Chi Omega Bid Day 2016

Chi Omega Eta Gamma 

University of South Carolina

(Pictured: Kasey Knox and Kaitlyn Ellmyer, Fall '15)

As New Member Educator for Chi Omega at the University of South Carolina, I had the opportunity to plan Bid Day. The feeling Bid Day brings to Greek Life members at U of SC are comparable to that of a kid on Christmas morning. It is the culmination of the recruitment experience where potential new member run home to their new sisterhood. It is a day full of anticipation and excitement, kinship and gratitude, and joy in its most pure sense. 

While I am responsible for the new members' experience as a whole and helping integrate them into such a large sisterhood, a sizable part of my position revolves around planning the Bid Day activity. At an SEC school, where greek life makes up over 26% of the student body and sororities have close to 400 members, this is no small event. I spent the past four months, May through August planning and preparing every last detail for Bid Day. 

(Fall '16 pledge class)

Along with the event itself, this included organizing a chapter photo and class photos with a professional photographer, coordinating the Bid Day event with Sorority Council and the University, attending meetings to discuss guidelines and other information, as well as panels to inform potential new members about my position and what it means to join a sorority at the University of South Carolina. Lastly, I coordinated with a variety of providers for food, supplies, venue, and transportation, as well as matched new members with mentors and buddies to help them feel welcome. 

(Pictured: Me, New Member Educator; Taylor Lutz, Recruitment Chair; Annie Wacker, President)

I took the position of New Member Educator not only because I wanted to share the passion and love I have for Chi Omega with others and be a mentor to them as they begin this new chapter in their lives, but also because I knew it was a position that would expand my resume and allow me to gain experience in my career path. After a summer interning with Virginia Living Magazine, I realized my passion for style, writing, and design. On the other hand, I realized that being confined to a space is not how I want to express my creativity. I want to pursue a career that allows me to have social interaction, to be on my feet, to have my hands in many different facets, and to enjoy the fruition of my hard work. I'd really like to go into event planning, and with this extensive project I did just that. 

      

Each sorority choses a theme on Bid Day that is expressed through the chapters colors, banners, tshirts, decorations, and activity. Last spring, the recruitment team and I decided Chi O's theme, "Where the Wild Things Are" based off of he book by Maurice Sendak. We wanted to embrace the rustic, mystic, earthy vibes of the book while still including an element of wildness and freedom with gold and glitter accents. I like to think of my chapter as a group of down to earth, individualistic girls--  and I think our theme embodied that.

Face-in-hole board painted by Victoria Holm, Fall '14

Delaney Dunkley, Fall '14

                                             Banner painted by Rebecca Howard, Fall '15

 Once we decided on a theme, the first step in the planning process was to order the necessary materials to assemble Bid Day bags for the new members. These bags are an exciting welcome home present to the our new sisters and include Chi O insignia, theme related items, and various cute presents. Here are some pictures showing what I included in the bags. 

Bags custom ordered from Hop Studio on Etsy.com; copy of the book; custom designed makeup bag from Claire Bella; "Where the Wild Things Are" decals from Redbubble.com; Chi O decals from GreekVinyls on Etsy.com and Handmade gold star crown from BelowBlink on Etsy.com.

    

I also included this tervis tumbler that I designed on DiscountMugs.com                                                          

I wrote a little note to each new member inside the first page of the book. At the venue on Bid Day we also had a station where new members could sign and write a little note in a copy of the book. That will also be displayed at the Chi O house.

I could not have made it through all the nights spent crafting, running errands, and unpacking boxes without the tremendous help of my Sisterhood Support Team. This group of girls, along with my two assistants, worked so hard to make sure everything got done and helped me whenever and wherever needed.

Crafting wild thing cut outs for new member signs on Bid Day 

The night before... all lined up and ready to be picked up!

We used plenty of decorations at the venue including sticks, moss, burlap, twine and light arrangements. I wanted to create a woodland, foresty atmosphere. Sisterhood support team and I did much of the decor ourselves like painting the mason jars and decor pieces above. 

After much research for the venue location I chose The Farm At Ridgeway, a popular wedding and reception venue in Ridgeway, SC about 30 minutes from campus. I felt that it would be the perfect location for all the activities I wanted to include. The rustic, spacious feel of the farm helped contribute to the theme and harboured the natural, relaxed feel I wanted to create with the event. 

S/o to Ruthann Payne for the hand-painted pallets. Check out her work @2boardgirls on Instagram!

It wouldn't be a Chi O event without plenty of food. For dinner we served soft drinks, pizza and assorted fruit and vegetable trays.

Centerpieces

Chi O moss letters and Chi Omega banner display 

It is no secret that sorority girls love to take pictures. When choosing a venue I wanted to make sure it was a place that offered plenty of great photo opportunities and room for theme decor. I ordered four polaroid cameras and bookoodles of film so girls could take polaroid photos at the activity. Many girls hung a picture or two on the photo boards and took a couple home with them. I took the photos off the boards once the day was over and put them in a photo album that will be displayed in the living room of the Chi O house.

Photo boards hand-made from windows purchased at a local antique mall

Bid Day is a long, exhausting, and hectic day. In previous years, the activity has been pretty exertive. I wanted to change it up this year and do something that allowed girls to somewhat relax, have time to take a deep breathe and soak in the eventfulness of the day. 

Shortly after we decided on the theme I had the idea to watch the movie at Bid Day. My biggest criteria for the venue was a field. I thought it would be such a cool bonding experience to lay out blankets and pillows in a field and watch "Where the Wild Things Are" on a huge blow up movie projector, complete with a popcorn machine and Cromer's freshly popped popcorn. 

Looking out into the field as the sun was setting and seeing all my sisters talking, laughing, and enjoying each others' presence was truly magical. Bid Day was everything I hoped it would be and more. Sure, there were a few hiccups here and there during the planning process but overall it went wonderfully. Throughout this experience I learned the importance of staying ahead of the timeline and staying organized. If the events I get to orchestrate in the future are half as amazing as Chi Omega Bid Day then I can't wait for all that's in store.