By Reventh Poondru, Illinois FBLA State Vice President, Central Northern Area
Competing at your area, state, and national level is an incredible experience and provides many future opportunities. This blog post will detail tips and tricks you should always keep in mind as you progress through your competitive events journey because they’ll allow you to succeed at all levels of competition. Tip #1: Pick an event that you find enjoyable!
Tip #2: Practice! Practice! Practice!
Tip #3: Have Fun!
With these tips, you’ll be ready to succeed in the Competitive Events Series. We’ll see you at your respective area conferences, so be sure to say hello! If you’re not a senior, look into getting more involved with FBLA through board positions! If you are a senior, look for FBLA Collegiate chapters! Have fun! Sincerely, Revanth Poondru By Advait Rajmane
Illinois FBLA Reporter Social media has become an inherent part of our lives. Every second there will be someone goofily sending a snap, mindlessly liking a post, or endlessly scrolling through the void of TikTok. Although the reliance we have on these platforms has its drawbacks, it is no surprise that their utilization has led to a very connected and efficient world. Even with the rise of social media, networking consistently remains essential to forming relationships and building careers. Using a few simple techniques, we can expand the extent of our networks and acquire contact with professionals in their industry. Using the FBLA network as an example, there are countless members and alumni that use Instagram or Linkedin to make and maintain connections with people around the country. They are able to connect with a multitude of individuals all from the comfort of their own bedrooms. To begin the networking process, start by sending a short introduction about yourself. Within that message, it is also helpful to include a commonality that you might have with the individual. Here is a quick example: “Hey Yash, my name is Advait! I am the new State Reporter for Illinois FBLA. I saw that you were also a State Officer for Illinois FBLA, and I would like to connect with you to talk about any advice you have for an incoming State Officer.” That’s it! Although intimidating, it is quite simple to take the initial step that will begin a connection which could last for life. My final point is to remain safe online. Even though the benefits that come with the convenience of social networking outweigh the drawbacks, there will always be possible unintended consequences. To combat this, we can refrain from engaging with offensive posts/comments, maintain digital privacy where possible, and don’t do anything you wouldn't do in front of your parents! With all this in mind, you are ready to begin your network expansion. Let's Grow Membership In The New Year
By Megan You State Vice President from Southwestern Area When wanting to grow member retention within your chapter, think of it this way: what made you want to stay in the first place? Was it the benefits of competing, traveling, and learning more about possible post-secondary success? Or was it the community service aspect and being able to make new friends? Regardless of what it might be, use your passionate drive of the organization and place it within your fellow classmates/under their hearts. By doing this, it’ll not only make them realize how much they’re going to be gaining by joining, but they’re also going to share this light with others, ultimately creating a domino effect. Also efficiently utilizing social media, school broadcasting systems, newsletters/posters, and school-wide events can be just as successful as word-of-mouth. Speaking from personal experience, my local chapter always balanced on the cusp of having a “good amount” of members, but not enough when being compared to larger chapters around the area. When being installed into my position as president, I used word-of-mouth heavily but also understood the power of social media. By posting my past memories of being at SLC/NLC along with my awards and scholarships, many classmates, both young and old, came and asked me where I got this experience from. From then on, we’ve held a strong balance of 60+ members, which is more than we could’ve asked for! By mentioning this, I hope you gained some form of knowledge as to how you can better gain more members for your chapter and to place higher goals for yourself! Hello the one and only Illinois FBLA!
My name is Yash Sharma and I am beyond excited to serve as your state president for the 2022-2023 membership year. I wish all members, advisers, and leaders across our state a warm welcome to the transformative year the state officer team has been vigorously planning for all of you! This year our team aims to match the mass changes which have occurred at the national level to bring an elevated experience to Illinois FBLA. Never seen before programs, scholarships, resources, and even fundraisers will alter how your chapter views the Future Business Leaders of America. We hope to skyrocket membership with newfound Chicagoland chapters and innovative programs. We aim to further increase conference accessibility by providing substantial scholarships to fund the trips of well deserving leaders across the state. Additionally, to validate these scholarships we have made it a priority to expand the influence Illinois FBLA has on a national level. A mass competitive event resource bank created by the members for the members will catapult Illinois FBLA stage appearances to monumental heights. This resource bank will also encompass information vital to progressing any member towards post-secondary success with potential internship opportunities in their communities. This drive for success will also transfer to the chapters which are the humble homes of our membership. Chapters will be actively encouraged and incentivized to embrace their philanthropic side by completing recognition challenges for our national partner, the March of Dimes. Even the resource bank will be vital at the chapter level. Parliamentary procedure and chapter efficiency resources can ensure that every meeting is running at its maximum ability. All of this information will be effectively circulated by our pending local chapter president connectivity program. Our state will be bound tighter than ever before as we plan to advance our state as a whole. To stay on top of these programs follow @illinoisfbla on instagram for frequent updates and reminders. Also, each of our state officers has an instagram account dedicated to FBLA, so make sure to reach out to these accounts with any questions. Help Illinois FBLA contribute to the national theme of one association for service, education, and progress by following us on our journey! Best regards, Yash Sharma We are changing our news page to blog posts! Check back for updates!
|
Visit our pre-Blog (2022) newsletters.Archives
March 2024
Categories |