Alpha Chi Sigma
Hosting a District Conclave
Revised June 2007
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Why host or attend a district conclave? It’s fun! Just talk to any Brother who has been to an actual week-long National Conclave. A district conclave provides a unique opportunity to meet brothers in an informal atmosphere. It also provides an open forum to share ideas and chapter problems so each chapter does not have to re-invent the wheel.
Why? “To bind its members....”
This guide is intended to provide background information to those groups preparing to host a district or regional conclave. The information herein is drawn from the collective experiences of recent district conclaves. Feedback on this document is welcome.
District Conclaves – Historically
Finding a Host Group
Setting the Date
Selecting a Site
Lodging
Special Needs
Developing an Agenda
The Invitation List 9
Advertising Your District or Regional Conclave 10
Finances
Meals
General Office Supplies
Long-term Follow-up & Feedback
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Alpha Chi Sigma Hosting a District Conclave
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The idea of having a district conclave first came to fruition in 1933 with the first of the
Turkey Run District Conclaves held at Turkey Run State Park in western Indiana. For more than four decades this district conclave was held in the summer of off-conclave years until it finally died out in the early 1970s. The Turkey Run District Conclaves were family events in a casual atmosphere. They also provided an opportunity for the Supreme Council to hold their summer business meetings in a relaxed environment but in close proximity to the National Office in
Indianapolis. These Turkey Run Conclaves were generally hosted by the Terre Haute
Professional Chapter.
By the mid 1930s other areas also began to see the merit in district and regional conclaves. The first of many Eastern District Conclaves was held in the Poconos in May 1935.
The Missouri and Kansas chapters got together soon thereafter at Beta Delta chapter. And the
Californians followed with a Pacific District Conclave of their own. Most of these district events had died out by the 1970s.
In the spring of 1990, the Indianapolis Professional Chapter sought to re-establish a district conclave in the North Central District and asked permission of GR Ronald T. Pflaum to use the National Office in Indianapolis as a site for such an event. Two North Central District
Conclaves were held in the spring and fall of 1990 and went into hibernation to emerge in the fall of 1996. The fledgling Southern Indiana Professional Group again re-established a North
Central District Conclave in Indianapolis, which has since been taken over by the re-birth of the
Indianapolis Professional Chapter and continued to this day.
Other regions have sponsored district conclaves in recent years. The Central and
Southeast Districts also hold regular district conclaves. Likewise the East Central District gets together on a regular basis. Recently the Northern, Northeast, and Erie Districts have begun holding district conclaves as well.
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A district conclave is a fine professional activity for any small group of dedicated brothers. Most of the factors in a successful district conclave are the result of proper advance planning rather than having lots of brothers involved.
The District Counselor
The District Counselor is often the individual that starts the process of planning and hosting a district or regional conclave. If you wish to host a district or regional conclave, you should first contact your local DC so that they can work with you and be involved on some level.
Professional Chapters and Groups
A Professional Chapter or Group is a wonderful place to start. It has a geographic concentration of brothers already organized and ready for action. The officer positions work very well as the President can chair the organizing process and emcee the event, the treasurer can handle the money, the secretary and Hexagon correspondent can handle publicity, and the Vice president can be there to fill in the holes.
Collegiate Chapters
A collegiate chapter also has a natural organizational structure to conduct a district conclave for the surrounding chapters. The collegiate chapter may also have an advantage in obtaining a meeting site for free at their school.
District Counselor Committee
Since each district counselor is encouraged to cultivate a district committee, the DC committee is another natural place for a district to look for a group of devoted brothers to plan and conduct a district conclave. A district committee may have some limitations due the geography, but the spread of the group can be used to advantage as a potentially excellent resource when it comes to advertising the event as they visit each chapter in the district.
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Setting the date is the most important factor in getting a good turn-out. In the case of many of the district conclaves in the 1930s and 40s, a summer weekend was selected. More recently, district conclaves have fallen during the academic year. Within the academic year, general experience has shown that it is easier to find an open date in the fall than in the spring.
The most important factor is to pick a good date very early and stick with it. Scheduling should be completed at least before the proceeding semester so that there is plenty of time for the collegiate chapters to schedule it into their calendars. Whatever weekend is picked – go with it.
You will soon realize that you will not be able to please everyone all the time. So pick the weekend with the least conflicts and stay there.
Fall Scheduling
Many factors need to be considered when choosing a date for a district or regional conclave. These will often vary from district to district. For example, conflicting with homecomings can be a major factor. September seems to be too early in the academic year when the chapters are just getting back to school and getting their rush season started. October seems to be a good month in general. November usually starts the beginning of the fall initiation season. And November may be very cold in some areas of the country if any parts of the event are outside. December gets into finals at most schools and weather can play an even bigger part in travel.
Spring Scheduling
Scheduling a gathering for the spring can be just as challenging after waiting through
January, February, and half of March for the weather to become stable in some areas. Spring breaks, initiations, and spring formals can take up nearly every weekend. Oh yes, then there are the GREs, MCATS, and an endless string of other events.
Biannual, Annual, or Biennial?
One may argue that the chapters should get together as often as possible. Once a year seems to be the best frequency. This allows the collegiate chapters and professional brothers to get in a regular habit. A well-done annual event will allow the average collegiate to attend two or three district conclaves and to encourage the younger collegiates to attend. Biennial district events (often in the off-conclave years) are generally too far apart to get the continuity of attendees.
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A site for a successful district conclave should have geographic convenience to the targeted audience. It need not be located where most of the people are, but in a place that minimizes the total driving distance for all parties involved.
On a College Campus
Campus sites have a great advantage in having fully-equipped classrooms and adequate parking. The theater style seating of many lecture halls provides exactly the format needed for much of the event and they contain chalk boards, screens, and AV equipment.
The Chapter House
Chapter houses are often too small for the meetings, but may be a good site for afterwards social gatherings and those needing lodging before and after the event.
Rotating Sites
Rotating among sites has been done in several districts. This has the advantage of allowing different chapters the opportunity to occasionally share the hosting responsibility, get to see a variety of college campuses, and have a district gathering near them at least every couple of years.
Some brothers will need lodging. Hopefully the economical answer will be found by using the chapter house and/or local brothers with houses or apartments rather than spending money for hotel space. The host chapter will want to ask possible attendees if they need lodging.
The District Conclave organizers should keep in mind that some of our brothers may have special needs; so that some assistance and consideration may occasionally be needed.
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So what should we do at a district conclave? A professional activity of some sort should be included, but and agenda need not be limited only to professional activities. The greater value is primarily in getting many Brothers together with a variety of ideas and experiences. Often the informal times where people discuss issues at their chapters with other Brothers is more valuable than any specific formal activities that you can plan.
Professional Activities :
Sharing of chapter ideas: Chapters often spend too much time re-inventing the wheel when the answer is in the Emerald Tablet Wiki or at a nearby chapter. Much good can be gained by conducting a forum where chapters can share their successful professional activities such as scholastic chemical demonstrations, Boy Scout Merit Badge program, tutoring program, seminar series, annual alumni dinner or newsletter, or big-brother program. And then come the techniques for better rushing and pledge education techniques.
Promotion of chemistry to the youth: This is often done through Scouting, chemical demonstrations at local schools, National Chemistry Week, college science days, etc. Chapters should be encouraged to share their experiences and recipes.
Expansion: Chapters may want to take advantage of the district gathering as a forum to discuss recent successes and failures, target potential schools and refine strategies.
Alpha Chi Sigma after College: The professionals should be encouraged to discuss their role in the Fraternity’s Professional Chapters and Groups, their professional experiences in the real world, and how Alpha Chi Sigma helped them succeed.
Plant Trip: The site selected for a district conclave may have some major chemicalrelated industry nearby that might be worked into a plant tour for the group. Although it may be a Saturday, most plants work around the clock and a Brother can usually have their arm twisted a bit to host a tour group. The company might even pay for lunch!
And on and on....
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Social Activities :
The social activities are often not usually formally structured, but the organizers should allow adequate time for breaks and lunch. Like a National Biennial Conclave, more real business can be accomplished over lunch than in lengthy formal sessions.
Athletic Activities :
Sports: Volleyball, basketball, frisbee, etc., may be good choices.
Team sports: Thought should be put into selecting teams and groups to maximize the mixing of chapters. Teams of pledges vs. actives vs. alumni will mix the chapters well.
Awards: There may be some recognition of the winning team through a “trophy” of some sort.
Group Photo:
Always try to get a group photo for submission to the Hexagon. Action shots of small groups and forums are also welcome.
Fund Raising:
Attending groups should be encouraged to bring their T-shirts, glassware and other fund raising items to sell to the other Brothers present.
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Who is Your Intended Audience? The Invitation List:
Invite everyone: professionals, collegiates, and pledges.
Local professionals. This is an opportunity to help recruit members to establish or bolster a professional group or chapter.
Collegiates: Naturally, Collegiate members are usually the main target of the district conclave.
Pledges: Should you allow pledges to attend? Certainly, although it may require an alternate activity for a short time period (hopefully for no more than 1 hour) if the full brothers need to discuss something involving ritual or other topics that the pledges should not be a party to.
District Boundaries
District boundaries are irrelevant when it comes to advertising and hosting a district or regional conclave. Thus the reasons that the names “district conclave” and “regional conclave” are interchangeable.
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Once a good date is selected, the next key to good attendance is to tell them early and often. Tell them again and again until they are tired of hearing about it.
Advertising Resources:
Use every tool available: fliers, emails, the Chrome & Blue, the Hexagon, www.alphachisigma.org
, etc.
Printed fliers can often convey the most information and be distributed directly to those who have the best chance of attending. Printed fliers also get put on chapter bulletin boards.
Email is another direct way to get the word out to chapters and local professionals. Most chapters have an internal email distribution established to let all the members get the entire invitation.
The Chrome and Blue is a newsletter published by the Grand Recorder through National
Office about every two months throughout the academic year.
The Hexagon will often print announcements of upcoming events. Recent submission deadlines have been Mar 1, Jun 1, Sep 1, and Dec 1 with the publication hitting the street about 2 months later. Thus again setting the date early is paramount.
Ad Contents:
No matter what advertising methods are used, each should contain all the pertinent data - who, what, where, when, why, and how to get there.
Accurate addresses and/or maps are vital to getting the attendees to the site quickly and in a good mood – especially if they got up extra early on a Saturday morning.
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Often, district conclaves have charged attendees a fee intended to cover lunch and snacks and possibly a few office supplies. Typically these fees have been as low as possible in order to generate the most attendees. However, some districts have held district conclaves at campgrounds or other locations, and the fees charged were obviously higher.
Depending on the professional content and level of participation from Collegiate and
Professional Chapters/Groups it may be possible to obtain supplemental funds through the GCA or GPA. The Fraternity Bylaws allow the Supreme Council (through their various annual budget lines) to financially support certain Professional and Collegiate events such as district and regional gatherings. Develop a good plan, ask them, and see what they will support.
A typical list of supplies would certainly include:
Name tags
Pens for making name tags
Pencils
Writing tablets
And may also include:
Felt-tip markers
Poster board
Flip chart paper and easels
Masking tape
Stapler
Paper clips
Additional equipment might be needed depending on the program scheduled:
Computer projector and screen
Overhead projector and screen
Extension cords
Chalk/erasers
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When choosing meals for the attendees, feel free to be creative. Most often, pizza has been the lunch of choice, although deli meats where attendees can make their own sandwiches are also quite common. Some district conclaves have had food brought in as a potluck style affair, where members of the host chapter have each brought in a dish of food.
Drinks should be available for the entire day. Soda, coffee, and water are generally a good start.
Be aware that many attendees could have dietary restrictions, so be sure that you have a variety of foods or alternatives in the event that some Brothers cannot eat something.
Obtaining an accurate count of attendees may or may not be possible prior to the event. If you are able to get attendees to RSVP, then choosing how much food and drinks to get is much easier.
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Feedback:
Feedback is important to continued improvement. In the weeks following a District
Conclave, the hosts will want to get some feedback on the District Conclave to find ways to improve the next one. Usually word-of-mouth will give a good idea of the impression left on the attendees, or a few well-directed questions to a select group of attendees will reveal most of the successes and failures.
Depending on the types of activities in your district conclave, the DC or designated others will have feedback and follow-up activities in the weeks following the event.
Photos/Publicity:
Photos should be submitted to the Hexagon for publicity & historical purposes along with a short write-up to give credit to those who helped make the event possible. It will also give the brothers a chance to see their picture in the Hexagon!
Attendance List:
Attendance lists are often distributed at National and District Conclaves so the attendees can continue to share their experiences after the day is over. The list can be a valuable resource for obtaining ideas from other chapters throughout the following year and maintaining friendships. The list also allows for easier follow-up by the DC.
District Calendar:
District calendars are often distributed at/after National and District Conclaves to keep the members informed of upcoming professional events at neighboring chapters.
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