THE EXPONENT: Volume 97, Number 2

News and Commentary for Triangle Leaders

"Our heritage is unearned...It comes to us as a gift from those who have gone before. It is given in trust that we shall nurture and cherish it and, in our turn, pass this heritage on to new generations. If this trust is broken, we have proven unworthy of the faith of those who gave and are giving their leadership to our Fraternity." --Elizabeth Carmichael Orman, Chi Omega National President, 1976-1979

This issue may be the first a lot of you will hear of Triangle's new strategic plan, which Council adopted at its Winter Council meeting (CII) in early February. Rest assured, it won't be the last!! We Brothers must communicate about this plan and what it means to Triangle at every opportunity. Council doesn't think this plan is a panacea solution for getting Triangle to where it should be, but it is a HUGE first stride in taking that walk. This is also not just the plan for Council--it is the plan for all Triangles. Triangle Fraternity needs to take action in the areas of this plan and that means each individual Brother, every chapter, and every alumni association! We are confident that you will agree with what the plan outlines for us to do, especially considering the benefits each of us will get by doing the "work" to start and keep it rolling!

Contents

• Brotherhood
  • Excuse Me, Are You Holding a Third Class Ticket?
• Chapter Management
  • 25 Ways to Boost Member Motivation
  • Avoid the Shallow End of the Pool
  • Flier Power
  • Who Are You Who Are So Wise in the Ways of the World?
• Spotlight on Triangle Chapters
• Spotlight on Triangle

Excuse Me, Are You Holding A Third Class Ticket?

Robert Hamlett ks61ar

With special thanks to Sandra Nauman (the author), I have rewritten the article for Triangle. Do you see yourself in it, and where?

Whenever I fly I am always aware of the persons sitting in the first-class seats. Probably because I have rarely had that opportunity. I muse to myself, how nice to be able to board at any time, to sit in the wider seats, to have the added attention from the flight attendants. If a first-class ticket were offered, who of us would turn it down? Recently I read that when taking a stagecoach, there were three types of tickets a passenger could purchase: first-class, second-class and third-class. If you were a first-class ticket holder, you could ride inside the coach, and if something went wrong, a wheel came off, or the coach got stuck in the mud, you would remain in the coach until the problem was fixed. If you were a second-class ticket holder, you also rode inside the coach, but if a problem developed, you were required to get off until the problem was solved. You could stand in the distance, and if you desired, you could lend advice that would help solve the problem. If, however, you were a third-class ticket holder, you rode inside the coach if there was room, and if a problem developed, you had to get off and help fix it. This could mean holding up the coach while the wheel is fixed, or pushing the coach out of the mud.

One can use the stagecoach passengers as an analogy to look at our membership. We have those brothers who are first-class ticket holders. They seem to be asking, "What's in it for me?" They will attend a fraternity function so long as someone else does all the work, makes all the arrangements. These men will be the first to let you know that they have, after all, been initiated which gives them certain entitlements. Then we have the second-class ticket holders. They too will attend a function, and might even offer advice as to where it should be held, what should be served, what the theme should be, but rarely volunteer to help, and if they do agree to lend assistance, will often find an excuse as to why they cannot attend the planning meetings. This group is often vocal with the criticism, especially if their suggestions are not followed. Lastly, there are the third-class ticket holders. The members that are willing to put their shoulder to the wheel. These are the men who step forward to organize an alumni association, to be an officer, to serve on a committee, or to lend assistance in any capacity. Triangle needs third-class ticket holders. Men who are determined to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Men who want to give back to Triangle so that others may know the joy of being a member.

As Triangle strives to obtain its vision and accomplish its mission, all members are asked to respond as "Stagecoach Third-Class" ticket holders. We must be willing to work to promote the advantages of Greek life, to financially support our local chapter and the national organization. We must each be willing to step forward and offer what talents we have to strengthen our fraternity, and in doing so, affirm each brother's worth and share our pride in Triangle.

Each of us needs to look at our own hands and ask, "What kind of ticket am I holding?"

Leadership

25 Ways To Boost Member Motivation

from unknown fraternity source

1. Permanently discontinue your use of words like "I," "me," and "my" and replace them with words like "we," "us," and "our." For example, don't say, "I think this needs to happen." Instead ask, "What sorts of things do you think we should do?"

    

2. Take time to write notes of thanks whenever someone does something for the benefit of the group. It doesn't matter if you wish they had done more! Take the time to recognize the little contributions because they add up to a lot of time saved for you! Mail the notes to people...they love the mail.

    

3. Ask someone else to lead the next meeting. Sure, you are the president, but become a "regular member" for one night and give someone else a taste of the big chair. Support that person in this temporary role.

    

4. Give people meaningful work. If you always ask people to do the nuisance jobs you don't want, they won't be motivated to do things for you. Take a chance. Give a crucial role to someone you've never delegated to before.

    

5. Never take the credit (give that to your fellow members...if you are filling your leadership role correctly, it should have been a team effort anyway!) when things go right, but always take the blame when things go wrong. That's the mark of a humble leader.

    

6. Invite a key member out to dinner. Don't talk business, just have fun. You need to spend the time to maintain those personal relationships with people.

    

7. Have a "seniors appreciation dinner" mid-way through the year to recognize those seniors who are staying involved in their final year.

    

8. When a member misses a meeting, ask that person if he would host an executive meeting the next week in his room, apartment, or dorm room, etc.

    

9. Don't hold your next meeting in a stuffy meeting room. Do it in a restaurant (Pizza Hut, McDonald's, et al) or some other fun location. Make things a little more casual. You'll be surprised how much you can get done when people are relaxed and having fun together. The change in pace will help make it that way.

    

10. Buy a few bags of bite-sized candy and bring it to your next meeting. Whenever someone makes a positive comment or contributes to the meeting, give him a piece of candy. If you have some left over at the end of the meeting, ask people to say nice things about others around the room. If Kevin says something nice about Tom, then Tom gets a piece of candy, and so forth.

     

11. Be sure everyone in your group is doing something at all times. Is every person involved in a meaningful way in some activity the group is doing?

     

12. Ask members to visit other campus organizations as your liaison. Maybe you don't have time to sit in on all student government meetings, but that's a great liaison responsibility for an up-and-coming new member. It earns respect for your group and it gets a new person involved in a meaningful way.

     

13. Before you start a meeting, pass the gavel around the room and give everyone a minute or two to say what's on his mind, something significant that's happened to him this week, a favorite new joke, or whatever. People enjoy a chance to talk.

     

14. Put a classified ad in your student newspaper every week thanking a member who has made a contribution to the organization.

     

15. Be sure that for every serious topic on your meeting agenda there is at least one fun topic.

     

16. Don't always do serious, depressing programs. Do some fun things, even if the educational message is a lighter one. Go for a few of the crazy, silly ideas. Those are the things that people remember.

     

17. Always, always, always bring a camera to your events. Get photos of your people doing good things. Get double prints and give the extras to the people. They will put them up in their rooms, give them to friends, etc. You can also send copies to The Triangle Review or your campus newspaper (make sure they don't show alcohol and are in generally good taste).

     

18. Go to your local businesses and seek out rewards for your best members. Imagine how nice it would be if your chapter president gave you two free tickets to a movie, tickets to a sports event, a coupon for 50% off dinner, or a free ice cream cone. You'll have to pound the pavement a little and sell area business people on the value of your member's efforts, but it will be worth it.

     

19. When an event is over, talk about it only in positive terms. If the attendance was a little lower than you had wished, too bad. Don't cry over spilled milk. Concentrate on all the good things that happened and talk about the success you'll experience next time you do it. Talk in terms of improvement, not failure or shortcomings. Remember, no one like to be associated with a failure!

     

20. Always work to recruit new members. There's nothing like the enthusiasm of a new member to keep everyone motivated!

     

21. Pay attention to people's girlfriends. Those people are important to your members, so if your group is going out to dinner, be sure to have them invite their significant others along. Make those significant others feel welcome and included.

     

22. Send a note to your advisor's supervisor and let that person know how important your advisor's efforts are to the group.

     

23. Remember birthdays in some small way - a sign on their door, a special dinner, taking over one of their duties for the day, etc.

     

24. Go to a thrift store and buy a bunch of really terrible ties. Give them as appreciation gifts to all of your members. If you have a really good meeting, you might convince everyone to put the ties on and head out on the town.

     

25. Send as many members as possible to leadership conferences on your campus and off. These might include Herb Scobie Leadership School, Regional Workshops, etc. This sort of training will help people be better leaders in your group.

Avoid The Shallow End Of The Pool...

editorial by Tim Eiler minn87

We've all heard stories of children that are born with two heads because their parents were first cousins...just turn to the X-files for stories about stuff like that. Triangle is no different. Brother Jeff Scott wis87 once described Rush as the same thing as sex...procreation for the continuance of the fraternity. Engineers tend to have roughly similar thought processes and take very similar actions overall. In fact, that's one reason that cartoons like Dilbert are so successful (engineers can be easily and humorously stereotyped). If our gene pool becomes too homogeneous, then we don't get enough variety involved and we get chapters (and eventually the whole fraternity) having two heads. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that this would be bad.

Before anyone gets up in arms that I'm a proponent of greatly widening the field of acceptable entering disciplines, let me assure you that this is not intended to fuel that discussion (necessarily). My point is just this: we have Brothers who have chosen to move outside the fields of study required for initiation. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that choice. They bring a new insight, a new way of looking at problems, and a new set of "genes" to the Triangle equation. That's valuable. Encourage them to participate, don't drive them away. Make them feel your equal, not something "less than" you. Those who do stay engineers should get some education and experience outside of the strictly "technical," as well. Trust me, you don't want only a shallow end in your gene pool. It really hurts when you dive in!

Management

Flier Power

adapted from Entrepreneur Magazine, July 1996
(originally by J. Levinson)

One of the purest of the guerrilla marketing weapons is the flier. What makes the flier so pure - and so effective?

• It gets action if you use it properly.
• It is astonishingly inexpensive; we're talking pennies apiece here.
• It lets you use color in a sea of black and white.
• It is the essence of simplicity and flexibility if you do it right.

Should a flier have a special time-limited offer? It doesn't really have to, but you do want to hear a bang for your bucks - and you'll probably hear only silence if you don't have an element of urgency.

The most important part of any ad is the headline. Well, think of the flier as all headline. Be sure to include your offer, the date it ends, your address or phone number, and the major benefits you offer. Hold back on listing a myriad of benefits. One ultrapowerful benefit should do the trick.

Even if your offer is not accepted, you haven't lost much money. You will have placed your name in front of your public and increased awareness of your group. Name recognition can mean a payoff later through word-of-mouth advertising. If I know you, though, your offer will be too good to miss the first time!

Who Are You Who Are So Wise In The Ways Of The World?

unknown source

Regardless of the past attitude of the members of your chapter toward scholarship, it is important that you take a leadership role in making the program an integral and interesting part of the total fraternity experience. Your job is challenging and will take a great amount of work and patience, but you can improve the academic reputation of your chapter considerably.

Duties and responsibilities - establishing minimum standards for scholastic performance, for the academic program as a whole and for doing all that is feasible to promote a positive attitude within the membership toward the pursuit of outstanding academic achievement . . .for the individual and for the group.

Checklist:

• set goals and objectives for the chapter's scholarship program
• utilize a scholarship committee
• active faculty advisor
• meet with the advisor on a regular basis to obtain ideas for the program
• gpa >= all-men's gpa
• up to date reference books
• chapter tutoring system
• chapter applied for all scholarships and awards available from the National Office

• Evaluate the chapter's past and current academic performance, including trends, chapter atmosphere, study facilities available to the chapter, relative standing among campus fraternities, or all-men's average.

   

• Identify specific causes of poor scholarship and inform the chapter of these problems

   

• Formulate a strategy which includes chapter scholarship goals, remedial measures and incentives, and which assigns specific individual responsibilities.

   

• Submit the plans for chapter approval.

   

• Implement the plans immediately.

   

• Evaluate continually.

A new alumni association is forming in Orlando, FL. Thanks to the efforts of Brother Bill Bennett and others in that area, the group is on its way to greatness. They've chosen a name for the group, in the vein followed so recently of "interesting" names. They are calling the group ORBIT (Orlando Region Brothers in Triangle).

A second birth of an alumni association to announce is the Austin, TX group. Thanks there to the efforts of Brothers Tom Burns tamu91 and Shawn Ellis minn90 and others, this group is also beginning to take baby steps. This group also chose an interesting name. They are calling themselves AAFTA (Austin Association of Former Triangle Actives) because they were founded aafta hafta (the HAFTA Brothers wish them well and are flattered by the moniker!).

A third association being founded at this time is in Atlanta, GA. Brother Chris Hurst lou89 and others are really making a push to get this group walking. ATA (Atlanta Triangle Association) eventually hopes to get all the Brothers in the Atlanta area on board so that they can have some fun together (and eventually so that Triangle can expand onto the Georgia Tech campus).

A fourth association in its early stages of development is in the Denver, CO area. We're not aware of a cute name for them yet, but guess that they've been so busy getting ready to recolonize the University of Colorado (go Buffs!) that they simply haven't had time yet! Brother Paul Scovazzo ps81 and others have been doing a bang-up job with this group!

The fifth new association we're aware of is being organized by Brother Fred Berendse minn92 in the area near the University of Maryland. We've heard solid reports of a good number of Brothers in that area coming together. Again, we don't know if they've chosen a name yet, but the most important thing is that they are having fun!

Obviously, Triangle's strategic plan, of which one aspect is strengthening the relevance of Triangle to individual members and other stakeholders, is taking hold! Triangle is for a lifetime, not just four years. Alumni associations can provide each of us with the chance to rekindle or hold onto the friendships we developed as actives and to make new friends. They are fun to participate in and don't take more than a few minutes of one's time! The five we mentioned above, along with those already founded, make a total of nine that we know about (HAFTA, DATA, SDATA, SFBAT, ORBIT, AAFTA, ATA, CO, MD). We've also heard some rumblings from the Minnesota, Nebraska, Dallas, Oklahoma, and Chicago alumni that they may be getting something going soon, too. One of the most interesting things is the varied chapters represented in our association -- they aren't just chapter x for one association and chapter y for another. Alumni associations are the great Triangle melting pot!

Triangle only stops being important if you let it. Don't let it. Join up with one of the associations listed above (contacts are at Triangle's Web site) or start your own. Make of your Brotherhood what you want it and need it to be -- friends and self-development!

Programs
As mentioned earlier, National Council recently adopted a strategic plan for use in making Triangle become what it should be. Several things had to happen to make that plan ready for use. The first was achieving an understanding of why Triangle was organized:

TRIANGLE FRATERNITY exists to provide an environment of excellence in which each individual member will achieve his highest potential - intellectually, socially, and professionally - while building lifelong, enriching friendships upon common bonds and shared experiences.

Those statements are only for use as guideposts or measuring sticks against which we'll assess everything we do to make sure that we are marching toward accomplishment of that reason and are matching how we describe ourselves. The statements themselves aren't as important as living up to the ideas contained in them. These statements make up the foundation of the plan, but aren't alone the plan.

The main foci of the plan deal with three interrelated things: Relevance, Funding, and Expansion. Each of these is important, but most important of them is relevance. We will begin to redevelop and refine our products and services so that each member and other stakeholder of Triangle finds our existence relevant and important. We must have more of this feeling for people to feel that they are getting a good return on their investment. Without funding, Triangle can't continue to exist. Council recognizes, however, that to increase the funding levels we need to operate and improve our products and services, we need to improve our relevance and importance. Some of you may be wondering why we chose expansion as one of the foci -- it is important to note that the expansion the plan talks about is expansion of membership. There are two ways that we will expand the size of our membership -- working to strengthen our current chapters AND adding to the number of chapters. We consider both to be extremely important, but need a relevant and important product first.

We need you to recognize that a horse can be led to water, but cannot be made to drink. For Triangle and its members, that means that we can only attempt to make Triangle better. For our Fraternity to become more relevant, to increase the available funds by which it provides its products and services, and to become able to have the intense and huge numbers of friendships it needs, we EACH need to participate. "How can I participate?," you ask. There are numerous ways. For alumni, join or start an alumni association, contact Brothers you knew in chapter days and stay in contact, volunteer to be a National Service Volunteer, serve on an alumni organization board of directors, come to convention, donate funds to Triangle or Triangle Fraternity Education Foundation, donate materials like computers, etc. For actives, make the Triangle experience at your chapters one of warm enriching friendships in which members may develop self so that your chapter can grow and add more members to the Triangle family, encourage young members to become the best alumni they can be (hey, we older alumni won't mind it if you show us up), etc. There is no end to the way you can participate. Some ways are simple and some more complex, but no matter what, we want you to participate. Will you buy into the plan or fall off by the wayside? Join in on the fun!!!

The National Insurance Program is changing. Al Evon ar88 will be contacting each chapter as soon as practical to let you know more about the changes.

The Summit Program is intended to help you help yourselves to a better Triangle experience. Contact the National Headquarters for more information about how to participate. Together, we can reach the summit!

People
At Triangle Fraternity's National Council Winter meeting (CII) in February, Councilman Jim Thorp rose88 resigned from Council due to severe time conflicts with his work and graduate study. Council and the rest of the National Chapter leadership wishes to thank Jim for his service and let him know that we will miss him on Council. Council selected Brother Shawn Diedtrich minn90 to fill out Jim's term. We've been waiting a long time to get Shawn on Council and are sure he'll do a fine job. Please join us in extending our welcome and congratulations to him!

Also, at the CII meeting, National Council took the "interim" out of Brother Al Evon's title. He is now Triangle's Executive Director. We know that Al will do a terrific job and we are counting on each Brother, chapter, and association to give him full support!

National Council wants to remind you that Triangle is for all Brothers who want to be a part of it and that Council represents all true Brothers. To that end, we are encouraging our membership to propose Brothers (yes, even themselves) to the Nominating Committee for consideration to sit on National Council. Submissions will be due in the mid-March time frame. If you are interested, you may wait for the larger details in the soon-to-arrive Triangle Review or you may contact Brother Tim Eiler minn87 for more information. Triangle needs committed, hard-working leaders of exemplary character in order to make it a more relevant, useful organization. We're counting on you to lead with us!

Reminders
UIFI scholarships, provided through grants from TFEF and funded in large part by donations from individual Brothers, are available. To gain more information, contact the National Headquarters.

National Convention will be held in Minneapolis from August 9-12. A lot of thought and effort has already gone into making this one of the best conventions we've had to date! The Herb Scobie Leadership School includes multiple "tracks" for learning various things related to chapter life, alumni associations, professional life, and even will contain some special programming for the families we want you to bring with you! REMEMBER that convention is for ALL Brothers, not just actives! This year, for instance, will mark the first time since at least the 1950's that an alumni association will have a vote on the convention floor. We are very excited by passing that milestone on the road to renaissance and hope you are too! For more information about the convention, check out your soon-to-arrive Triangle Review and/or go to Triangle's Web site to see all there is to see!

TRIANGLE FRATERNITY

Is Serious about Scholarship

Sets and Demonstrates High Standards

Celebrates Achievement