Washington, D.C. Professional Trip 2014- Part 1

This past weekend from the Nov. 21-23, a pack of 28 brothers braved the cold, windy streets of Washington, D.C.! The weekend was packed full of company tours, city tourist attractions and interchapter relations.

Friday, Nov. 21 we landed in D.C. around 8:30 a.m. We then scurried to the hotel to freshen ourselves up. We toured NPR at 12 noon and then Deloitte at 3 p.m.

NPR, National Public Radio, gave us a great tour! Our brothers had the opportunities to see the Tiny Desk, hold Emmys, see a real NPR studio and so much more.

Deloitte, one of the top accounting firms in the country, also provides a wide spectrum of financial services. Deloitte consulting gave us an interactive presentation about their consulting services. We listened to a great presentation on the overview of the company and then broke up into smaller groups to network and learn more about the company.

After Deloitte, most brothers headed over to American University to see their local Alpha Kappa Psi chapter's Honor Court. It was great seeing how another university handles their honor court and mingling with all of their brothers.

We had a busy day full of great activities! We would like to give a BIG thank you to brother Sarah Van Valkenburgh for organizing the trip and all the activities we attended on Friday.

Thanks for checking out a little about our pro trip! If you would like to see what the brothers did on Saturday and Sunday check out the blog in the coming days to see part 2!

10 Minute Mentor

Last week on Thursday, we had our semi-annual 10 Minute Mentor professional workshop!

The event was hosted like a game of musical chairs. Every speaker had 10 minutes to give a brief talk about their professional experiences and then answer questions from our brothers. After the 10 minutes were up, the brothers would switch tables to speak with a new professional.

Brothers listen intently to speaker Trevor Abbott.

Speakers included:

• Mark Freid, creator of Think Creative Inc.,Orlando, Florida
• Trevor Abbott, co-founder of SpinChill, Gainesville, Florida

Trevor Abbott and Blair Smith pose for a photo.

• Brett Lackey, Geographic Information Systems, Gainesville, Florida

Brett Lackey hydrates between groups.

• Dave Sullivan, Associate Director of Career and Leadership Programs at the University of Florida

Dave Sullivan does his signature move.

• Keith Herndon, Associate Director for Finance and Administration at the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute
• Jill Boylston Herndon, an associate professor for the UF College of Medicine

Our VP of Alumni, Jenna Radomsky, put on a fantastic event.

“This semester's event had an incredible turnout,” she said. “Our mentors were able to share their knowledge and experience with about 50 of our brothers and pledges—one of the largest turnouts we have had for this particular event.”

“I couldn't be happier with how successful this event was, and I look forward to seeing what future mentors share with our brotherhood,” Radomsky said.

A Weekend of Unity

This weekend was all about unity for the Alpha Phi chapter! Our VP of Brotherhood, Maggie Trychel, organized events at Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights on Friday and a brotherhood retreat at Ginnie Springs on Saturday.

A group of about 30 brothers and guests went to HHN.

The night was filled with laughter, screams and a few tears(for the ones who couldn't handle the men with chainsaws.)

While fear is a great way to bond, we like to get to know our brothers in more calm settings as well. Our brotherhood retreat at Ginnie Springs splashed a big wave of unity on our hearts. The retreat had activities where we learned about our brother's different backgrounds,  a game of Red Rover and lots of food.

Amy Walsh, the committee chair for brotherhood retreat, said she was really proud of the retreat because it was the first one she ever planned. She was really excited that event went well with lots of brotherhood participation.

"Everyone seemed to have fun and that's all that matters," she said.

After the bonding activities we all floated down the beautiful springs to end a great day.