Promoting National Programs: Middle Level Award, Social Media Success Program, and the National President Address to the Nation!

2013 is only a few days away! It is hard to believe that it has already been three months since the Nebraska Fall Leadership Conferences! With three months to go, the state officer team is working diligently to make the State Leadership Conference a huge success! On the national level, the Mountain Plains Regional Executive Board has two exciting new programs that are excellent ways to increase membership and earn recognition!

Magnificent Middle Level Award. The FBLA Magnificent Middle Level Award’s main purpose revolves around encouraging young leaders to find their voice within our national association. Each month the Mountain Plains Regional Executive Board will recognize one Middle Level chapter in the region for outstanding service, education, and progress within our national association.

All Mountain Plains Region Middle Level chapters are encouraged to apply online at fblampvp.fbla.org (no 'www'). The award is on a rolling basis and each chapter only needs to apply once to be considered for each month. The monthly Middle Level chapter will be recognized for their efforts on the FBLA National Facebook page and the Mountain Plains Twitter feed, Facebook page, and website. The top three Middle Level chapters in the Mountain Plains Region will be recognized at the Regional Awards Program at the National Leadership Conference.
Sign-up today: fblampvp.fbla.org (no 'www')

Social Media Success Program. The program is designed for local chapters to boost their social media presence. Similar to the setup of the February Frenzy, there are required and optional activities (but much less detailed than February Frenzy). I encourage you to participate in the social media promotion program that benefits the local chapter, state chapter, and the national association! The program will be opened until January 31, 2013! Ignite your social media presence today by clicking here.

Finally, start your new year with Nikitas Kannellakopoulos as he shares recruitment tips, National Officer Team updates, and more during the National President Address to the Nation Live via Google Hangouts on Air! RSVP by clicking here.


Happy New Year ~ Brent

Holiday of Giving

The holiday season is fully upon us, and many of you are busy with final projects, presentations, and tests. It might be easy to focus your thoughts on the future of sleeping in until noon every day of break; however, I invite you to shift your focus to helping others and giving back.

There are many opportunities in each community to volunteer and assist with local programs. Consider volunteering at a local soup kitchen or food pantry - this can also help your local chapter be recognized for the Feed Nebraska program.

Or you can work towards raising funds and assisting the community that was affected in the Sandy Hook shooting. Visit http://www.ctpta.org/About-CT-PTA/SANDY-HOOK-FUND.html to find ideas for raising money as well as a project called Snowflakes for Sandy Hook.

This holiday break can definitely provide you with some much needed rest, but I also encourage you to find a way to give back to others. The possibilities are limitless in each local community; it just takes your initiative!


Have a great holiday!

--Sally

Running for State Office

With the SLC quickly approaching, it's decision time for those considering running for Nebraska FBLA state office. If you are extremely active in your chapter and are looking to take a step up, I encourage you to run for state office!

There are six different positions to choose from: president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, reporter, and parliamentarian. The president serves as the leader of the team, and also serves as the team's representative on the FBLA Board of Directors. The vice president serves as the president's right hand man/woman, is a voting delegate at the NLC, and leads the social media efforts for the state.

The secretary takes notes at meetings of the team and state association. The treasurer sends dues reminders to chapters and promotes fundraising activities. The reporter writes conference news releases and organizes the Pledge. These five offices are considered Series I offices, with two members from each chapter being able to run for those offices.

The final state office, parliamentarian, is not an elected position, but is appointed based on the results of a parliamentary procedure test and is the only position in Series II. Nebraska FBLA's parliamentarian promotes the use of parliamentary procedure in chapter meetings and makes sure all meetings follow the procedure given by Robert's Rules of order. They also serve as the second voting delegate at the NLC.

All application materials can be found at: http://nebraskafbla.org/state-officers/state-officer-informationapplication-link/required-forms/ . Application materials need to be turned into the state office by January 22, with screening day taking place on February 2. Please feel free to contact me or any of the other state officers if you have questions. A final little tip for all of you state officer candidates: start planning early! The more you get done over Christmas Break and January, the less stress you will have in March.

May be odds be ever in your favor!

-Julie

National Anthem Singer and SLC T-Shirt Design

Although it isn't even December yet, preparations for the 2013 State Leadership Conference are already underway.  The preparations include choosing a National Anthem Singer and a conference t-shirt design.

Are you a member who loves to sing?  If so, you may be interested in auditioning to sing the National Anthem at the Opening General Session at SLC.  All you have to do is send in a CD with an a cappella recording of yourself singing the National Anthem to Lakeview High School Adviser Jan Went.  The application form can be found on the Nebraska FBLA website.  The CD and application form must be postmarked by December 1. 

Every year Nebraska FBLA has a competition to choose the conference t-shirt design for the SLC.  The winner of the t-shirt competition will win a free SLC registration!  If you are interested in entering the competition, email your design in .jpg format to Bellevue West Adviser Pat Hinkle.  In your design please include the following: a front and back design, a design broad enough to include all Nebraska FBLA members, the theme “Igniting Innovation,” the words “SLC 2013,” and the color of the shirt.  Designs should be sent by Friday, December 1, to be considered.

This is your chance to get involved in planning for the SLC.  Show your creative side to help make this year’s SLC great!

--Jake

Time Management for SLC

Late November/Early December is a great time to begin to prepare for the State Leadership Conference in Omaha! The best of the best of Nebraska FBLA come to compete in events, and an extra month of preparation may be the deciding factor when qualifying to attend the National Leadership Conference in Anaheim!

Time management is always difficult, especially when school, winter sports and activities, and the holidays are already taking up most of your time.  However, there are a few ways to prepare yourself for the ‘holiday rush.’ Every week, sit down and take time to write out a to-do list and a schedule for the week ahead. When you get up in the morning and home from school, check the list to see what you need to do. It may seem tedious, but by making the time to organize your week, you can get the most out of it! At the end of the week, check and see if you accomplished all of the tasks on your list. If you missed something, be sure to add it in the next week or complete it immediately!

By being on top of all your tasks, you can be successful in school, activities, sports, and at the SLC! Good luck!

-Trevor

Money Smart Week 2012

Greetings Nebraska FBLA!

November, otherwise known as the month containing one of the most important holidays of the year: Money Smart Week. Forget Thanksgiving, Money Smart Week takes place November 12-18 and focuses on increasing financial literacy among K-12 students across the nation. What activities has your chapter planned to mark the occasion? Here are just a few tips for celebrating this November.

Work to integrate financial literacy lessons into business classes. My local chapter has found this works especially well with accounting, economics, and finance classes, as these are more financially focused already.

Invite a bank representative to speak with business classes. These presentations can be a great way to explore various topics of financial literacy, including checking and savings accounts, loans, and different
responsibilities of bank employees.

Get members involved with a younger generation of students. Arrange to have preschool or elementary school kids meet with members to complete financial literacy activities. Coloring, counting, and computer activities are creative ways to introduce young students to basic financial literacy skills.

Hopefully these three tips will help make your chapter's 2012 Money Smart Week a success! For more innovative ideas, please visit www.moneysmartnebraska.org.

Best of luck,

Julie Slama

Business and Community Leaders

Hello Nebraska FBLA!

                    

It is fall! Can you feel it? Can you see it? This is definitely my favorite time of year.  I love the weather and football and wearing fall clothes.  I hope this season is going well for you.  As we think about FBLA, we know we must continue to use our time effectively in order to get everything accomplished for the year. 

I've been doing some thinking.  FBLA stands for Future Business Leaders of America, right? So would it not make sense to bring some of our current business and community leaders into our organization? The great thing about every chapter is that in some way, shape, or form we all have someone we know who is a leader.  This could be a parent, sibling, friend, or neighbor a few houses down. Every chapter is part of a larger community, which means we have access to intelligent and professional individuals who can be important contributors to our chapters.

There are so many advantages to bringing in a business owner or leader from your community:

•Awareness of your FBLA chapter within the community

•Knowledge of a leader's business, their leadership involvement, achievements, goals, and the  process they've gone through to grow their business

•Sponsorship

▪Utilization for SLC awards and events (Connect 2 Business, Businessperson of the Year, and  more!)

Also, think of a few ways to reach out to those important members of your community.  Maybe bring them in to talk to your chapter at a regular monthly meeting, money smart week, or FBLA week.  In Aurora, our chapter goes on an annual business tour every November.  Now it's your turn to think. What are other ways we can build connections with our business owners and community leaders? 

I encourage you to consider how your chapter incorporates your community leaders into your FBLA program!  We invite to share your great ideas on our blog!  Enjoy the rest of your fall! 

I'm off! I'm going! I'm...

Allyson

*NEW* October Sweeps Challenge!

Happy Monday Nebraska FBLA Members and Advisers!

I hope you all had a great time at the Nebraska Fall Leadership Conferences last month and are ready to "ignite innovation" throughout the year! In an effort to increase membership numbers early in the year, the National Leadership Team has implemented a new program originally named September Sweeps. Due to the popularity of the program, the team has decided to extend the Deadline from September 30 to October 20!

If you haven't started your September Sweeps program, there is still time! The program consists of a series of activities and recruitment promotions to boost your membership numbers! Chapters completing the program will receive a September Sweeps pin, ribbons at the NFLC, and a certificate of participation. Simply click here to get started.

Here's the challenge: Nebraska FBLA currently sits in sixth place on the leadership board (see below). I challenge you to make it to the top three in the nation! The top states will be recognized on stage at the 2012 NFLC's! The more chapters to complete the program, the higher the points! If you are struggling with ideas for your chapter, reach out to a member of the state officer team.

We look forward to seeing you (with your September Sweeps ribbons) at the NFLC in Denver!

--Brent

September Sweeps

Last Updated: 10/4/2012 10:41:49 AM ET
Place	State	Points
1	Oklahoma	1022.5
2	Iowa	303
3	Indiana	272.7
4	Colorado	229.5
5	Kansas	181
6	Nebraska	171.6
7	Illinois	85.2
8	Missouri	80
9	Kentucky	66
10	Arkansas	59.7
11	South Carolina	44
12	California	23.2
13	North Carolina	21.6
14	Florida	17.6
15	Alabama	16.3
16	Georgia	11.5

Feed Nebraska

Well we made it! September 2012 is officially over, and we made it through a complete month of school. I knew we could do it!

I would like to give a big shout out to those members whom attended the Fall Leadership Conferences held in Kearney and Omaha this past week. The state officers had a terrific time getting to know each of you, and hopefully you discovered some great ideas to take back to your chapter!

To go along with all these great ideas is the new state project for Nebraska FBLA, Feed Nebraska. As the name may suggest, chapters are asked to support the hungry and needy people of Nebraska. This can be as simple as volunteering at a soup kitchen or holding a can drive during the holiday season!

Complete two projects and submit the form by March 1 to be recognized at the State Leadership Conference! 

This project can easily be incorporated into your chapter's program of work, and you can really make a difference in the lives of people in your community!

Good luck! And I can't wait to see your chapter get involved!

--Sally

Go Green Challenge

Saturday in Nebraska means one thing: football. However, you could also be using your time to pick up trash in a park, giving a presentation to your Rotary Club, or any of the other activities for the Go Green Challenge!

Slightly altered from last year, the Go Green Challenge is Nebraska FBLA’s project to promote environmentally friendly practices in our communities. To complete the challenge use the form on the Nebraska FBLA Website.

Complete two boxes from each column, and submit the form and all required materials to:

Trevor Sorensen

1078 33 Road

Minden, NE 68959

If your chapter completes all required activities, you will receive recognition at the SLC for your work! It is a great way to receive recognition and have an impact in your community!

-Trevor

Business Achievement Awards

Are you a member who wants to take your leadership skills to the next level?  If you are, the Business Achievement Awards (BAA’s) may interest you. 

The BAA’s have four levels:  Future, Business, Leader, and America.  The awards are designed so each level is more challenging than the previous one.  Each level has activities that must be completed.  The activities are focused around the FBLA crest—Service, Education, Progress—and have different activities to choose from.

Completing the BAA’s is a great way to earn state and even national recognition.  Members who complete the America award will receive a pin and a ribbon at NLC.  This year, I encourage you to complete one or more levels so we can recognize a large number of members at SLC!

The deadline for the Future, Business, and Leader levels is March first, and the deadline for the America level is April 25^th.  Talk to your adviser about starting the awards.  For more information about the BAA’s go to flba-pbl.org and select Business Achievement Awards under the FBLA tab. 

Until later,

Jake

Recruitment 101

As the school year quickly gets into gear, it's time to think about maximizing your
chapter's potential with recruitment. Here are some quick tips to make your
chapter's recruiting efforts a success!

Focus on Freshmen- If your chapter does not have a middle level, many incoming
freshmen will not know what FBLA is about. Take some time and explain how FBLA
works, how it has helped you personally, and introduce them to all of the fun
activities your chapter completes throughout the year. You never know, these fresh 

faces could be future chapter, state or national officers.

Be Aggressive! Be Be Aggressive!- Go outside of your comfort zone while looking
for new members. Give presentations to business classes, speak with students you
don't normally speak with, and use creative new ideas to maximize success. People pay 

attention to originality.

Utilize Your Resources- There are many different resources available for use
through the state office. Pick and choose which ones will work best for your
chapters needs.
      -Find all recruitment tools at:
http://nebraskafbla.org/resources/chapter-management/recruitment/

Recruitment is personally one of my favorite parts of FBLA. I hope these tips have
given your chapter some help to maximize your success this year. What are some 

creative ways your chapter recruits new members? Please comment below.

Adios mis amigos!

Julie

What's Next?

Hello Nebraska FBLA!

Where has August gone??

 

Back to school shopping…check.

First day of school…check.

Annual FBLA Chapter Kick-off…check.

So, what’s next?  It’s time to plan for our monthly meetings! How are we encouraging all of the students that came to the kick-off to commit to FBLA?

It’s not easy.  A lot of creativity, preparation, time, and love for FBLA goes into planning a monthly meeting, or maybe you follow what has worked for your chapter in the past.  If so, that’s great! You’re able to keep consistency and still make it fun for the chapter membership.  There is so much out there that can compete with our time—work, sports, homework, family, and other just as fabulous organizations.  The time we have is valuable, and in an organization such as ours, we need to make smart choices on how we use it. 

I think about my own chapter’s upcoming monthly meeting.  At our September meeting, we have our co-chairs from each committee share about what the work on their committee entails, events coming up, and explain how members can get involved.  We usually throw in a game and end the evening with ice cream.  (The general secret is that if you have food, you have members.)

But this makes me wonder…what are other FBLA chapters doing to keep momentum within their program and continue to get FBLA-ers back each month?

The State Officers’ Blog is a place for us to share thoughts and ideas with each other.  We would love to hear what you are doing in your chapter that encourages and maintains membership.

Any thoughts or ideas? Please share!

I’m off! I’m going! I’m…

Allyson

From the National Officer Team: September Sweeps & Regional Board Apps!

The National Officer Team is excited to "ignite innovation" in the upcoming FBLA year! As your Mountain Plains Region Vice President, I am even more excited to represent Nebraska FBLA on the national level! 

September Sweeps - I know many advisers and members are looking forward to the September Sweeps recruitment program. The program will be featuring benchmark activities such as:

• Recruiting 5 paid freshmen members
• Developing and implementing a recruitment and retention marketing plan
• Plus several other activities designed to help recruit and retain members

     All chapter delegates that complete the September Sweeps Program and attend the NFLC will receive a ribbon! Chapter presidents will also receive a special pin. 

     Note: A form is still being generated for the program. It will be available on the Mountain Plains Regional website by clicking here as soon as it is available. 

Regional/National Board Applications - Regional and National Board Applications are still being accepted! Being a member of these boards is a fantastic way to become involved in FBLA on the national level!  Click here to download a copy of the application. The deadline is September 1st!

Until next time,

Brent

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Hello! And as the title mentions, welcome!

The 2012-2013 Nebraska FBLA State Officer Team is excited to start off the new school year with a new blog! Throughout the year, you will find weekly blog posts discussing state projects, FBLA activities, leadership, and a whole lot more. :)

I encourage each of you to follow this blog to stay updated as Nebraska FBLA "Ignites Innovation" in the coming year; moreover, links to new blog posts will also be posted on the Nebraska FBLA Facebook page as well as on the @NebraskaFBLA Twitter page.

One final note to members and chapters whom have already started or will be starting the new school year: check out the Nebraska FBLA State Goals - you may find a new project that could be implemented in your chapter this year or a new goal to work towards!

This year in FBLA is going to be extraordinary, but it relies on you as a member of Nebraska FBLA. Get involved and become a leader in your school or community! I can not wait to see what Nebraska FBLA accomplishes as we "Ignite Innovation" this year.

Good luck with your many ventures in the year ahead! And keep watching for next week's blog post. :)

--Sally