How do I motivate these guys?
 

I am in charge of planning a 2 day retreat for our colony that 100% attendance is required. I've been told many times by active people in the chapter that they don't want to go. So I pose these two questions:

How do I get them there (WITHOUT USING FINES)?

How do I get them to stay and go to all the sessions?

It's a relaxing Friday Night, then a strenuous Saturday, then Sunday free to go to church with a wrapup after services.

All help is appreciated!!

Is this something required by your national HQ? Because if not, and that many people aren't into it, I'd reconsider having it.

You're a colony. You tell them that either they want to be a part of the colony, or they don't. Being called a founding father isn't something that should come cheap. If they don't want to do their share of the work, there's always the option to leave.

If you're a colony, seriously, you do not need crap like this. It's hard enough as it is (I've been EXACTLY where you are). We made the mistake of coddling all the lazy people just to keep our numbers up. What we should have been doing was recruiting guys that wanted to bust their butts to make our chapter the best around. That's what our actives have now. It probably wouldn't have taken us 3 years to get our colony chartered if we had figured that crap out earlier on.

Part of being in an organization is about participating! Let them know that they are on the dawning of a new CHAPTER of Sigma Chi! This is not to be taken lightly! The alumni of Sigma Chi are allowing them to one day recruit and initiate men into their brotherhood and fraternity. It might not seem like a big deal, but the alumni are putting their faith into these men to participate and to learn about Sigma Chi. Finally, they are also hoping that the colony's bonds with each other will grow and it will only grow if they participate by attending a Colony Retreat. If they cannot attend a Colony Retreat together, how are they going to attend Recruitment sessions when they are deciding the future of Sigma Chi?

Just my thoughts...

Great points!! I think if they aren't willing to do this then what can you expect of them when the real work begins...

A nice combination of business and social activities is a good idea. But working on strengthening the presence and productivity of the chapter should be incentive enough, IMHO

I'm currently planning a retreat for a student org where attendance is mandatory.

They have three options:

1. Attend
2. Attend majority of the retreat (a day and half)
3. Don't attend and it counts as two unexcused absences (you need three in a semester to get kicked out).


Most of the members complied. Unfortunately, we may need to kick one person out.

I think it would help if you laid options on the table. Its up to them to do the right thing. Tell them how important this retreat is to your organization and why their presence is required. I think they should already know the type of work that needs to be done to be a successful colony.

Get them to take a personal interest in it.

-Rudey
--That's the hardest thing to do with a fraternity

What 33 Girl Said
 

She's right. You should tailor the function to the group. I think UT-Martin has a lot of commuter students, right? It may be that what you've done is effectively taken an entire weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and some of your members just aren't in a position to do that. I'd suggest that you get together Friday night, and conclude Saturday around 5 pm. If anyone wants to get together Saturday night for dinner or social they're on their own. Maybe meet in one place Friday afternoon and bus everyone to the retreat. As much as I love my fraternity, I don't know that I want to go to a workshop across what amounts to the 3-day weekend.

COSIGN

Ask them their reasons why they don't want to attend.

Do they think that it won't be fun? Sometimes it takes hard work to belong to something!!!

Do they already have plans? Well, now you know where they stand. They obviously can't make room to be in the organization, so they shouldn't waste your time.

Is there tension between the members? This would be the best opportunity to help confront this.

I can't think of any more excuses they could use...

Do you have an advisor or someone that's a mentor, that can bring some sense to them by mentioning that this is mandatory... Meaning you HAVE to go, or you're gone.

Man, I donno. I like putting the fear of God into people... But that's me. hehe, j/k!

Keep us posted on what happens.

I am in the SAME exact position right now, planning a three day recruitment workshop thing for my chapter when we get back to school and this is the advice that i was given by officers before me:

1) Make it fun - give them object incentives, like pizza, awards, breaks and some activities that are just fun and not uber educational. Hell, any kind of activities are good since brothers/sisters hate being lectured to for hours on end, esp. by another member...if you work them all day, every day, it will be SO HARD to get them back in the same place the next year and you don't want to keep passing this problem onto the next officer...and yes they should want to come on their own, but come on, do you really want to go to class every day when you know that it's going to be boring? even though you know you'd be enriching yourself and bettering the class discussion, you'd much rather go to a class that has a funny professor with organized lectures and cool ways of conveying info, right?

2) Make it KNOWN that it's fun - talk up the stuff that you're going to do, let them know all of the fun stuff that you're going to do so that they will WANT to attend...yeah, sometimes it seems like you're a dork if you get excited about pizza and brotherhood/sisterhood activities and you may take some crap for it, but they WILL respond in positive ways and it's more effective than "Guuuuuuys, you seriously have to goooooo...."

3) But don't be afraid to be a dictator - get another brother/sister to back you up as Enforcer and lay down the law. This is when and where you're required to be, this is what you bring, these are the consequences for violating this agreement. Be reasonable with people who have legitimate excuses (like family obligations or training days, etc.) but give them plenty of notice and tell anyone with unexcused absences will get their a$$ kicked by you and other people on your committee

4) Give info - They should know everything that you know because, the better informed they are, the better they will behave. When people know what to expect, they will respond faster and better than if you try to ambush them with something. Therefore, be straight with them and lay out the schedule, expectations, requirements, EVERYTHING beforehand so that you don't have anyone whining "But i didn't knoooooooooow that...."

hope that this stuff helps!!!

Let me make this very clear.

If you are starting a colony, you need to have members that are committed. If they are not committed, maybe they shouldn't be members of your colony.

How's that?:D

Help them to understand the importance of the retreat. Tell them what they will get out of it and how it would benefit them as individuals and the colony as a whole.

CO-SIGN


Now with our Advantage program, we have a weekend retreat every year...don't like it? Don't be an Alpha Sig. I ended up learning A LOT about my sisters and Alpha Sigma Alpha at that retreat, and I know there were actives that also learned alot of stuff they never knew.

BUT...if we had legitamate excuses, we were allowed to miss parts of it.

If they are not dedicated now, then what will be their dedication in the future if there will be one:(

Did they just join to say hey, I am a member of a Greek Organization?

In your position, and beleive me I along with ktsnake have been there in Founding a local or a colony it is imperative that ALL MEMBERS be functional.

Truely, if there are members who dont want to do now, what will they do in the future?

Numbers of bodies are not many times the key. It is good deicated bodies to work their asses off to make something grow and prosper!

Okay, members are the water of life to make the plant, "Chapter Grow"!

Sorry, if it is a valid excuse, then that is different! If not tell them hey "Do You Want To Be a Brother"?

A
 

Get a motivational speaker, big campus official, etc.

Get prizes (hopefully donations), door prizes.

Basicly the others have said it: If you don't want to participate, you might as well drop out now.