fun chapter meetings

[thindy86]

So lately our chapter has been having problems with people not wanting to go to chapter meetings... this is because it has become a time where everyone complains about what is going wrong with the chapter.

The president and I (I am VP) are looking for ways to make our chapter meetings more fun and enjoyable for all.

If any of you have ideas of how to make chapter meetings fun again, please let me know! We are in desperate need...

[AlphaFrog]

Strippers and Beer.


/It had to be said. Leave the serious answer for someone else.

[Canadian]

We've got a tradition where everybody gets to say something at the end of the meeting. Sometimes it's a gripe, other times it's just a silly saying or comment. Usually, we get all our problems aired in the actual meeting, so the end is a chance to compliment and joke.

That said, anything ritual related needs to be serious.

Canadian

[Canadian]

We've got a tradition where everybody gets to say something at the end of the meeting. Sometimes it's a gripe, other times it's just a silly saying or comment. Usually, we get all our problems aired in the actual meeting, so the end is a chance to compliment and joke.

That said, anything ritual related needs to be serious.

Canadian

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by thindy86

So lately our chapter has been having problems with people not wanting to go to chapter meetings... this is because it has become a time where everyone complains about what is going wrong with the chapter.

The president and I (I am VP) are looking for ways to make our chapter meetings more fun and enjoyable for all.

If any of you have ideas of how to make chapter meetings fun again, please let me know! We are in desperate need...

Do you have programming requirements? We did a chapter on dress code that was silly but still got the point across. My chapter's also done a singing chapter, but not while I was active. Everything must be sung: motions, seconds, votes, whatever. (I think it was a formal meeting and I was still a NM).

If there ARE significant gripes, perhaps you need to hold a seperate meeting where people can discuss these issues instead of only airing them at chapter. They probably come up again and again and nothing feels like it's getting done. A suggestion box in chapter where the exec board answers them next week may help.

[SigKapAngel767]

Have chapter members get to say good and bad things (both funny or serious)
for example:

I give a big thanks to Sherri for taking me home when my aunt died b/c my car was in the shop

OR

I give a big "boo" to Sherri for laughing at me when I dropped my tray in the dining hall.

ALL IN JEST THOUGH! So everyone leaves with a smile on their face.

[Benzgirl]

During the week, everyone is required to email the president something about themself that no one else knows. ("I ran the USMC Marathon in 2001", "I wore an afro in high school", "my front teeth were knocked out twice in one week", "I was raised Menonite", "I got my pilots license when I was 16").

The president places everyone's name in one column and mixes up the "secret" in the other column. The chapter is given 15 minutes to see how many they can guess correctly.

After 15 minutes, the president reads off the "secret" and people shout out who they think it is. The "confession" is then revealed. At the end, everyone totals up how many they got right or wrong.
Give a small, but funny prize for different categories.

We actually did this at work, and everyone was rolling on the floor when it was revealed that my boss loves to play the tuba. The items above in perenthesis were some of the responses we had in our meeting.

[AGDee]

This is probably not going to be a popular answer but the reality is, a business chapter meeting is primarily a time to get business done and is not necessarily supposed to be fun. Chapter meetings are where I learned my skills for work meetings and believe me, they are not fun. Chapter meetings should be run efficiently and according to Roberts Rules of Order. They aren't a time to have a gripe session. If meetings are run according to an agenda in an efficient manner, they are short and sweet and don't seem like a huge burden.

If there is massive negativity, then discussions should be held in the following way:
Allow 1 pro, then 1 con, then 1 pro, then 1 con. If they start repeating the pros or cons, then the discussion ends. If you cannot get another pro expressed, then another con is also not expressed and a vote is held.

At one point, my chapter did "Roses and Thorns" at the end of meetings and, during a particularly negative point in the chapter's history, the Thorns (negatives) far outweighed the Roses(positives). It became a real downer and made meetings miserable. We then made it ONLY Roses and things improved a lot. Negativity breeds negativity.

If there are serious sisterhood/brotherhood issues in your chapter, then programming meetings where you work on team building and sisterhood/brotherhood .. or even a retreat to work on these things, is in order, but it should be the weekly thing in chapter meetings. During meetings, you should be following an agenda, having a time keeper, limiting discussion to the essential points and it will go more smoothly. If you can get a meeting done in an efficient manner and have time for some kind of fun game at the end, great.. that can be motivating. Most of the "work" should be done prior to the meetings in committees also.

[Drolefille]

We did it in Pro-con-con-pro format, no matter what, you must end on a pro.

[nittanyalum]

I agree that chapter is, by nature, meant to get stuff done, communicate information, make decisions, etc., it can be very dry. And in large chapters, they're crowded and hot and people get antsy quickly. So yes, efficiency is important as is looking for ways to keep things positive and end on a positive. I like the "ending on a pro" thing, and when I was in college my chapter had little weekly "awards" that were given out at the end of each chapter meeting, I honestly can't remember the names or what was given out, but one was a nice, sappy, sisterly one (someone who had a tough week that needed support or did something really great and deserved recognition), and the second was a more sarcastic one, sister's "nominated" each other and the chapter voted on who got it, the stories were usually hilarious and everyone left the chapter room laughing and talking about it.

If the chapter's too big to have discussions like that at the end, you can also try "incentive"-type things to liven things up and make people want to come to meetings. Have a giveaway treat bag they have to be at chapter to be in the drawing to have a chance at getting it; pose a trivia question and whoever comes to chapter and turns in the correct answer gets...something. Have a drawing at chapter for "sister of the week" and she gets some special privilege or a free pass out of a required event or something (if you can spare the people). Sounds like a simple approach, but if you're not doing anything like it currently, just doing SOMEthing different can sometimes spark people's interest and make them want to come again.

Good luck!

[barnard1897]

Roses and thorns never worked for our chapter, either, and we turned it into a candlelighting at the end of meeting, where you held the candle, said something wonderful about a sister, and passed it to her, and it would make its way around the room. Lotta melted wax. You could do this in groups if there are a lot of people.

What did work: Make your own sundae night! Forget diets. The promise of free ice cream kept a lot of people motivated to stay till the end of chapter. The other one that was very popular was the chapter meeting where we had greekwear for sale. Orders were taken at the end of the meeting. With the surge of companies internet, there are so many more ways to order nowadays, but still-I think nothing beats the clothing sitting right there in front of you to touch and of course, buy!

If you have a large chapter, you might want to see if your national merchandising arm will send you a package of goodies to be sold. They'll send you a giant box of so many frames, t-shirts, fleeces, flip flops, stationery items, etc. That way, the stuff is for sure officially licensed from your GLO. You send back what does not sell. No one has to pay shipping, of course, which is an added bonus.

[OPhiAGinger]

I completely agree with the poster who emphasized using parliamentary procedure and sticking to an agenda to ensure the meeting runs efficiently. I generally wanted to get our business done and get on with other things. When chapter meetings started to approach the hour-long mark, sisters would always get antsy, so the pressure was on the chapter leaders to work through the agenda quickly! However, you can combine efficiency with a fun atmosphere in many ways.

We scheduled several 'theme' chapter business meetings throughout the semester. Near Halloween, we would all wear costumes to the meeting. After we officially adjourned business, we would have a Halloween costume contest! It was especially fun if 'families' of sisters (e.g. grandbig, big, little, grandlittle) coordinated their costumes into a central theme somehow.

At least once a semester we had a pajama party, where we wore jammies and/or carried a stuffed animal. I know this sounds juvenile and it was, but it was also really fun. Once a month, we had a giant cookie or cake to celebrate the sisters who had had birthdays that month. We often scheduled an informal outing for dinner or ice cream after chapter.

Some OPhiA chapters get a lot out of holding "For The Good Of The Chapter" sessions, either following a regular business meeting or scheduled separately. These are basically venting sessions in a structured way. Frankly, I don't get this concept, but my sisters in at least two different chapters swear that this helps clear the air and actually results in a tighter bond among the chapter. I'm more of a 'focus on the solution rather than the problem' person, but maybe I just need to see this type of thing in action to understand why they found it helpful....