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Our TBSigma and KKPsi chapters have a joint founding date / anniversary. I helped plan our 30th celebration, and it was somewhat of a success. We charged a flat fee per person that included a t-shirt, 2 meals, and 3 "activities." There was a reduced price for spouses or children, as they would not be receiving a chapter t-shirt. Here was our schedule:
Friday (fun and fellowship): check in, "meet and greet" dinner, bowling tournament. All activities were for TBS, KKY, alumni as well as active (undergrad).
Saturday (history and activities): Separate meetings for TBS and KKPsi. This was a time for the chapters members and alumni to exchange ideas and share information specific to the Sorority or Fraternity. We then met back up for a joint luncheon (on campus) and "open mic" forum. That evening we all attended the basketball game on campus; we wore the anniversary shirts and sat together in a section. It was a really nice showing of unity to the rest of campus.
Sunday (reflection and rest): We attended service at a local church and had the official send off. The alumni secretaries for each chapter made sure the contact information was up-to-date, and they began piecing together information to locate our missing alumni (example: married names; I saw so-and-so in the wal-mart, here's her number; you know such-a-such is in grad school at XYZ state, here's his new email address).
Overall things went pretty well, but the planning committee was just 4 people. This year we're doing more to involve the actives during the initial planning phase; we're sending REAL invitations in addition to e-vites; and we're also looking into absorbing some costs so the undergrad members can participate without going broke. I think the format worked pretty well, so we're using to the EAT-play-communicate model again this year (with some modifications).
We'll probably continue the anniversary celebration on every 5th year after this one, as it stands it's every other year. I hope in the future we can incorporate a service activity and a formal (dinner or ball). We realize we're lucky to share the anniversary date with our Brothers, so we basically have double the resources in planning and executing the events.
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