Sigma Alpha Iota

MUSIC MEDLEY CONVENTION continued from page 5 to fill out the application that was found on the SAI national website at sai-national.org. Requirements for the grant also included our chapter completing a short report with a photo and sending it to the Director of Music Education within a month after the conference. The decorations we decided to put up in the booth were simple. We had a poster board with information about Sigma Alpha Iota and the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter's events. There was an option on the application which afforded us the opportunity to receive display materials from SAI National Headquarters, but we chose our own display this year instead. Patroness and Friend of the Arts Susan Gaztañaga manned the booth on the first day of the convention. One of the first people to welcome us at the booth was Iota A Province Officer Mary Jennings. Mary took a picture of Susan and the booth and told conference participants about it throughout the day. Susan also had her netbook with her set to the SAI national website and used it to help a number of SAIs locate the province and chapter closest to where they currently lived. Susan told all of the SAI visitors to the booth to come back at noon to sing the "SAI Chorale" together. Promptly at noon, they all lifted their voices in song. Baltimore Alumnae Chapter member Melissa Gnibus opened the booth the next morning and met many sisters from the Delta Phi chapter. Most of the sisters were singing in their college choir, which had been invited to the conference for a performance that day. Not knowing about Susan's Sing-A-Long the day before, Melissa wanted to create one for herself and fellow SAIs that attended the convention that day. She told the collegians what she wanted, and simultaneously six sisters whipped out their cell phones and started the texting tree. It took no more then five minutes to inform everyone that there was going to be an SAI Sing-Along at noon that day and inviting anyone that was free to come and join them. Messages from Our Members 6 PAN PIPES FALL 2011 sai-national.org Susan Gaztañaga and Sara Robbins Members of the Delta Phi chapter at Mansfield University and the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter gathered at the Maryland State Music Education Convention. SAIs attending the convention were invited for a singalong of the 'SAI Chorale.' At noon, ten Delta Phi members arrived to sing with Melissa and another SAI alumnae member. They sang through the "SAI Chorale" twice, and it sounded so beautiful with twelve voices reverberating through the hall. Everyone stopped to listen. Alumnae chapter member Michelle Whitlock took over the booth on Saturday afternoon and visited with several other alumnae who stopped by. Several sisters expressed interest in connecting with an alumnae chapter and received further information about how to do so.  Later that week, Michelle also contacted several chapters to help connect these sisters with the alumnae in their local area. Every chapter, alumnae or collegiate, should consider putting together a booth at their local music convention, whether it is NAfME, NATS, etc. The booth serves as a central meet-and-greet area for current and future SAIs. And if you are doing it at an NAfME convention, consider applying to the Fraternity for a grant. The goals that our chapter achieved included recruiting more members for the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter, educating existing SAI members of what SAI life is like after college, and, by singing the "SAI Chorale," gaining exposure for SAI at the convention. Some unintended results of the booth included exposing grade-school students and their parents to SAI, exposing the other merchants that were in the hall to SAI, and making contacts with those merchants (namely for future fundraisers). The networking all of us were able to accomplish professionally and personally just by volunteering a few hours to work at the booth was well worth it. We would like to expand our booth decorations next year to further increase our positive results. If your chapter decides to sponsor a booth, you will be pleased with what you are able to accomplish. Thank you to SAI for helping the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter achieve our goals. "61 years an SAI! And I still enjoy — no — love being one!!" Fran H. Armstrong Sigma Delta initiate, Rockford Alumnae Chapter

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