Thursday, July 21, 2011

Executive Committee Spotlight: Katy Leach

We are so excited about to announce
Katy MacDarmid Leach
has volunteered to serve as the
ΞΩΞ Social Networking Chair


Katy MacDiarmid Leach is a 1998 initiate of the Beta Eta Chapter. She currently resides in Orlando with her husband, Ryan and their two sons, Gavin (5) and Caden (1).

She is active in her sons' schools, is on the steering committee as the Publicity Chair for her MOPS group and is active in a local volunteer group that she co-created with her cousin called The Volunteer Vixens. She also enjoys cooking, reading and laughing with her friends and family.

Katy is also a member of Xi Omega Xi, and has volunteered to serve as the Social Networking Committee Chair. We now have Katy to thank for ensuring our chapter stays socially relevant with frequent updates on Facebook, and other forms of social media!

Not a member of ΞΩΞ's Facebook page? 
Be sure to click here to join.

You can learn more about Katy by clicking here , as she was previous featured in an Alumnae Spotlight!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Alumna celebrates 50 years of marriage!

Lanny, a 1957 initiate and current Xi Omega Xi member,  celebrated her 50th Wedding Anniversary, with husband Art, on June 25 in Key West, FL. They renewed their vows at evening mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church with five of my original bridesmaids (2 of whom are Alpha Chi's) and her flower girl in attendance.  Their 3 sons stood in for Art (as they didn't know where all of the military groomsmen were).  Mass was followed by a luau and lots of laughs. The couples sons took everyone on a Skelly movie and photo history tour.  The couple had such a great time with family, Navy, Alpha Chi sisters, and other friends. Lanny noted "it was over too soon"

 Lanny & Art with their sons!
Lanny & Art with some of those in attendance.. 
 
Congratulations from the ladies of XOX on your anniversary!!

Are you a Beta Eta Alumnae who is celebrating an exciting lift event? Do you blog for fun, or for family & want to link your blog to our site? Would you be interested in serving as a guest blogger, or are interested in being the subject of an Alumnae Spotlight post? Email us at AXOFloridaState {at} gmail {dot} com

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

What Alpha Chi Means to Me

As mentioned before, I have the privilege of interning this summer in Connecticut with ESPN Inc. I have been here in New England for nearly five weeks, and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire life. There is one very important group however, that has provided me with the means to succeed even further than I anticipated. Alpha Chi Omega has instilled many valuable traits in me, that I don't think many realize until they are truly in the work force. Leaving home, though just several hours away from Tallahassee, and arriving to college would not have been the same without my sisters being there for me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The constant sleepovers with sisters, the glorious food at the house, the endless daily chatter, and the amazing nights together are just a few of the easy-to-see perks of being in such great company, such as Alpha Chi. The one thing that might not be as easy to see however, is the work ethic, determination, optimistic thinking, and self-confidence our sorority inspires us to belief in ourselves. I truly believe I would have not been as successful if it were not for my sisters and the bond of Alpha Chi Omega. Everyday, I realize what an impact this sorority has made on my life, just via the simple tasks of creating an extremely long excel spreadsheet that dates back to 1979. That even though, sometimes I want to throw my computer against the wall and give up, I take a deep breath and remember what Alpha Chi has taught me....
P A T I E N C E :)
I cannot wait to be back in Tallahassee to see all of my beautiful sisters, as well as the wonderful alumnae! I thank Alpha Chi Omega for focusing their sisterhood on love, kindness, academic success, determination, patience, and virtue, because it has helped me throughout my entire internship. If you have Alpha Chi in your mind, and in heart....... the possibilities are endless.

LITB LADIES
Julianna Corso
Fall 2011 Blog Chair
Current Intern for ESPN 

Monday, July 11, 2011

Happy 1st Founders' Day, Xi Omega Xi!



Please join me in celebrating the 1st Founders' Day for our Virtual Alumnae Chapter, Xi Omega Xi by making our Founders' Day logo your Facebook Profile picture!!! :)

As many of you know, Xi Omega Xi is a virtual alumnae chapter of Alpha Chi Omega for Beta Eta women. With the advances in technology, we are now capable to reunite all Alpha Chi Omega women from Florida State University regardless of current location. Unlike your local Alpha Chi Omega alum chapters, we all share similar past experiences: we were all initiated in 518 West Park Avenue; we all have Seminole pride and bleed garnet and gold; we have an emotional connection to the beautiful campus that we called home for our college experiences. We stay connected to the current collegiate chapter of Beta Eta for communications of their successes and fun.

The Xi Omega Xi Virtual Alumnae Chapter began as a thought and dream of several Beta Eta Alumnae during the planning of the chapters' 80th anniversary during April 2009. The thought was that not only Beta Eta's are some of the most active alumnae in the nation; they are some of the most loyal to Florida State University; their home chapter of Beta Eta. Alumnae travel to Tallahassee for events such a Homecoming, the chapter’s annual charity golf tournament Par-Tee, and reunions. However, during the remainder of the year, they are virtually left "in the dark" about the happenings of the collegiate chapter and fellow alumnae.

After speaking with Amy Zoldak, and members of the first virtual alumnae chapter, Mu Tau Mu, we knew that a virtual chapter was the right decision. We rallied the alumnae during the 80th, filed, and were officially installed July 11th, 2010 at Alpha Chi Omega Convention in Washington DC. You can read original blog post for more details on installation here.

Our Founding Members are: Jessica Beers, Joy Piatek Behan, Margaret Bennett, Jessica Harwood Bouwsma, Dana Brookes, Mitzi Brown, Monica Cepero, Kristina Clarke de Moya, Diane Cutler, Celia Seleya Dubey, Britain Dwyre, Jan Faulkner, Catherine Fly, Sylvia Foster, Patty Garrard, Heather Goodman, Katie Halliday, Brittany Horwitt, Janis K Polk Kennedy, Katy MacDiarmid Leach, Ann Marshall, Nadean McLaughlin, Melissa Palori, Allison Parker, Erin Pauley, Michele M Perry, Aimee Phipps, Tara Reynolds, Stephanie Roy, Linda Stanford, Beth Schmidt, Kristen Snyder, Aggie Steiner, Claudia Thomas, Carolyn C Thorton, Aileen Warshaw Thurber, Susan Wilcox, Bonnie Wilson and Lynn Wittenburg.

If you are interested in becoming a member of Xi Omega Xi as we embark on our second exciting year, please click here.

Thank you for your continued support of our Beta Eta and Xi Omega Xi chapters.

LITB,
Jessica Bouwsma
President
Xi Omega Xi Virtual Alumnae Chapter
Alpha Chi Omega

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Beta Eta Blogger Spotlight

We love it when we come across fellow Beta Eta bloggers. We try our best to keep up with Beta Eta bloggers by adding their links to our site. We even work to try to distinguish between alumna bloggers who blog for fun, and those who blog about their life, family, etc... Thus readers are able to join us in following blogs, and alumnae can look for sisters to catch up with..

Today we came across recent alumna, and blogger Alexa
[180152_1630928008740_1102800283_31431723_1362609_n.jpg] 
She recently started a blog, Life Made Simple.The blog notes that it will be "a small step into her life, with an extra emphasis on things that make her smile!" 

Do you have a blog you would like to add to our blog roll??? Be sure to comment on this post with your link, or email AXOFloridaState {at} gmail {dot} com


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Social media: What do your accounts say about you?

Great Article below, originally posted by, Alpha Chi Omega Alumna, Audra Meyer on her blog. The article sheds light on the aspects of social media, and what you can do to ensure that social media sites portray your best image.
A Twitter friend, Lauren Gray, recommended Socioclean.com about a month ago. (If you’re not following her, you should be! She always suggests awesome articles!) I just had a chance to use it and was a bit surprised by the results.

According to this article on the Huffington Post, “SocioClean lets you scan all your different online social networks and then delete the offending items. Taking into consideration the landscape of a universe where it’s all too easy to broadcast the dirty minutia of your real life online, SocioClean helps you monitor and maintain your Internet presence.”

Here, I thought I had a fairly sterile Facebook profile. Turns out, I received a D! Most of that was from other people’s posts on my wall, but a few of my posts came up under the various categories, “Racial, Alcohol/Drugs, Sexual (butt does count), Aggression and Profanity.” I used the word pissed a few times and it took all the tennis posts that mentioned ball and misconstrued it. As for friends mentioning wine and beer, I’ll admit I have a few status posts mentioned the Wine Cellar and Bistro or the Hermann Wine and Chocolate trail (two automatic hits).

In all 14 wall posts made the list, one group, 9 photos (the comments on the photos, not the actual photo), 24 status posts (including two about heat stroke and one about strep throat). If that gives you a D, I’m curious about what the average score is and how other people fair. I also hope the search filter will eventually be expanded to go before 2009.

I was surprised at the nostalgia this search brought up and pleased with how easy it was to click on the offending status posts and either delete them or untag myself from the photos.
Bottom line: If you’re looking for a job or have to use your personal Facebook profile to manage company pages, it wouldn’t hurt to run this search just to see what’s out there.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Go Greek

It is that time of year again. What time is that?? Recruitment time.  With collegians across the country preparing for recruitment, and thousands of soon to be college freshman preparing to go thru the recruitment process.

As  Alumnae it is quite possible we will be asked about recruitment. So here are some tips for alumna!
1. Write letters of recommendation for potential new members, or rushees, and send these to the collegiate chapter of Alpha Chi Omega in a timely manner. You can find the rec form, and the addresses for collegiate chapters at Alpha Chi Omega HQ 
 
2. Visit sites like Sure Sister and Sorority Life and suggest these sites to Potential new members to learn more about the Panhellenic System and recruitment in their area. 

3. Be supportive of the process and of the Panhellenic Community. While Alpha Chi was the right choice for you, it may not be the home for everyone. There are 26 amazing NPC groups, and they all offer a lifetime opportunity for sisterhood!!

More tips, and advice regarding recruitment to come in future posts.