Omega Phi Alpha recently held their forty-ninth annual* convention in Tempe, Arizona. There over one hundred combined active, alumnae, and national exec board sisters gathered in Palm A and D and got down to business. The delegation made history, changes, advances and had a lot of fun. I have been lucky enough to attend the forty-eighth annual* convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee and also the most recent convention in Tempe. There are many experiences I was able to have during both events, some are the same and some are special to each convention. If you've never attended a national convention I highly encouraged you to start saving now to experience at least one of the items on my list at the FIFTIETH CONVENTION! If you haven't heard Omega Phi Alpha is going back home in JUNE 2017 for the big FIVE-O!
1. Road Trip!
If you choose to drive to convention, than there is no better way than to drive cross country with your sisters! And if your me, than you have sisters who except you even though you spent 10 hours of each trip sleeping. You'll get stories you can laugh about.
2. Team No Sleep.
Each Day starts around 7 a.m., being from Oklahoma that meant either being an hour ahead or two hours behind my normal schedule, and the nights go on until about midnight or 1 a.m. If your Andie Hixon you probably have had zero sleep because your preparing for the next day's fun activities!
3. You find out what the National Executive Board Members are really like.
When I was a new member I honestly thought our NEB was a group of old white-haired ladies with no personality and just laid down the law of the land. AND BOY I AM GLAD I WAS DEAD WRONG! The NEB probably have more or as much fun as we do at convention and with our sisters. They dance, they sing, they have tons of sass, they dress to the nines, and they are relatable and easy to talk to. Everyone should meet the head honchos of Omega Phi Alpha, you'll love them. Click here to watch the video!
4. You get to meet active sisters from across the country.
You usually only attend convention with one maybe two sisters from your chapter, so if there's a group activity you feel a little loss when you have to team up, luckily everyone there feels like you've known them forever. You end up having breakfast every morning together, going out to dinners, looking fabulous in award gala pictures, and even going to get tattoos. You gain about twenty or so new Facebook friends and followers. You begin to understand what this sisterhood really is and how far it extends than just in your chapter.
5. You meet alum who just recently graduated to founding sisters.
In Chattanooga we broke off into office and had discussions, and what I took most from those conversations were what the alum were saying. I really saw how even though change is good, sometimes sticking to what was never broken is key. Alums also tell their best stories from their days as an active and it's nice to listen to all the fun activities they do as alum chapters. The sisterhood the older alums have formed with each other is truly inspiring, it shows that you really are a member for a lifetime. I can't wait until I am an alum and can attend all the alum only events.
6. Take us out to the ball game.
This year we were able to attend a MLB baseball game and it was so much fun to go out with majority of the delegation and spend sometime outside the hotel and business room. It was nice to be relaxed and having a ball together.
7. Service Project
Before business starts the delegation join together to complete a service project for the community of the host city. In Chattanooga we split and either helped finish blankets for Project Linus or helped at the Room in the Inn women's shelter. In Tempe we gathered at Feed My Starving Children and packed 230 boxes of food, which will feed 136 children for an entire year! It was amazing to see all of us in competing to make and pack as many meals as we could because we knew the more we could do the more children we could help. Also Omega Phi Alpha made a 2,600 dollar donation to Feed My Starving Children which was half fund-raised by individual sisters!
8. The food.
The great thing about traveling to a new city is trying the local cuisine. Chattanooga really understood Bar-B-Que and biscuits. Tempe, surprisingly the best thing I had came from an Irish restaurant that we went to twice because it was so good. What makes the cuisine better is the company you have.
9. Visiting a new city
It's really exciting during the breaks of convention to spend time outside the hotel and visit the city you're in! A few girls in Tempe hiked a mountain, in Chattanooga we went across town and looked at the river.
10. Business.
Business is where you are informed on what's been progressing at the national level, vote on new NEB officers, the budget, and amendments. This year the convention delegation passed a historic amendment to the national Constitution (which can be found in the upcoming Chevron), and a change to convention (also in the upcoming Chevron). You are also learn Robert's rule of order which is kind of life changing if you don't use them at the local level and it's a race to second motions. Caucus is the most exciting word you can say during discussion. Warning your hand will hurt from rose swirling so much.
11. District Love.
You have annual district summits, however attending convention is where I've always felt close to the other district in my region. Maybe it's the mandatory district lunch where you talk and share ideas about the next summit, or banding together to support one another during business. I have really loved getting to know my fellow heartland district and I'm thankful for convention for bringing our chapters closer.
12. The awards gala.
Awards Gala is the time where you all dress up fancy, take super cute photos, walk the yellow carpet, and eat fancy desserts. But really makes it special is watching chapters earn different awards and learning what service projects the winning chapters completed. It's an even more special feeling when your chapter or a specific person in your chapter is recognized on a national level because you know how hard they worked all year for it!
13. Candle passes
Candle passes will always be exciting whether it's at the local and national level.
14. The National Song
It's pretty cool seeing everyone sing the national song and learn new parts and choreography to the song.
15. Strength in Sisterhood
At the Chattanooga Convention there was a shooting that claimed the lives of 5 servicemen, while the city stayed #noogastrong, the delegation decided to pay their respects to the families and lives of those who were affected by the tragedy. We wrote letters and tied them to our yellow roses and the three active and two alumnae sisters visited the memorial to place the yellow roses and pray for everyone. Seeing our sisterhood support the victims, and sisters' who had family in the marines or military was really inspiring.
16. PRESIDENT'S PROJECT, DIGGING FOR DIAMONDS AND CONVENTION LOCATION
This is the time where the president announces the type of project that will be completed by each chapter over the next year and it is so thrilling! The VP of Alum announces the location of digging for diamonds with a drum roll of course. The VP of Business Operations suspense-fully plays a slideshow to narrow it down to the next location of Convention until she finally announces the location!
17. IDEAS
During the five day convention there are multiple opportunities to talk to other chapters, NEB officers, and alum to get ideas on how to solve a problem your chapter is facing. Ideas on new events or practices to bring to your chapter. You are even able to give advice to other chapters who are solving an issue your chapter has found a way to help. Then at the end of the day you get to chat with your chapter representatives and brainstorm how to introduce these new ideas. My favorite part of convention is talking ideas with other chapters.
18. THE ROSE SHOP
Think of what a retail Omega Phi Alpha store would look like and it's even better.
Start saving for the big FIVE-O because I can't wait to see everyone in Bowling Green!
*Ask you convention Delegates or read the next issue of The Chevron for more details!*
