Electronic Chapter

[SilverTurtle]

Hey! Have any of you ever tried using an "e-chapter"? Check this out. About a month ago, one of my sisters contacted me, and some other alumni, who don't have active alumni chapters in their geographical areas. She's establishing an alumni "e-chapter". Since our national convention is next week, we are being officially initiated and voting on bylaws then!

Basically, we are going to pick the best time to meet in our chat room and hold meetings there. The idea is that there are several alumni who would love to be part of an alumni chapter, but don't have enough alumni in their area to start one.

As I had posted before, I've been trying to re-establish the alumni chapter in my area, but without much luck. If I do happen to get that off the ground, or move to an area where there is and active alumni chapter, then I would 'give up' my membership in the e-chapter and defer to that other chapter.

I just thought this was a really cool idea so I wanted to share it.

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SilverTurtle@greekchat.com
Phi Beta Fraternity
Phi chapter

[LXAAlum]

Silver,
Could you let us know the specifics once it gets passed? This might be something other GLO's might want to try rolling out.

Mikki (mkdz...) has posted in the past regarding an e-chapter - perhaps she can give some assistance to you...

Would you be required to give up e-chapter membership in order to also participate in a local alumni group? Couldn't you do both, but only serve in an official (officer) capacity on one?

Good luck - this is a good idea I hope works out well for you...


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Don't be your brother's keeper; rather, be your brother's Brother.

[SilverTurtle]

Actually, I just had dinner w/ the alum who is coordinating the chapter tonight. Obviously, we are going to have to do some 'experimenting' to learn what works best (like how to recognize someone who wants to speak, maintaining order, keeping minutes, etc.)

As for giving up membership in the e-chapter-- the idea is that it will exist for those of us who can't join an alumni chapter. (If there were an active alumni chapter in my city right now, I wouldn't be eligible for membership in the e-chapter). But (at least for now), we prefer to have active live chapters- more chances to interact, meet, complete service, etc. I'm sure that once this starts to become an issue, we'll address it more directly.

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SilverTurtle@greekchat.com
Phi Beta Fraternity
Phi chapter

[equeen]

I'd be interested to hear more, let us know what you find out, and how it works out for you!


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equeen
A Lioness has her Pride!
@>--;--
Alpha Sigma Kappa - Women in Technical Studies

[Gizmo]

I am glad to your group using an "internet" forum for your out-of-state members.

My alumnae chapter, University of Oklahoma Alumnae Chapter of Alpha Sigma Kappa - Women in Technical Studies, has been using such a means of communication between our members since we started graduating members. From our first graduating class of three during our colonization period, we have been scattered across the US from California to to Houston to Atlanta. For us, this forum has worked well as all of our initiated sisters have access to email. We have been mainly exchanging ideas via email and it has worked so far since our numbers are still relatively small. However, we have yet to formulate any procedures and so meetings are still held in person with phone calls being used for those unable to attend.

Keep us updated as you learn how to use the internet effectively to conduct business.
Good luck!

[equeen]

Gizmo, good to see you on board, Sister! *hug*



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equeen
A Lioness has her Pride!
@>--;--
Alpha Sigma Kappa - Women in Technical Studies

[SilverTurtle]

We had our first official meeting earlier this week. It went went really well. I know some of the members, but there are several that I've never met. We all seem to get along really well.. in fact, we occassionally got off topic and starting telling stories from our college days .

But we maintained order really well overall. We voted on our executive board, our chapter dues, and a couple other big things to get us started. It was kind of cool, everyone just discussed stuff when necessary, but we still followed Robert's Rules.. our prez (once she was elected) would ask for discussion or votes, people were making motions and seconding them just like they were supposed to. We have business meetings the 1st week of everymonth, but the other weeks are "informal meetings", where comittees will be able to meet, we can just discuss ideas, or we can just get to know each other better.

I have to admit, I was laughing my butt off through most of the meeting, because everyone was so funny!!

Our big challenges now is coming up w/ chapter projects we can do, given our unique situation.

I'll let you guys know how things are going after the next couple of meetings!!

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SilverTurtle@greekchat.com
Phi Beta Fraternity
Phi chapter

[Tom Earp]

Thank goodness for the intrernet, I have been locating Brothers so that we can put in our database which is set up better than our International. By doing this we can send out info on all events. The ones we dont have e snail mail but not as often because ofthe expense. All Brothers and Sisters like to b kept in the loop whether they participate or not. But the more you keep them involved, the more will join in with you!!!!!!!!!!

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Tom Earp LX Z#1
Pittsburg State U. (Kansas)

[DreamCatcher]

SilverTurtle,

How is your e-chapter working out?

[SilverTurtle]

The e-chapter is working out pretty well! We started having meetings twice a month in the chat room. We're still working out a lot of our bylaws (adapting them to cyber space and all). We initiated a brand new member (to the entire fraternity!) via a teleconference a couple months ago. He wanted to join the Fraternity, but lives about 3 hourse from the closest alumni chapter. It was kind of odd to hear the ritual stuff being read over the phone, instead of being there. But it was really cool, too!

We tried to use an electronic bank for our chapter funds (so they could transfer from treasurer to treasurer), but that didn't work so well. So, our treasurer just found a local bank that was good for us and we're using them for now!

One of our service projects is to act as an "electronic" advisor to our newest collegiate chapters, who are just getting their feet wet with the Fraternity. They are all invited to sit in our meetings or schedule special meeting times with us.

Overall, it's been a lot of fun. It's kind of slow going getting the legistics taken care of, but it's definately worth it!!



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SilverTurtle@greekchat.com

Phi Beta Fraternity
Phi chapter