Convention, Accreditation, and Life

I have several things to write on three different subjects so I'll will try to compartmentalize this.

50th Convention:
Keith and I love making videos. Since I started staff a year ago we have made several of them, with each getting better and better. My favorite was the last promo video for Convention with the exploding crests. The last 1/2 just blows my mind it's so cool. If you haven't seen it - you should.

So we just created a NEW one. It's the final promo for Convention and it might be my new favorite. Check it out and get excited for Convention!




Accreditation:
The results are in and out of our 44 active chapters (clearly this does not count colonies) we have 35 groups that submitted their Accreditation Packets. We had very few issues and we have already learned alot about the process and small things we can do for next year to make it even better. It's amazing that one year ago I was sitting here reading stacks of notebooks for awards and thought "Wow, we must make this easier and electronic" and now, it has happened. I can't wait to start reading everything. Thank you so much to all the people who assisted with the creation of the program and to all of our chapters for their patience and open communication. This is going to be great!

Music:
A new first for the blog - music. I love music. You might be surprised to learn that my current obsession is 311. A group I've never liked before but the new album "Uplifter" is great. I have one song on repeat that I listen to all day long. Catch these lyrics:

"...Chipping away, day by day, until we see it break apart - hear me talk about
Let it be known it can be done. Bit by bit and one by one.
If the both of us try from both of two sides, until we see the sun..."

If you take this out of context of the song (which I will now do) it makes me think of Greek Life and stereotypes. Just before this part of the chorus it references a heart surrounded by stone. If the heart is really all the people who hate Greek Life, and the stone wall around it are all the stereotypes, we need to chip away. All of us from every side should chip away. It's not easy and maybe one person can't realistically make a HUGE impact, but we can chip. If we all chip - all Phi Kaps, all fraternities and sororities, Greek Advisors, alumni, friends of Greeks; we can make a difference. Sometimes it takes work. Last night I was with friends and I was telling them about an upcoming Mario Kart competition that I must win. I've been practicing every night. My friend Jeremy asked me if I was having fun playing all these hours by myself just to win. I said, "It's not always about having fun, it's about being the best!" It's not easy, but often the rewards of our hard work make it worth everything. Sometimes the fun happens after the hard work. I'll have fun when I win this weekend. There's a time for both hard work and fun.