Another virtual conference! Make sure your comfiest PJ pants are clean and download Zoom on your best device for a super-short conference series that hits all the high notes. Rather than sitting in front of Zoom for big chunks of your weekend or traveling across the state only to find out that the policies at our host campus changed yesterday, Region F is once again hosting a series of presentations and discussions, one per day, over nine days starting November 8.
Choose what you’re most interested in, sign up for one event or all of them, it’s all up to you! Regardless of how and when you choose to attend, the Virtual Fall Conference will provide an excellent opportunity to engage in discussion and fun with your Brothers across the Region. All events are held virtually, on the Region F Zoom.
These sessions are open to ALL MEMBERS – active, pledge/new members, advisors, and alumni – chapters are encouraged to award members with appropriate credit toward their requirements for taking part. Please add these events to your chapter’s calendar with the links and your event credit.
There’s only one each day, usually at 8 pm, which takes most chapters’ meeting times into account so hopefully you’ll be able to attend as many sessions as you like. Will this be the last virtual conference we need to hold? Will campus policies coalesce to let us meet in-person in the spring? We’ll have to wait and see, but until then, build yourself a customized event based on anything that looks interesting below!
Sign up for your sessions at the links below!
2021 Region F Virtual Fall Conference Schedule
Monday, November 8 • 8:00 PM
Getting the Most from APOonline (register here)
Presenter: Anthony Schmidt, Owner of APOonline & Alpha Zeta alum
APOonline is WAY more than just an event calendar with service hour tracking. In this session, we’ll dive deep into the features of your website like advanced membership reporting, unlockable achievements, award voting, inter-chapter events, and how to collect donations for your chapter or a cause you care about.
Tuesday, November 9 • 8:00 PM
Running In-Person APO Meetings (register here)
Presenter: Lee Piecoro, Section F-2 Chair & Beta Beta alum
Now that our chapters are finally getting back to in-person meetings, what does that really mean? There are multiple pledge classes of members who have *only* experienced APO from behind a screen, so let’s talk about what actually happens in-person. Some expectations may be different, but there’s a lot we can take from our virtual experiences and apply to our future events.
Wednesday, November 10 • 8:00 PM
Understanding Pledge Review and Bidding with Open Membership (register here)
Presenter: Justin Martin, Region F Chair & Alpha Alpha alum
While APO does share some similarities to social Greek organizations, one of the ways we differ is our policy of Open Membership, which says that anybody who wants to join Alpha Phi Omega gets the opportunity. However, our policies also say that the active body has the right to determine its own membership, which leads chapters to do activities such as giving bids for pledge membership and voting to approve pledges to become actives. With these two policies seeming to conflict with each other, what’s a chapter to do? Come learn how these policies work together to give chapters the best of both worlds.
Thursday, November 11 • 8:00 PM
Presenter: Stephanie Blagaich, Alumni Association VP and Delta Delta alum
Self-Care in a Hybrid World (register here)
Looking for a little support beyond the screen? This is sure to be a great discussion on what self-care really means in this Year of Eternal April. You can even share your own top tips with brothers looking for new ideas. We’re all in this together, and we’ve got each other for support!
Saturday, November 13 • 1:30 PM
The APO Legislative Session (register here)
Presenter: Justin Martin, Region F Chair & Alpha Alpha alum
The Legislative Session of the National Convention is where the main business of the fraternity takes place – it’s the ultimate authority in Alpha Phi Omega. Whenever someone says “Nationals is making us do X,” this body – made up of students and select alumni from around the country – is what is meant by “Nationals”. Amendments have been proposed to APO’s governing documents and rituals, as well as a variety of resolutions, and this session is an open discussion about those proposals. Our Region Chair will facilitate a discussion about the proposals submitted, and how a proposal goes from an idea to being adopted.
Monday, November 15 • 8:00 PM
Chapter Advisors and How to Work With Them (register here)
Presenters: Michelle Kiisyo, Section F3 Chair, and Autumn Tures, Section F1 Chair
They’re pretty fantastic – they’re your advisors! Learn how you can determine your chapter’s advisory needs, ways to help improve your collaboration with them, be respectful of their time in a way that works for your chapter, and even approach potential new advisors for the future.
Tuesday, November 16 • 8:00 PM
Hybrid APO Roundtable (register here)
Presenter: Michelle Kiisyo, Section F3 Chair
When we can’t all get together, we still WANT to include everyone. Find out what’s worked for other chapters in this session.
Wednesday, November 17 • 8:00 PM
Service Roundtable (register here)
Presenter: Matthew Smith, Section F4 Chair and Beta Gamma alum
Let’s talk service and learn from each other! This open-ended roundtable is for members to share their thoughts and ideas for service projects and programs, both in-person and virtual, that they have found to be the most effective and meaningful for their members. Come brag about your favorite projects that your chapter has developed and share ideas for what returning to campus looks like for your chapter’s service program.
Thursday, November 18 • 8:00 PM
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (register here)
Presenter: Candice Solomon-Strutz, National Diversity Program Chair and Alpha Alpha alum
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is the fraternity’s newest appointed program. Come learn about what this committee is working on as well as learn about existing initiatives and efforts from other chapters.
We Hope You Can Join Us!
Make sure you register in advance and test out your best Zoom backgrounds ahead of time. You can even make it an event! Invite your whole chapter to attend as many of these sessions as you like. Count it as a leadership event, make it a fellowship, and bring back new information and connections in service to your chapter.
We hope to see LOTS of you there!
