Amanda Wright
SOLC Retreat Meeting Minutes
The SOLC meeting for the ZBT retreat was called to order on Thursday
October 2, 2014 at 5:00 pm. Dominic, the lead, explained that there would be around
fifteen new members of Zeta Beta Tau attending the retreat. He also explained that
the purpose of the retreat was for the new members to get to know each other
better, so activities relevant to that should be scheduled. The facilitators for the
retreat were set to be David and Katie, along with four shadows: Amanda Wright,
Angelica Dimitri, Danielle Leonardo and Nicole Amodeo. We first decided on a name
game (Bust A Move), followed by Group Goals, Pipeline, The Yurt Circle, Balloon
Wars, Strings (something we brought from our own sorority) and to finish off a
strong retreat we decided to end with Touch Somebody Who. Dominic then
reminded group members that in order to facilitate these activities, we must bring
the proper equipment such as string, balloons, markers, the Yurt fabric, pipes and so
on. It was then discussed who would be facilitating each activity. Katie would
facilitate Bust A Move and Touch Somebody Who, Nicole and I would facilitate the
Blanket game, David would facilitate the Yurt Circle, Danielle would facilitate
Pipeline, Dominic would facilitate Group Goals, Angelica would facilitate Balloon
Wars, and I would facilitate Strings. After the group filled out the necessary schedule
for the Zeta Beta Tau retreat, a motion to adjourn the meeting was made at 6:00 pm.
The motion was carried out.
I have participated in many retreats but have never been behind the scenes.
Shadowing the ZBT retreat was an amazing experience, and I have nothing but great
things to say. At first I was nervous because I hadn’t been able to make the meeting prior
to the retreat so I had been walking into the retreat blindsided. The nervous feeling was
quickly wiped away when we met right before the retreat. The other facilitators and
shadows quickly told me everything I had to know and what to do. They explained the
game that I would facilitate with Nicole. There were supposed to be 15 members but only
9 had showed up and that was the only downside. There was just about as many
facilitators and shadows are there was of them. We went into the rock wall building in the
woods which gave us the perfect amount of space to work with. Starting out with the
Bust a Move game, it was a great icebreaker to get the men of ZBT to break out of their
shells. The next activity was Group Goals and as I sat and listened to all of their goals I
realized how ambitious this group of men are. They weren’t your typical “Frat boys”
they paid attention to detail themselves. They had very impressive goals and were
confident in the things they wanted to bring to ZBT.
The game I facilitated with Nicole was the blanket game, where you separate the
ZBT members into two teams and then hold a sheet up and drop it, the players then had
to say the name of the other person as fast as they could. This was a fun game to watch
and facilitate, I watched as ZBT members came up with strategies that I hadn’t even
thought to do myself. I found that the ZBT members had showed interest in getting to
know each other and I found that pretty remarkable because you don’t usually see that
with a group of boys.
Throughout the whole retreat things were pretty much smooth sailing. There
weren’t any conflicts or one person that was too shy to participate in the games and
activities. All of the ZBT members were very outgoing and not afraid to say what they
wanted. I also got the opportunity to facilitate another activity called Strings, which we
actually do in our sorority. You cut a piece of yarn big enough to fit around someone’s
wrist. You then go around and tie your piece of yarn onto someone who has a quality that
you admires wrist. You then tell the group what that quality is and why you admire that
person for having it. When everyone has a string I then told them that they can keep it on
as a bracelet to remind them that they are appreciated by one another. For me this was a
very self-fulfilling activity. I got to watch as the ZBT members opened up to each other
and some even get very heartfelt. I learned so much shadowing this retreat and am so
thankful to have done it with such amazing leads, facilitators, and other shadows. The
energy level was amazing throughout and there really was nothing but good vibes. I can
take away so much from this retreat. Dom showed me what an astounding lead looks like
and even how to work with people within the some greek life organization as you and
still keep a professional outlook. Kate and David also showed me how to facilitate
activities properly and stay energetic and into everything at all times.
I will take everything I have learned from this retreat and apply it to the next one
when I have to facilitate. I am now confident in myself and my abilities to be a facilitator
whereas before I was hesitant. I had such an awesome experience with the ZBT members.
The retreat went so well that we all went to Applebee’s together after and I got to get to
know them on a friendly level. It just goes to show how much a retreat can bring people
together and how many opportunities they bring to meet more people.