International Convention 2013 – Part I

Wow!!! AOII International Convention 2013 in Chicago was such an amazing experience.  “A Magnificent Celebration” was a great tagline… because it was true!!  About 975 AOIIs took over the Marriott on Michigan Ave. from June 26-30, and we painted the town red! 

Wednesday started out a little rough, with a flight time change from 7:00 am to 6:45 am, and I had NO IDEA.  Me and my bag barely made it.  Things didn’t go so well at my layover in Atlanta as well.  Got off the plane and saw my connection as at Gate A33.  I was at D2.  Took the train over to Concourse A.  Walked all the way to A33.  Gate changed to A28.  Found another AOII – Amanda from Appalachian State (just finished her freshman year!).  Found more AOIIs (Meg & Monique).  Flight delayed 1 hr due to weather in Chicago.  Found more AOIIs.  Flight delayed 1 more hour.  Gate changed to A12.  Found more AOIIs… there were a couple flights to O’Hare and Midway from Atlanta so there were quite a few AOIIs roaming around. 

Got to Chicago about 2 hours late.  Eight AOIIs met at baggage claim and decided to split into 2 cabs to get to the hotel faster than the subway.  Meg, Amanda, Shelby and I shared what I thought was a crazy ride to the hotel.  Little did we know the other cab behind us had run out of gas on the highway.  Yikes!!  We checked in, grabbed one of the 12 elevators up to our rooms, and quick changed for Candle Lighting. 

What a beautiful and meaningful ceremony.  Each collegiate chapter (active and inactive) is represented by a sister and a candle.  Each candle is lit, then the name of the chapter and its sub motto is read.  It was long, but the moment I heard the words “Wisdom and Grace” I almost cried.  I knew it was a Sigma Chi (Hartwick College) sister and I HAD to meet her. 

After Candle Lighting, we went to our Network Celebrations.  We are Network 2… which had a baseball theme!!  Our NSs were awesome and really made us feel welcome.  And I got to finally meet my roommate, Liz, the Triangle Alumnae Chapter President! 

After going back to the room to change outfits again (seriously, there is a lot of costume changes!!!) we headed off to take over Navy Pier.  Liz, Krystal and I walked to Navy Pier, walked to the end, grabbed some grub, then watched the fireworks.  It was a really warm, beautiful night. 

 

All for now.  Part II, and more pictures, coming soon!!

Alpha Love,
Cathy

April 2013 Newsletter

Please take a moment to read our April 2013 Newsletter.  There is A LOT of information in it.  Also, fill out the Membership Form on the last page (or see link below) and return it to myself or Rhonda.  Don't forget to pay your dues!  Pay them now so you won’t have to think about it late in the year! 

April 2013 Newsletter

Where Do Your Dues Go?

2013-2014 Membership Form

Alpha Love,
Cathy

Cinco de Mayo!

Time to party!! 

Sunday, May 5
2:00pm
Cathy’s house

You and your family are invited to a BBQ for Cinco de Mayo.  If you are on Facebook, please RSVP to the event and then comment with what you will be bringing.  I will supply the grill, burgers, hotdogs and condiments. 

I have about 8 chairs; will have a kiddie pool and corn hole, and we have a fenced in backyard to contain the little ones.

For more details or to RSVP, please call or email me!!

Roses,
Cathy

Alumnae Installation – Zeta Psi

I got more information from Maggie and the Zeta Psi chapter’s Alumnae Installation has changed to April 28th at 2pm.  I hope more of us will be able to attend at this earlier time!

If you want to carpool up for the day, please let me know and we can coordinate a few vehicles.  I am all for testing out how to fit 8 passengers in my new Pilot! :)

Roses,
Cathy

International Convention 2013

Information is finally here!!  Convention 2013 will be in Chicago, IL, June 26-30.  Registration should be open soon.  You can visit the Alpha Omicron Pi website for more information.  I hope some of you can attend with me!!

Here is a PDF of the FAQs.

Watch out Chicago… AOII is coming!! :)

Roses,
Cathy

Groopt!

Our chapter is officially on Groopt!  Groopt is a networking tool/website for chapters to use to keep files, information, etc. in a central location available to all members who register on the Groopt site. 

I wasn’t sure I wanted to join, but I was ‘forced’ to create our chapter’s site when the Fraternity moved the ORL (Officer Resource Library) from the AOII website to be only available on Groopt.  Bummer.  But now that I have access to it again, and have played around with the site a little bit I do think it can be a useful tool for us.  For example, we can keep copies of our bylaws, budget, calendar, minutes and newsletters available online for any members to peruse at their leisure.

The first step to joining is letting me know what email address you would like to have the invitation sent to to start the registration process.  Thanks ladies!!

Roses,
Cathy

March 10 – Meeting Notes

I had a wonderful time with some of our sisters this past weekend when we met for a business meeting and some dinner at McAlister’s Deli.  Rhonda, Erica, Vicki, Carol, Alyson, Elizabeth, Jill, Maggie (ECU-Alumnae Relations), and myself spent some time discussing a few issues that have come up recently.  I have created a PDF of those notes.  You can view it here. 

If you have any questions, or want to get involved, please contact me (Cathy Scheidler) or join our Facebook group!!

Roses,
Cathy