Chapter Advisor needed

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by 33girl

My sorority isn't a product, it's a sisterhood.

Myself and my chapter sisters looked for women who would benefit from having that sisterhood and who in turn would bring something to the rest of the members. That was our main motivation in rush, not "selling."

But hey, different strokes for different folks.

Great, it is a Sisterhood!

But get over Yourself, It is a Product that You and Your Sisters try to sell. It is a business of selling People, Sister Hood, and being a group of women who have the same Ideals and thoughts.

Get more involved in Your National Organization and find How Much It cost to run Your GLO!

Still Love Your Soro!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

Great, it is a Sisterhood!

But get over Yourself, It is a Product that You and Your Sisters try to sell. It is a business of selling People, Sister Hood, and being a group of women who have the same Ideals and thoughts.

Get more involved in Your National Organization and find How Much It cost to run Your GLO!

Still Love Your Soro!

I know it costs money to run a GLO. However, if we look at it as a disposable product instead of a lifetime sisterhood, I can't imagine there will be many people who want to "buy" it. It defeats the purpose. I don't think if you had "purchased" your LXA membership that you would still be active at your age.

As one of my sisters so eloquently said once, those letters on your shirt are not an advertisement. It's something deeper than that.

[Beryana]

Do you SERIOUSLY think this has digressed into a discussion about buying friends?! No one ever mentioned the economics of belonging to a fraternity or sorority. What Tom and I have touched on is plain and simple marketing and sales. You are trying to 'sell' new members the benefits of membership in your particular chapter (over all others) and one of the marketing tools is the opportunity of a lifetime of sisterhood. You also realize that it takes longer time to build that deeper feeling than just three times visiting a chapter during recruitment - and even four years of college. HOWEVER, you have people join your organization before that process can even begin - that takes sales and marketing!

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by Beryana

Do you SERIOUSLY think this has digressed into a discussion about buying friends?! No one ever mentioned the economics of belonging to a fraternity or sorority. What Tom and I have touched on is plain and simple marketing and sales. You are trying to 'sell' new members the benefits of membership in your particular chapter (over all others) and one of the marketing tools is the opportunity of a lifetime of sisterhood. You also realize that it takes longer time to build that deeper feeling than just three times visiting a chapter during recruitment - and even four years of college. HOWEVER, you have people join your organization before that process can even begin - that takes sales and marketing!

Thank You very much for explaining the reality of GLOs.

Yes, We do try to sell ourselves to PNM as there has to be a decision between to factions, We and they.

If We do not sell and market ourselves to PNM then We do not get any and guess what happens, We dissapear and others stay.

I love "the buying friends" that is like raking fingure nails on a chalk board to me.

If that is the case, I am glad I have bought all of My Brothers for 41 years and meeting Brothers from all over the USA and Canada!

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by Beryana

Do you SERIOUSLY think this has digressed into a discussion about buying friends?! No one ever mentioned the economics of belonging to a fraternity or sorority. What Tom and I have touched on is plain and simple marketing and sales. You are trying to 'sell' new members the benefits of membership in your particular chapter (over all others) and one of the marketing tools is the opportunity of a lifetime of sisterhood. You also realize that it takes longer time to build that deeper feeling than just three times visiting a chapter during recruitment - and even four years of college. HOWEVER, you have people join your organization before that process can even begin - that takes sales and marketing!

I agree and I wanted to comment on what popped into my mind. It seems that for Panhellenic sororities, the bridge is COB/COR where people do have time to experience the sisterhood without experiencing the bulk of the marketing.

But, there's still marketing. For any TNX recruitment activities, we have to consider whom we're marketing to (multicultural sororities are not for everyone) and in that marketing, we have to stress that we are a sisterhood and a business. If we didn't explain the business side, it would be difficult to express why membership requires dues.

If, in our marketing, we can get across the sisterhood and business aspects of the organization, we're less likely to pick up letter-wearers.

[babylyne]

AHHH the letter wearers, that is exactly what we just went through, and now we are lo.oking at some pretty hard times. That is why we are asking for a woman who has "been there, done that" As a 2nd chapter of a somewhat growing sorority we need someone to help us. Or to help us see if what we are doing is getting us anywhere or do we need to completly change directions. We have an Alumnea advisor and it is really hard to go from an active sister to advising and having the major blows that we have had on this past year. We are tired of weak links and drama, we need somone that can see the situation step up and step in to help us. We are working hard but we are spinning our wheels and we want to stop that.

[Tom Earp]

Letter wearers are advertising for Your GLO are they not?

I do not mean just T-or Sweat Shirts.

What about Polo/Golf type shirts with letters on the breast area? Look nice and have a little class.

Why advertise Old Navy, The GAP, Budwieser or Nike instead of your GLO!

As for an Advisor, you never need a Sister/Brother who just graduated from your chapter as they are to close and will act like an Active.

Colleges actually encourage Instructors to be envolved with outside activities and this is a great source. They can also be a great go between the GLO and School. If they are so inclined and become an advisor, they can also be Initiated in the GLO.

Our Present Advisor is a Professor at the College and not only is He now a Member, His son is now his Brother

He is an intragal part of the Chapter and the College so it is good both ways!

[Beryana]

Tom-
What is being referred to with the "letter wearers" are the sisters (or brothers) who are members basically in name only. They don't hold offices and are really not active in the least except for probably just the social functions. The same can hold true for faculty advisors. You have MANY that are just in name only - and don't even come to the social functions much less any meetings!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Beryana

Do you SERIOUSLY think this has digressed into a discussion about buying friends?! No one ever mentioned the economics of belonging to a fraternity or sorority. What Tom and I have touched on is plain and simple marketing and sales. You are trying to 'sell' new members the benefits of membership in your particular chapter (over all others) and one of the marketing tools is the opportunity of a lifetime of sisterhood. You also realize that it takes longer time to build that deeper feeling than just three times visiting a chapter during recruitment - and even four years of college. HOWEVER, you have people join your organization before that process can even begin - that takes sales and marketing!

I did not say ANYTHING about buying friends, please reread the post.

Rush is a mutual selection process, not buying and selling. I can't recall the last time I thought about how I would benefit L'oreal or what I could give to them if I bought one of their lipsticks, or if the lipstick would still be there for me 10 years later. And I'm sure L'oreal wouldn't give a rat's rump if their lipstick did anything for me, or if I threw it in the trash the minute I walked out of the store, as long as I bought it.

And I wouldn't want to "sell" anything to a rushee who wouldn't fit in with my sorority, which I haven't seen you touch on at all. That would make both sides very unhappy. Again, I don't think L'oreal would care about that.

[Beryana]

Originally Posted by 33girl

I did not say ANYTHING about buying friends, please reread the post.

Rush is a mutual selection process, not buying and selling. I can't recall the last time I thought about how I would benefit L'oreal or what I could give to them if I bought one of their lipsticks, or if the lipstick would still be there for me 10 years later. And I'm sure L'oreal wouldn't give a rat's rump if their lipstick did anything for me, or if I threw it in the trash the minute I walked out of the store, as long as I bought it.

And I wouldn't want to "sell" anything to a rushee who wouldn't fit in with my sorority, which I haven't seen you touch on at all. That would make both sides very unhappy. Again, I don't think L'oreal would care about that.

And you are completely missing the point about marketing. Every group markets to a target audience - which each individual group determines their individual target audience (and you can't tell me that each sorority does not have their own way of determining a level of 'acceptabilit' prior to recruitment!). How that marketing is accomplished is up to the individual group and their unique target audience.

You're also misunderstanding the idea of selling that I am referring to - and YES, you are trying to sell something to prospective members (and no, you can't compare prospective members to a cosmetic company!).

These are BASIC marketing principles!

[33girl]

Each sorority's membership selection process is different. The only things I think you could conceivably decide is "acceptable" or not pre rush are 1) grades 2) class standing/legacy standing 3) (maybe) extracurricular involvement.

I don't know how you could decide anything else as a group pre rush, unless maybe it's the Stepford chapter. All the other things that you choose a woman for and that she chooses a sorority for are intangible.

Yes there is such a thing as targeting individual women that individual sisters may think would be good members - but they still need to pass muster with the rest of the group. I might think Paris PNM is the sweetest girl on earth, but the rest of the group might think way differently. Or on the other hand, the rest of the group might love Paris PNM but I might know that she hates doing things in big groups and being in a sorority would make her miserable.

I don't know what else you're talking about, unless it's "hey, we need more cheerleaders/athletes/brains so we're going to weight those things heavier when we vote."

I do understand BASIC marketing principles (seeing as it was my major and all) but I personally don't choose to apply them in the fashion you are using. It's overly simplistic to say "all we need to do is sell the crap out of our sorority and then we will get the best women."

[Beryana]

I'm really confused at how your post relates to mine! If you understanding marketing, you understand what I am saying and how recruitment at its basic level works. You still have to have standards (based on grades, activities, etc). Your target market is those that meet or exceed those standards. Now, you have to figure out how to attract those women to come back and learn more abouut your organization when there are hundreds of groups wanting that same person's time. One of those means is by stressing the OPPORTUNITY (not guarantee) of a lifetime of sisterhood and the relationships and bonds that could be there by joining a sorority. If the women like what they see, they will come back and want to learn more - if not, they move on and the group analyzes the process (was it just not a right fit or was it something else).

The only thing that I can think of with your example (which fits about as well with what I have been saying and you not understanding as your example of a cosmetic company) is after you have gotten the women to come back. That's when mutual selection comes into play - is it a good fit on both sides. To get to that point, you first have to get them into the door - see first paragraph (and all my other posts!).

Maybe I don't understanding marketing if you have a major in it and I don't have any book learning in marketing (only real life experience in marketing and programming while working at museums as well as with AOII - but what do I really know about recruitment because I'm an alumna initiate!)

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Beryana

I'm really confused at how your post relates to mine! If you understanding marketing, you understand what I am saying and how recruitment at its basic level works. You still have to have standards (based on grades, activities, etc). Your target market is those that meet or exceed those standards.

That's a very ephemeral thing to refer to as a "target market." Not to mention pretty huge!!

The rest of your post is so confusing as far as to how it relates to sorority rush I honestly don't have an idea where to begin. I THINK you're talking about informal rush or the 5 step method (which my chapter was doing before it was even called that) but I really can't be sure at this point.

[Beryana]

Originally Posted by 33girl

That's a very ephemeral thing to refer to as a "target market." Not to mention pretty huge!!

The rest of your post is so confusing as far as to how it relates to sorority rush I honestly don't have an idea where to begin. I THINK you're talking about informal rush or the 5 step method (which my chapter was doing before it was even called that) but I really can't be sure at this point.

You know what, I give up! I'm not going to continue the hijack of this thread. No, I'm not a marketing major - I'm history, social science and archaeology. But I have been in sales and actually currently work at a museum developing programs and general marketing. I guess marketing majors use different skills than those of us doing marketing in other fields who rely, not on books, but on common sense. Recruitment skill are not something that are only acquired if one was a member of an NPC sorority while in college - life experiences DO play a big role in those skills as well (talking to people, judging character, etc).

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Beryana

You know what, I give up! I'm not going to continue the hijack of this thread. No, I'm not a marketing major - I'm history, social science and archaeology. But I have been in sales and actually currently work at a museum developing programs and general marketing. I guess marketing majors use different skills than those of us doing marketing in other fields who rely, not on books, but on common sense. Recruitment skill are not something that are only acquired if one was a member of an NPC sorority while in college - life experiences DO play a big role in those skills as well (talking to people, judging character, etc).

Well, I've had considerable life experiences dealing with relationships. That doesn't mean I'm going to hang out my shingle and become a marriage counselor. You think recruitment is marketing, I think it's making a relationship connection - ok. Got it. Thanks. Whatevs.

What this boils down to (apart from our discussion) is that you took completely out of proportion what AF was saying and got offended over something THAT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU. Her point (with which I agree and which got completely overlooked) is that 1) someone who has NO experience being in a sorority ever would not be the best advisor for 2) a LOCAL chapter that has no national board, no manuals, no other chapters to help them out. I think the majority of the posters in this thread who got ticked didn't read that part of the original post.