It just seems so weird. Days 1,2 and 3 were up so quickly.. then it's like "Where's Sunday?" "Where's the group pic?" and, this time, they have a deadline of July 22nd for ordering pics. I swear I just ordered some pics from the 2006 Convention about 6 months ago. Since I know I have a deadline, I want to see those pics asap!
ETA: Here is a day by day Play by Play for Convention.. just the highlights of course
Wednesday: VST only: We had a great workshop put on by The Leadership Institute teaching us how to be better facilitators of workshops. So yes, a workshop on running workshops. The Leadership Institute staff are really phenomenal women! Then, a reception put on by the Foundation for VST. (Or you could go to the reception first and then go to the workshop as the workshop was offered at two times). I actually did the latter so going to the reception was the first time I saw a lot of the VST in two years! Instead of having it in a suite like they did in the past, they used conference rooms this time so it wasn't crowded and unbelievably hot like it usually is. Great move! We had a VST Convention Orientation where we found out about some of the new programs being rolled out, news about where the Fraternity is going and what the goals are for the next year. We met with our teams and then we all hung out in the lobby area because we love our sisters like that
Thursday: VST meeting from 8-9 am, mainly a "getting to know each other" activity with goal setting for our teams too. Credentials and credentials and credentials in the morning. There were also optional workshops all day long, roundtables for collegians, alumnae and advisors. The vendors arrived! One of the big bonuses in having the Greek Licensing is that there are so many more vendors which means more cute stuff! 5 pm came and we had flag parade practice with the opening dinner immediately following. After dinner was the flag parade and opening remarks. Rejoice, Reunite, Re (oh my gosh, was the third R???) We saw the first of many videos about our history put together by the Archives Committee and our Communications staff. Then Epsilon Pi ceremony practice and THEN Collegiate Awards Luncheon practice.. which took us to after 10 pm! Long long long day!
Friday: 7:30 am meeting for all of those who were facilitating workshops at some point with the opening business meeting occurring first thing in the morning. I can't remember most of Friday and I don't know why! Oh yes, I was an "expert" for Risk Management at an Ask the Experts booth after the morning business session. We had the alumnae awards luncheon (back to it's original format where we do the awards in the dining room). Then more workshops in the afternoon.. I did an advisor roundtable. Then Initiation, dinner, and the Epsilon Pi and Memorial Service ceremonies. Among the Convention Initiates was the daughter of the VST member, KC! There wasn't Greek Life at the college she went to and she has graduated and so she was Initiated. She was so cute and so enthusiastic! She will probably be a Finance Specialist since she is an accountant and there is a need. While it seemed odd to NOT have Dee Dee running the show, Nancy did a wonderful job! And yes, there was a Circle this year.
Saturday: Our slow day..lol. We got up at 5 am to be in the lobby at 5:45 am for the Walk! We walked and walked and walked and walked and when we finished, the sun was coming up. It felt like it must be noon by then but it was only 7 am. There were overachievers who ran it (DoctorD) and some of us took a wee bit of a short cut, but all in all, we did a great job. There were cheerleaders with cow bells and pom poms along the route. Some women were singing in the lobby at 5:45 am. I'm a morning person, but that was a bit much even for me! We had a breakfast sponsored by the Foundation after we showered and then we had a great speaker who talked about Life Balance. Then it was FREE AFTERNOON! Woohooo! I did some shopping for the kids' souveniers at the mall (did I mention there was a mall ATTACHED to the hotel?? Huge BONUS!). Some went to the Alamo, some went to the Mercado, some went to the mall or the pool and some did the riverboat tour. Others slept in their room the whole afternoon (my roomie). The Foundation had a reception for the "major donors" (jewels and corinthians) before boarding the busses for Knibbe Ranch. And, well, Knibbe Ranch was simply a blast. Armadillo races, hay rides, pictures with the longhorn steer named Oreo and LOTS of dancing.. all the fun of a fraternity party without alcohol or boys (so no drama!). We had big fun... big big fun. The pics of that night are priceless. Yes, Dottie was dancing. SusanZO did the armadillo races. It was truly a great event. We sang "Sweet Home Alpha Gamma" and "We are AGD" .. phew!
Sunday: "Please remain seated if you didn't have fun last night" were the morning remarks from our trusted and respected IP and not a person was left in their chairs! Then workshops/Roundtables again ( I did another for advisors along with nancyagd86.. we had a great group!). Collegiate Awards Luncheon, closing business session complete with Courtesy Resolutions (always fun), the big TAMPA announcement. Marcia was, once again, the winner for most conventions attended with (I'm pretty sure) 28 (although it might have been 27). She also won the Best Western Chic contest at Knibbe ranch! Feast of Roses, the candlelit room which always brings tears to my eyes (I'm a sap), and of course, The Living Circle, run by Dee Dee (Yay!) who gave us the history of the Living Circle, telling us many stories.
Throughout the Convention we saw several historical videos, one about Conventions, one about philanthropy, one about the Quarterly, etc. etc. They were really great. I hope they will be posted somewhere or something so we can see them over and over. In fact, if I could order a DVD with all of them on it, I would pay for that! New song books with CDs were distributed to delegates and were available for purchase. I'm hoping we can still get them and that we didn't have to get them at Convention.
Following The Living Circle, many of us hung out in the lobby again, reluctant to say "goodnight" and "goodbye" to our sisters, knowing we may not see some of them again for two more years.
And there you have it!
Hybrid Mode
