The alumnae workshop, “Phi Mu for Life,” was one of the best workshops I have attended at Convention. I kind of felt like a character in the V8 commercial with someone hitting me on the head, only the message I received was “of course!” It makes so much sense to think of marketing our alumnae chapters to our members. These are things so many of us do whether professionally, in the community, at church, or with organizations our children are involved in. Why is it hard to implement that for our chapters?

We all know that women have so many demands for their time – family, work, organizations, etc. The workshop was well organized and interesting. The statistics were very helpful in identifying what is important to women in different age groups.

Dan Shaver, president of Affinity Marketing Consultants, did a great job of relating marketing strategies. He taught us how to identify what we offer and how to best communicate it. As an alumnae chapter, we offer friendship and service. He also discussed understanding your members and translating this insight into programs which benefit and interest them.

As Dan was talking, I was thinking about how we in the Dallas Area Alumnae Chapter could create a marketing plan and keep in mind how to attract women to join us. One of the items Dan mentioned was that women like time to bond, and he also recommended more personal ways to invite women to events. Sometimes we focus just on communicating with a large number of women and not on the personal touch.

Since attending Convention and the workshop, our chapter is looking at our programming to identify how we can make it more personal and reach out to more women.

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Submitted by Lana Bulger
Convention gives me the opportunity to spend time with my friends that I don't see on a regular basis. Some of these women I will not see until the next convention and it will seem as if we are closer than when we left the last convention. It is the renewing of friendships and strengthening the bonds of our sisterhood. Convention is the time that we all work together to ensure what was started 156 years ago will continue for another 156 years.

Submitted by Sharon Henson
If you have attended Convention more than once, it is very much like attending a family reunion. There are approximately 500 people there and you may know only a few of your sisters well, but you have enough in common with all of them to enjoy yourself. Like any family, our sisters come in all shapes, sizes, ages, span a multitude of interests/careers, and come from a variety of backgrounds.

For me, it wouldn't be Convention without:

--Seeing Peggy King's smile, enjoying the lilt of her southern speech, and her laughter as she relates a story.

--Watching the antics of Gayle Price.

--Visiting with Buz Henson, who I met at my second Convention in 1982, and knowing that Perky Campbell will be close by. They were initiated in 1942 and they still enjoy Phi Mu together.

--Knowing that Pat Sackinger will have at least one pink outfit to wear.

--Seeing Dusty Manson devote most of her waking time to the Marketplace.

--Caring Carnations by the thousands.

--Sharing memories of other sisters and Conventions.

Convention...we are there because we have that one thing in common...and we find so much more in the experience.