Homecoming as previously mentioned, will be on December 11th- 12th this year. On the 11th at 7:30 will be the Brother Mentor ritual for the current undergraduate brothers. Followed by late night spirits. The next day is as follows:

10:30am-12pm: Seminars- Alumni experts giving advice on important issues. 12-2pm: Choice between Football or Texas Hold'Em followed by Lunch. 2pm: Tree Carving & Football MVP 3-4:30pm: Trivia 4:30-5pm: State of the Fraternity Address 5-5:30pm: Alumni/Undergraduate Transition Meeting 5:30-6:30pm: Dinner 7pm-?: Triumph trip For any last minute changes, check out our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lawrenceville-NJ/New-Jersey-Zeta-AVC-of-Sigma-Phi-Epsilon/151145784304?ref=mf

To answer a big question out there about the recent Brother Mentor Ritual, yes there will be another ritual for all eligible alumni. Eligibility will be determined by the Alumni and Volunteer Corporation, as per the Bylaws of the AVC.

The rest of the events will be joined with our winter party in December. The date for that is tentatively set as December 12. That includes football, workshops, and all the fun stuff you expect from our winter gathering.

One final thing for this post, elections. Elections will be going online this year!! We know some of you out there will not be able to attend the events and so we have decided to try something new. An email will go out with the names of those who have accepted their nominations and when you reply, your vote will be registered.

Look forward to the results being posted here in the future!

Keep reflecting... In the last two posts about Conclave, I mentioned some of the examples of inspirational brotherhood, brilliant sessions on Volunteerism and leadership, and the Ritual. There is still a part of Conclave that I haven't touched on. That's the little events that make Conclave what it is. Our AVC president wanted me to be sure I mention that his name appears on the cover of the schedule. We also found the name of NJ Zeta's delegate, Alex D'Amico on the same schedule. The design works in a list of brothers attending the Conclave into the design. As soon as the photo page is up, I'll include it in the conclave part.

For those who plan on attending future Conclaves, be sure to bring extra spending money. There's a number of vendor kiosks set up to sell SigEp merchandise. I got a great watch that retailed for over a hundred dollars for about sixty. There's also Founder's Badges with the diamonds and pearls. Great Stuff. As expected, Conclave is a big hub for all things SigEp.

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and Conclave is no exception. The last night saw the farewell speech of President Shanklin and the first speech of new President Garry Kief. They were extremely inspirational. I'm going to keep a lookout for them to be posted and I'll provide a link as soon as I find them. It's well worth the time to see it.

On a personal note, being at Conclave and hearing the speeches, learning at the sessions, and being surrounded with brothers, I felt that feeling that I hadn't felt since the last time I went through Ritual. The feeling that I was part of something much greater than myself. It's easy to forget what makes SigEp and our brotherhood so unique sometimes. When we are so involved in our lives and our work, we don't always stop and look around and realize that as SigEps, we are part of a brotherhood that has thrived for over 100 years, with our best days still ahead. It has thrived because of the lessons that we have learned from each other and as part of the Fraternity as a whole. If you find yourself at a crossroads in life, or faced with a life changing event. Look to your brothers for support and guidance. And be sure to attend Conclave at least once.

--- Chris #132

Continuing from the last post, a reflection on Conclave. The days were filled with sessions. These session were on how to improve either yourself or your chapter. There was a session on leadership, dating, etiquette, AVC basics, getting into business or medical school, etc. The first day we went to the leadership session.

This one was titled "Leading Change". Aside from the session being far more popular than expected, standing room only for most of the session, it remained on many minds even days later. The session looked at how different generations communicate and how to bridge the generational gap between old alumni, "Grey Hairs" and the young Alumni/ undergrads. We at NJ Zeta don't really have Grey Hair alumni yet, except for a couple (Sutow). I propose that we seek out brothers around the local area, Philadelphia and New York, even if they are not alumni of our chapter they might still wish to volunteer their time and we could always benefit from experience. D. Shawn Dalgleish masterfully led this session that was based on the book of the same name written by John Kotter. Mr. Kotter is also a brother and was awarded the Sigma Phi Epsilon Citation on Saturday night. That accolade is awarded to a brother that has achieved uncommon success in his field. Fewer than one tenth of one percent of brothers have ever been awarded this honor. Congratulations to Brother Kotter!

Later that day, we saw the Ritual as it would have been in 1907 and how it is today. Obviously I can't go into further detail but for those of you who have gone through, Imagine it with 1000+ brothers in attendance. I'm lucky it's secret because I don't have the words to describe it.

Friday was a day with great new ideas from the Volunteer Recruitment session to Risk Management to the Brotherhood Luncheon. The importance of these sessions is gauged by the ideas brought back to the chapters. We've got a great deal to discuss NJ Zeta AVC. There are so many possibilities, so many ways to grapple with our issues. So many ideas. It's too bad that we can't bottle the excitement of Conclave and the new ideas. The best we can do is to inspire the AVC and the chapter.

Also, I'd just like to add that our favorite blog here at the NJ Zeta AVC, Sanguine et Purpure, the unofficial Sig Ep Blog, quoted our last blog on their site! Thanks S&P!!! It's exciting to know that our readers include the big guys too.

Just a few thoughts on Conclave 2009 in Orlando. First it is hot. Temperature wise, it is hot. The kind of hot only Florida can serve up. It's also hot in another sense. For those of us who have been and still are very dedicated to our chapter at Rider, this is the place everyone wants to go to. This Conclave has managed to live up to that expectation. The days are packed with sessions on how to improve our chapters and get the most out of ourselves and others. That's why this is the first blog I've been able to post. Early days and Late nights. Good Times.

Hopefully you've been following our twitter feed. It's accessed under that 'media' menu up there, just roll over it with the mouse. There you go. See that 'twitter' thing? just click on that, not yet! Finish this entry first. We are fortunate to have free internet access in the hotel provided by the guys at the SigEp blog, Sanguine et Purpure. It's a phenomenal blog and I highly recommend reading it.

We opened the Conclave at the Hard Rock Cafe at Universal Studios. There's video on the Sanguine et Purpure blog. This event included the presentation of the Buchanan Cup, an Award bestowed on chapters that exemplify excellence. Many had chapters around 40-50 brothers, an AVC of 7 to 12 members, and a GPA about 3.00. Sounds like NJ Zeta doesn't it? We got to watch our neighbors from Stevens Tech, NJ Alpha, win a Buchanan Cup. We can do this.

Friday, more events, more sessions. What really stands out though was the luncheon that we had. Not the food really, ice cream was good though. This luncheon was special because of those recognized and their actions. There was a chapter from San Diego, a brother developed a rare genetic disease that blinded him. His brothers didn't allow him to give up, didn't allow him to simply quit school and be defeated by his condition. They read the assignments to him and helped him every step of the way to achieve his degree. One brother even registered for the all the same classes as him to assist with note taking and working with the professors. Another brother awarded was also from California. A brother and a Marine, Renato Villacorte is committed to duty and brotherhood. When another brother serving his country in Iraq was killed in action, leaving behind three young children, Renato set up a fund to help provide for those children and all families with brothers serving in the military.

Even as a first time attendee at conclave, it's great to reconnect with brothers from around the country. One is the current AVC president at NJ Alpha, the other is Steve Sutow who lives out in California. In addition to the many other brothers we have met, it's remarkable how quick we all connect.

----- Chris #132