Chapter Communications

Tales from MGCA...

2009-02-19T13:06:00.001-08:00

We hope everyone had a great time in St. Louis for the Mid-American Greek Council Association Conference on February 11-14. Approximately 2,000 Greek leaders attended the conference, which took place at the Renaissance Grand Hotel. Tim Roth, Garrett Bredenkamp, Josh Terhune, Carrie Seymour, Sarah Kim and Chris Bacon had the opportunity to attend the event.

As an industry leader in Greek websites, it was a pleasure to meet so many of our clients that came and visited with us at our booth. It always helps to put a face with a name! It was also a great chance for us to introduce ourselves to other Greek leaders that have not used us before. We had the opportunity to talk with many of them one-on-one, and offer demos as to what we could do for their council or chapter.

We broke out the Nintendo Wii at our booth, which obviously attracted a lot of attention (sorry to any of you that were whacked in the head from the controller while walking by...it was a little intense sometimes). Participants had to bowl a strike in three frames to get their name entered in a drawing for a free Web site. Brian Chwalisz from Kappa Sigma at the University of North Florida was our winner. Congrats Brian!

We will be at the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference (SEIFC) Leadership Retreat this weekend in Atlanta. Be sure to stop by our booth!

AFA Conference

2008-12-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

It sounds like the Association of Fraternity Advisors (AFA) conference in Denver last week was a success! Tim Roth, Jeremy Turner, Josh Terhune, Aaron Walker and Garret Bredenkamp all had the opportunity to meet with a number of Greek national offices, councils and chapters at the event. There was a great deal of interest from people that were interested in our services to help network their organizations.

Not sure who won this tug of war for convention goodies from the picture. It looks like Jeremy (left) and Josh (right) were fighting over a stuffed SPAM character and a Dynamic Recruitment DVD. Not sure who won that battle though...

The crew made it to Denver a day early before the convention to discuss 2009 at Chapter Communications. Next year will be the most exciting year in our company's 4-year history, with an upcoming launch of our Olympian software (more to come on that in the upcoming weeks), expansion of services and hiring of new staff. We are also launching our new Chapter Communications website in January, so be on the lookout for that as well.

Funny story from the convention, make sure you remind our Sales Director Garret Bredenkamp to make sure he still has his MacBook. After buying a new one in Denver...he misplaced it not even an hour later and a few of the guys had to walk from store-to-store to find it. We are happy to say that Garret was reunited with his new MacBook at a Brooks Brothers store.

Economic Struggles, Lay Offs....Not Here!

2008-11-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

We've seen it over and over again in the news how people are losing their jobs and companies are tightening up their budgets because of the current economic conditions. Chapter Communications continues to thrive despite the economic downturn, and still continues to grow. The company has recently hired two new employees and announced an expansion into Canada.

Sarah Kim is our new Client Manager. She will be one of the primary contacts for technical assistance with our websites. Basically, she'll be a client's best friend when they start using their new website. Sarah is a recent graduate of the University of Illinois.

Aaron Walker was recently hired as our VP of Marketing. He'll be leading the charge as we expand our services into Canada. You can view an announcement on Aaron's hiring at http://tinyurl.com/5uup5s

We're not done yet. Chapter Communications is still looking for passionate and hard-working professionals to join our team. For more information on job opportunities, visit http://tinyurl.com/5a2k5h.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Halloween Tales

2008-11-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! Some of us here at Chapter Communications did in fact dress up for the occasion. Seth Eheart, our Chief Operating Officer, was the flashiest of the group. He dressed up in a giant banana costume. The funny part was...he interviewed a potential employee that day. It's a safe bet that it was the first time that person has ever been interviewed by a banana...

Carrie Seymour, our Client Manager dressed as a cat. Anna Pougas, our Product Manager, donned some purple hair to add some flash to the development office.

I am kicking myself over the fact that we have NO PICTURES from Halloween. It got me to thinking, do any of your clubs or organizations have Halloween pictures that you'd like to share? Any funny Halloween stories? Please share...

Back and Blogging!

2008-10-15T08:35:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Just because we haven't posted lately, it doesn't mean we have been asleep at the wheel here at Chapter Communications. We've actually been quite busy.

Recently, I was hired to be the Communications Director. Basically, that means I handle public relations for the company and help with the overall message of who we are, and what we are doing as an organization. One of things I have started to do is get more exposure for our clients that are effectively using the websites we provide for them. So if your chapter is doing something great with your website, let us know!

Behind the scenes here at Chapter Communications, we have been gearing up for a launch of our new web system, which will change the overall look and fuctionality of the websites that we provide. It will be available to all new and exisiting clients. The new version allows each organization’s administrator to make more changes to public and private pages within their websites. One major function allows members to customize their personal pages, which allows them to see various calendars, photo albums, files, etc in the order that they want. As always, Chapter Communications will offer training for each organization’s administrators.

Sigma Kappa sorority at the University of Illinois is testing out our new version. You can get a look at it by visiting http://www.sigmakappaillinois.org/.

We'll be sure to keep you updated on the new version, along with other announcements from Chapter Communications in the near future.

College Fraternity Editors Association, Nashville, TN

2008-05-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Jeremy and I traveled to Nashville for the CFEA Convention. It was a great weekend. The accommodations and staff were nothing less than great! Chapter Communications has had the privilege of creating the new CFEA website and has been working closely with its staff to make it nothing be the best! On Thursday night we went to the opening reception at the Chi Psi National Headquarters located near downtown Nashville. The night was full of chatting with new people, having a drink here and there, and congregating in a restroom?! Friday we had a full day of vendor responsibilities. It was great to meet some current clients as well as converse with potential new clients. Friday night was a dinner event at BB Kings, a locally known restaurant/bar in Nashville. This provided everyone with the opportunity to mingle and have a fun relaxed evening. Saturday was a pretty short day that ended with an evening banquet. All in all, I have to say the CFEA convention was a great trip. You can never go wrong when you meet satisfied current clients as well as interested potentials.

Mid-America Greek Council Association/National Black Greek Leadership Conference - Chicago, IL

2008-02-28T08:08:00.000-08:00

I spent last weekend attending the MGCA/NBGLC in Chicago with a bunch of our staff members. Chapter Communications has been attending this conference for the past 5 years. It is always a great conference to be apart of. This was a very rewarding conference not only because of the amount of attendees but also because of the feedback we received from current clients. Our booth was located right across from registration which proved to be very helpful. Also, our Wii gaming systems (yes we brought 2) didn't chase people away. We had a contest for the attendees to win a FREE website by bowling a strike in 3 frames. We had people swarming just to play! This only helped our staff to them provide this individuals information about what our system can do for their council and/or chapter. It was a great success!

Even Timothy Roth, our CEO, was joining in on the Wii activities! Jeremy Turner, our National Marketing Director, and Josh Terhune, one of our Regional Marketing Directors, became very competitive and even started challenging the MGCA staff! Don't worry this was all taking place when meetings were in session.

We want to thank all of the fantastic staff of the MGCA and NBGLC as well as all of our current clients who stopped by to introduce themselves. We are also thankful to all of the attendees who came to join in all of the Wii fun and look forward to hearing back from our conference winners!

All in all, this conference was extremely successful and we are looking forward to joining in the fun next year.

Tau Kappa Epsilon - Regional Leadership Conference - St. Louis, MO

2008-02-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

I spent this weekend with the men of Tau Kappa Epsilon. I talked to several chapters who were quite excited with what we could do to help them in the future. They have several colonies and of the ones I spoke to were very interested in our colony program. The staff leaders for TKE were helpful and several were encourging their chapters to speak with us further. I believe we will have many more TKE chapters using our services in the near future and look forward to building a better relationship with their members.

Pi Kappa Alpha - Pike University - Dallas, TX

2008-02-18T09:29:00.000-08:00

I too spent the weekend with Pi Kappa Alpha in Dallas and had a enjoyable weekend. Several chapters knew about us already and were eager to learn more. The Pike staff was there usual through selves and made a for a great conference. I look forward to many new long term customers from Pi Kappa Alpha.

Pi Kappa Alpha - Pike University - Costa Mesa, CA

2008-02-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to visit with the Pi Kappa Alpha staff again this weekend. As always they are more than helpful and do everything they can to accommodate the vendors that are present. Like Kara mentioned in her blog about the Atlanta Summit, we had many clients already represented at the Costa Mesa Summit, but I enjoyed meeting with them and taught them a few new things that they weren't aware of before. All in all it was a great conference, had some very productive discussions with the Pike staff and I look forward to working with each chapter in the future.

Pi Kappa Alpha - Pike University - Atlanta, GA

2008-02-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

First off , I want to thank Sherry Walker and Rick Burt for being such great hosts. They were very accommodating and as sweet as can be. I also want to thank them for the opportunity for Chapter Communications to host their banquet on Saturday night. This provided our company with another outlet to get our name out into the Pi Kappa Alpha Community. Since we already had many of the attendees as clients it was great to hear feedback from these young men. It was also a great opportunity for these men to tell their fellow brothers about our services and receive a referral discount $50.

Sherry Walker was so intrigued with the demo she saw me give that she called up her daughter immediately. Her daughter loved everything she heard and is proposing using our services to the Panhellenic Council at the school in which she attends.

All in all, attending Pike University this past weekend was a great trip for Chapter Communications and we look forward to attending the Leadership Summit in Chicago, IL February 22-24th.

Sigma Chi - Grand Praetors Meeting, Las Vegas, NV

2008-01-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Jeremy and I attended the Sigma Chi Grand Praetors Meeting in Las Vegas. We were invited to attend this gathering due to the partnership we made late last year to create over 145 Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter websites. This meeting provided our organizations to further our partnership and extend the opportunity for undergraduate chapters. We believe this opportunity will provide the Sigma Chi Fraternity with the communication tools it deserves. The Grand Praetors were very anxious about getting to know how our services work. Once all questions were answered they were ready to take information back to their undergraduate/alumni chapters and encourage them to use our services. Jeremy and I had a great time the first night. We enjoyed some great sushi and the penny slots! The second night Jeremy had to get back home so I was to venture Vegas alone. I was lucky to have made a few Sigma Chi friends prior to this trip and was thankful for an invitation to join them that night. So I would like to thank the gentlemen of Sigma Chi for allowing a lady to join them.

Pi Kappa Alpha - Chapter Executives Conference, Memphis, TN

2008-01-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

I think I have finally caught up from being away from the office and can now write about the PKA CEC. This is the second year Chapter Communications has attended the conference and I cannot stop saying thank you to the staff at PKA Headquarters. Everyone there truly is a class act. This year Chapter Communications has decided to sponsor the luncheon at the CEC, all four Pike Summits and the National Convention. The sponsorship will allow us to get our name out there to the chapters that are not currently using our services and to say thank you to the chapters that are. So thank you to Pi Kappa Alpha and the great job that you do in making the vendors feel welcome. Maybe next time I'm in Memphis for the PKA National Convention I will actually visit Graceland instead of just driving by.

Get your website information on Facebook!

2007-11-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

We have been working hard to bring tools and features to our system for the last 4 years. Once Facebook opened up and allowed our developers to begin building applications, we knew the direction to go in. With over 100,000 unique users in both The Greek Community and the Greek Family Tree applications we are the #1 Greek application on Facebook.

If your chapter is currently using our services, you are able to view your chapter calendar, photos, scholarships, jobs/internships postings and bulletins sent by your administrator.

Make sure you check these Apps out!!

Sigma Chi Fraternity selects Chapter Communications' Website and Internet Communication Technology to Power Alumni Gateway Platform

2007-09-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sigma Chi Fraternity, an international fraternity consisting of over 200,000 alumni and undergraduate members, names Chapter Communications as the provider of individual websites and Internet communication tools for over 145 Sigma Chi Alumni Chapters worldwide. Mike Greenberg, a member of Sigma Chi’s International Board of Directors, stated, “After researching many alternatives over the past year, we believe Chapter Communications can help Sigma Chi Fraternity achieve our goals of integrating alumni communications through a network of alumni websites.” John C. Garrett, Sigma Chi Fraternity Director of Alumni Services, said the rollout of the Alumni Gateway Platform will start this fall.

“Sigma Chi Fraternity is leading the charge for enhanced alumni communications and recognition,” stated Tim Roth, Chief Executive Officer of Chapter Communications. Each Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter will have a new, attractive and user-friendly website. The new websites allow members to easily update and manage content. Private Internet communication features make it easy for each alumnus to communicate among their own chapter’s members, other alumnus, participating undergraduate members, and the Sigma Chi International Fraternity. Chapter Communications technology allows information and news to be shared among all Sigma Chi websites in real time.

Chapter Communications’ custom technology will provide the Sigma Chi Fraternity Alumni Gateway Platform with tools such as bulletins, discussion boards, career networking, scholarship sharing, photo galleries, calendar events and more. Information can be easily shared within privately formed groups by individual alumni, among all alumni members within the local chapter, among all alumni worldwide, and/or with all participating members of Sigma Chi Fraternity. John C. Garrett stated, “We are very pleased with the ability of their websites to provide a public view of our organizations while simultaneously integrating private pages and communications.”

About Chapter Communications:

Chapter Communications is the leading total solution provider of websites with customized and integrated Internet communications for Greek affiliated organizations, servicing more than 500 Greek undergraduate, alumni and council chapters from over 125 universities and 45 organizations. Chapter Communications’ unique website services enhance organizational communication by allowing members to easily share information internally between members, to their alumni, to members of their own organization at other universities, and to all participating Greeks on their university campus.

Want to know more?
Contact: Jeremy Turner, National Marketing Director
Tel: 800-895-6024
Email: contact@chaptercommunications.com

Jazz up your pages!

2007-04-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

Want to give your pages a little more personality? Thanks to our team of dedicated programmers, now you can! We have just implemented a new text editor function that greatly increases your ability customize your pages with text sizes/colors, new alignments, tables, numbering, linking options, advanced image editing and much more. Think of it as though we added all the familiar tools of Microsoft Word to help you edit your pages with ease and simplicity. Still love HTML coding? Not to worry, our editor has a function where you can switch to HTML view and still get down with tags and code. Either way you like entering page information, you now have more control and flexibility when giving personality to your site. Enjoy!

Got questions on this tool or anything else? Remember our support team is here everyday to help you, so please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are here for you!!!

Company moves into new office

2007-02-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

What was once one single room office, with one employee, a laptop and a small computer desk, has grown into a full fledged office. Last month, Chapter Communications made the move into a new office suite, complete with 9 offices, kitchen and conference room. With the recent client growth and consequential staff additions, we felt that the move was needed. While still a little bit under construction, we have made great progress in the last weeks. We will keep you updated on the status of our construction and definitely post pictures to our blog once the office is completed. If you’re ever in the Champaign-Urbana area, feel free to stop by!

Photo gallery gets a makeover

2007-02-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

You’ve spoken and we’ve listened. As one of our mostly heavily used tools and one of our most visible, we have decided to make major changes to our photo gallery based on your recommendations. Without going into too much detail, the gallery is much easier to administer and browse. Picture addition and folder creation were totally redone, while the navigation and statistics of the galleries themselves have been tweaked to make browsing quicker and more personal. Be sure to check the new galleries out today!

Popups be gone!

2007-02-20T10:09:00.000-08:00

With every major browser now having built in popup blockers, we have made the decision to minimize our pop-ups and to eventually get rid of them all together. If you now look at user profiles and photos, you can see the immediate change. They are still active with some tools, but are going to be disappearing completely in the near future.

Tip of the Month: T-shirt orders made easy

2007-02-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

When it comes time to order the next set of t-shirts for your chapter, don’t worry about gathering everyone’s sizes; they’re already available on the website in each user’s member profile. Have your site admin export the member roster into Excel, and all of the names and T-Shirt sizes are taken care of. Remember to keep your profile updated so your chapter can use Tips like this one! It only takes a few seconds, log in and do it now if you haven’t updated lately.

Do you have a success story to share? Submit your highlights to garrett@chaptercommunications.com. If you are featured in a newsletter, your chapter will receive a $50 credit to your account.

Conferences

2007-01-31T09:25:00.000-08:00

The Chapter Communciations Sales Team will be out in full force this year. We will be traveling all over the country stopping in at Executive Committee, Regional Leadership and National Conferences. For a full list, check out our conference page.

This weekend we will be in Rosemont, IL, at the Gamma Phi Beta Regional Leadership Conference and look to have much success. Last year, the Zeta Rho chapter won, Best Overall Website, at the National Convention!

See you next time!

Jeremy Turner
National Marketing Director

We got Blog!

2007-01-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

Greetings fellow Greeks! We’re excited to launch our first official blog for the Chapter Communications team. We are developers, testers, product managers, usability engineers, product marketers and executives who offer different perspectives but share the same passion for empowering our clients with the best technology available. We hope this blog provides you with a deeper insight into our work and who we are, and we’re very excited to be out here talking to you!

Keep on the lookout for upcoming posts from our team members in the new year and beyond.

Thanks so much for visiting our blog. Enjoy!

- The Chapter Communications Team