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