in college wouldn't have given me the flexibility to go to a weekend retreat two hours away unless I could get time off. I was expected to note any days that I would need off during the summer when I did my application -- in January. It was possible that I could get time off if I asked later, but it wasn't guaranteed.

And I agree -- I think 70% turnout is great.

Assuming you have a brother who can furnish a nice lake house or whatnot, who needs extra incentive to go to the lake for a weekend?