Dallas had been without an Alumni Chapter for so long we figured we had nothing to lose, so we threw out all of our preconceived notions of what an Alumni Chapter ought to be and decided to do our own thing. We spent our first year focused on nothing but locating Alumni. We launched our website (www.KappaSigmaDallas.org), planned a couple Happy Hours, and began emailing as many brothers as we could find. Our message spread like wildfire as the “you tell two friends, and they tell two friends” phenomenon kicked in. Within weeks our email list had grown to over 200 interested brothers and we were averaging 20 people at each of our happy hours. As the enthusiasm continued to build, I insisted we keep things simple and not get ourselves bogged down in politics or with projects that we were ill equipped to handle. As founders, Chris Palo (Xi-Eta ’96) and I made the decision not to elect officers or to charge dues for the first year. This “pay for your own food and drink” policy worked very well for us, eliminating that old “your dues are too high” excuse that so many people use to avoid joining new groups.
Much like that old Real Estate saying “Location, Location, Location”, we’ve found running an alumni chapter is all about Communication, Communication, Communication. In our undergraduate days it was so simple, just tack up a note by the front door and make an announcement in the weekly meeting. Today our website and Yahoo Group (KappaSigmaDallas@yahoogroups.com) function as our “Virtual Chapter House” providing us with places to post our messages and pictures. Currently 192 brothers have joined the Yahoo Group, another 409 are reached through email broadcasts.
As the Kappa Sigma Dallas Alumni Chapter continues to grow, we’re striving to build stronger relationships with the local Chapters that should enhance both Districts 13 and 38.In addition we enjoyed the opportunity to meet the SEC members, and many other high-ranking volunteer officers over the years.
Ultimately I’d like to see Kappa Sigma Dallas develop a larger membership base made up of those brothers who just want to stay in touch with the fraternity and have a good time at the occasional happy hour – No Responsibilities and No Commitments. I’m looking for the guys who have been busy building their careers and families and just don’t have the time to commit to an official volunteer position. I believe once these guys get involved they will help to spark the new ideas that will open doors for us in directions we’ve never imagined. This has already happened with the Mentoring Program that Dean Wright (Delta-Pi ’80) started. He recruited several brothers from our ranks to be Mentors to the students at Delta-Pi. The program has been so successful we’re now making plans to expand it to include Nu-Omicron. Similar to the Undergraduate Mentoring Program, this will focus on helping the Alumni currently unemployed, or underemployed, to develop the new contacts that eventually could lead them into a new career field. |
