Quote:
Originally Posted by AOPii
I know that this is all super confusing for everyone else, but there were certain circumstances that have caused our chapter to make some switches and transitions during the summer period. All the past social chair has offered to help plan some events, I feel as though the responsibility is on my shoulders and that the chapter is counting on me to make this semester worthwhile and filled with great socials, since our last semester was not liked at all. I am blindly coming into the position. I have no idea how to handle the finances, the social events, the advisers or any of those things. Although I do have her help, as I said, I would prefer to start things fresh. So if anyone can give me any advice on how to start new and make things work or how your chapter made things work, please let me know
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So, coming from a place unfamiliar with your campus culture and specific requirements of AOPi, my super-general advice is as follows:
1) Seems like the first thing is to get general dates that work for social events (What days of the week? Are chapter meeting days no-nos for events? Is everyone out of town Friday-Sunday? Is Thursday THE social day for your school? What are finals and midterm weeks to avoid? When is Presents week, and does Presents fall under your planning purvue? etc.)
2) Coordinate with fraternities for exchanges. Once you have YOUR schedule loosely figured out, the next step (I assume) would be coordinating with fraternities and THEIR schedule. Summer is a hard time to get in contact with anyone on a consistent basis, so don't be too discouraged if it's hard to get any response from several of the social chairs. The big concern right now, though, is getting tentatively scheduled on their calendars before they are filled up with other events. If they don't do much scheduling until the end of summer, then circle back then.
3) Figure out your budget - for everything. Don't forget transportation costs, security, security deposits with the venue, food/beverage minimums, food requirements, etc. The lady you're replacing should have a good idea about these numbers, and if she doesn't, then your president or advisors will.
4) Scouting appropriate venues. For my chapter, this was always a struggle to find. Sure, there were always a couple of stand-bys, but the membership got bored with event after event at the same location. If you're totally stumped, ask your previous social chair, President, advisor and Panhellenic advisor for some suggestions.
To me, those are the biggies for now. Themes can be arranged later on, but venues and fraternity calendars can book up fast.
I would also suggest aiming for a mix of events (sober events, dinner events, traditional mixers, etc.). If it's a little late to squeeze into fraternity calendars, then consider dinners with sports teams or fraternities at nearby universities (caveat - I don't know how this will fly at your school and at your Greek system; at my school, it wasn't unheard-of to do mixers with sports teams, fraternities from other schools, and in a couple of cases - members of the business/law schools).
Good luck!!
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