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Ever Loyal to our Fraternity | Convention 2018

  • ztatlc.alisoncolangelo
  • Jul 18, 2018
  • 6 min read

Convention #3

Back for my third ZTA Convention and my first ever on staff as a Leadership Consultant! I absolutely love Convention and as I've gotten older and become an alumna it's gotten to be more of a reunion for me, this was especially true this year as I just came off the road and was so excited to see all of the women I worked with this past year!

Ever Loyal to Our Fraternity

This year, Convention was held in Orlando, Florida and the hotel was decked out! Zeta insignia covered many of the walls of the floor we took over for Convention. It made for the perfect photo op!

2018-2019 Leadership Consultants

Lazy-Rivering

A few of us got in the night before our first day of mini training! It was nice to be able to unpack, get some dinner and have time in the morning to hit the gym and go to the pool before the rest of the team arrived; it was our first time all meeting and I'm already in love with this new Consultant team!

2016-2018 NC & 2018-2019 LCs

After some get to know you activities, we then had a meet-n-greet with National Council! It was so nice to see NC members that I had worked with throughout the year.

returning LCs, some in different ways than others

That night, a couple of us returning Consultants got together for sushi in the hotel. We had so much to catch up on after a quick end of year meeting in May. It's so fun to have some LCs from last year's team to do this all over again with!

5 of us are on the 2018-2019 LC team and Bri (far right) has returned as the newest addition to IO Staff as the Executive Assistant!

National Officer Reception

One of my favorite things we got to do last year at NLC was attend the National Officer Reception. This year at Convention, the theme was "You are my Sunshine".

Not only have I met so many collegian women this year but I've also had the privilege to work with a number of National Officers; Province Presidents, DNCHs, and Mentors while on my chapter visits! It was so exciting to see all of them again❤️

I also got to meet some new National Officers! I loved helping Patti out in the Archives all week and one night I got to meet her good friends, Teri Millsap & Sue B!

We ended up having a long conversation about past Conventions, sisterhood, our passions, and reminiscing on the ZTA good ol' days! This is what Convention is all about--making connections with sisters!

26 Conventions and Counting...

One sister in particular I loved making a connection with was Mrs. Carol Sagner! She has earned the Convention Repeater Award for...I'm not sure how many years in a row, but at the very least, the past 3 Conventions I've been too!

Ms. Carol was an absolute joy to talk to. We had a 20 minute conversation about Conventions past, her memories from college and getting to meet 7 of our 9 Founders throughout the 26 Conventions she's attended over 52 years!!! Talk about Ever Loyal! Her favorite Convention was the Centennial in 1998 and her first ever that she attended (1966, I believe)!

📍Orlando Airport | Welcome to ZTA Convention!

Opening Sesh

Wednesday brought us 600 collegians! Our first day of full-on Convention began with our opening session. Consultants acted as the hype-team to get everyone excited for the week ahead!

3 cheers for 4 years as National President!

I had a great time all week celebrating one of my favorite Zeta ladies, Carolyn Hof Carpenter, as she retired as National President but is starting her next adventure as ZTA Foundation President!

After all of the collegians arrived I felt like every corner I turned at the hotel, I was running into someone I knew! We were very busy but I tried to take a few minutes to hug and catch up with every woman that I had met on the road (and sometimes snap a quick photo!)

Field Consultants Past & Present

Even though I've been to several business meetings at ZTA Convention, each one has been unique! This one was especially different because I got to finally sit in the Consultant seat.

It is such an honor to be able to sit where so many influential women have sat before me. Including, Sally Wellman, a fellow Zeta Upsilon Chapter sister and a Field Consultant from 1979-1980 (back when our job title actually was Field Consultant.)

📍Orange Wall (and some palm trees)

The famouZ orange wall and great lighting outside of our floor was the perfect back drop to house the Chapter flags for the week. It's traditional to get a photo with the delegates from your school with your chapter's flag.

Of course, I got one with my collegiate chapter, Zeta Upsilon at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, but I also had to get a picture with the delegates from Lambda Omicron

Chapter at Boise State University and my second favorite chapter flag.

There are 3 really big nights of Convention: Collegiate Crown Chapter Night, Alumnae Night and the Silver Recognition Banquet and I was looking forward to each and every one!

Crown Chapter

Crown Chapter night is a huge night for our collegiate chapters; awards are given out to chapters that have achieved excellence throughout the year. I remember being incredibly nervous every year hoping and praying that nothing went wrong and that we would hear "Zeta Upsilon" yelled over the microphone.

This year, I had a different feeling. I was still listening hard, but for many different chapter names than my own, and I was ecstatic to watch so many of the chapters I visited this year walk proudly on stage to accept their award for all of their hard work!

Louise Kettler Helper Collegiate Recipients Past & Present

The LKH Lifetime Membership award is a huge honor and the only individual Collegiate award given out at Conventions. I had the very great pleasure of knowing this year's recipient! Kim Brochocki, who is a fellow LC on our new team and I am so excited to get to know her better this year!

Crown Chapter was Lit

This special night ended with a Zeta-themed fireworks display! We all got special "enhancement glasses" (kind of like 3D glasses to watch the show).

Alumnae Night

Friday was all about celebrating our Alumnae; a day which has a new meaning to me since I've graduated, become an alumna myself and gotten to be friends with more alumnae! The best part about Alumnae Crown Chapter Night is sisters getting their Honor Rings!

Zeta put a Ring on It!

The Honor Ring of our Fraternity is the highest individual honor an alumnae member can earn in ZTA, something most sisters are working towards from the time they graduate.

Sadie's First Convention

This is such a special moment for our alumnae; some even invite their family members! I got to finally meet my old Province President, Jess's fiancé and a PP I worked with this year, Evany's adorable legacy, Sadie!

The alumnae work very hard over the years on a National and local level to earn their ring making so many friends along the way. It's very common to see a unique entrance to the stage when an alumna is called up, often other sisters and some confetti are involved!

Silver Night

Pennsylvania/West Virginia PPs, DPs, LCs, Alumnae & Collegian Delegates

Our last night of Convention is the most important! Everyone gets extra fancy for our Silver recognition banquet hoping to be awarded those coveted silver platters.

Former TLC, Ashley Amoss & I--hoping to cross paths again soon!

Silver awards are only given to certain chapters that are exceeding excellence in specific areas and are only given out every biennium. It's a huge honor to earn a Silver Award and there are often tears and many hugs when a chapter receives one!

{Former} National President, Carolyn Hof Carpenter

One of the really unique things about this Convention was all the leadership changes we are about to experience nationally in Zeta Tau Alpha. Mrs. Lynn Chapman retired from National Council and Mrs. Carpenter who has been our National President for the past 4 years (and through most of my time in college) retired and we elected a new National President, Alicia Patten Williams.

ZTA is made up of three entities, ZTA Fraternity (our National Council), ZTA Fraternity Housing Corporation and the ZTA Foundation. All Presidents of those 3 boards switched this Convention.

It was incredible to honor Mrs. Becky Kirwan who served as National President for 4 years and then went on to serve as Foundation President for 20 years and Mrs. Julia Hill who retired as FHC President. I'm excited to work with Mrs. Carpenter as our new Foundation President and Mrs. Dinah Laughery as FHC President this year!

Passing of the Purple

Probably my favorite part of Convention this year was getting to see the Passing of the Purple ceremony. Each National President (former and present) stood together on stage and talked about our values and history as a united front.

We have had incredible leaders over the past 120 years as an organization and it is very inspiring to see the immeasurable amount of passion, loyalty, dedication and leadership up on that stage passing the Purple of our Fraternity to one another.

I'm so very lucky to know some of these women personally (even the NP that signed my membership card back in 2013!) and to be able to learn and experience ZTA with them and above all call them sisters.

Check out my highlights video from the week!

 
 
 

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© 2018 Alison Colangelo

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