Call me crazy, but I always look forward to the last Sunday of the month – formal business chapter meeting. It’s a time when we practice ritual, vote on official business, and more than any other time, when I feel I am a valued member of a relevant campus organization that is growing and changing and doing important things. Even though I wasn’t the one holding the gavel during the five business sessions at Convention, I felt this same sense of significance on a much larger scale.

The opening business session was the first time I’d ever seen roll call take more than five minutes. Representatives from each collegiate and alumnae chapter lined up outside the ballroom and were given flags with our chapter and school names on them. We then proceeded individually into the room carrying our flags as our chapter names were called out. Looking around that room and seeing all of those flags lined up definitely gave me the feeling that I was part of something huge.

I was nervous about how voting would go with more than 500 people attending Convention, but thankfully everything was very well organized. Each row of seats was assigned a letter and each seat a number. We were even provided with a seating chart organized alphabetically so that we could send notes to our area officers if we had questions during the business sessions.

I think many other chapter presidents would agree with me when I say that my least favorite part of formal business meetings is sticking to Robert’s Rules of Order. Fortunately, a professional parliamentarian was present at all of the meetings to make sure everything went smoothly, especially with the most important item of business on the agenda, the election of the new National Council. The elections were almost exactly like our chapter elections and went quickly and painlessly. It was great to see how committed our fraternity leaders are: five of the seven members of National Council ran for re-election, including National President Robin White Fanning, ΒΙ.

During the business sessions we also got to have some fun. We learned about all of the extraordinary things that Phi Mu is doing on a national level, including involvement with the Capital Fraternal Caucus, the development of Phi Mu Bloom, the growth of Phi Mu Foundation, and the partnership with the GIN System. I was so impressed by the two collegiate sisters who visited Washington, D.C. to lobby for the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act. If passed, this bill would allow tax-deductible donations to our organizations to be used for improvements to our houses. It is especially relevant to us as Greeks, so I encourage you to do your research at fraternalcaucus.org.

One of my most vivid memories is the Foundation business session where we saw compelling videos about the work of the Foundation, and also met our famous sister, actress Dana Ivey, ΑΩ. I recognized her from “Home Alone 2,” “Legally Blonde 2” and “Sleepless in Seattle,” just to name a few. She was incredibly friendly and gladly posed for pictures with many of us.

To my delight, the overall tone of the business sessions remained light-hearted from start to finish. We ended Sunday with a hilarious report – or performance, rather – from the Courtesy Resolutions Committee, who poked fun at all the mishaps and funny moments from the week. It was a great way to wrap up a week that left me wanting to put on every piece of Phi Mu paraphernalia I own and show the world that I am part of a phenomenal organization that is truly making a difference!

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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.