President's Leadership Conference

I just got back from our annual President's Leadership Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The conference revolved around hazing in our chapters. Phi Delt's main push for the past five years has been alcohol-free housing. It has been very rewarding for the Fraternity and many Phi Delt chapters have done great things with it. Universities everywhere want Phi Delt on their campus, because of our initiative in this policy. Now that this is succeed the Fraternity is focusing on hazing. The conference brought in many great speakers, and probably one of the best I've ever seen. His name is Will Keim, and his website is www.willkeim.com. He is a world-renown speakers, and hit many guys right between the eyes with this words - Including me.

Sparky Reardon, the Dean of Students at Ole Miss also spoke. He's a Phi Delt who has made his personal mission to stop hazing within Phi Delta Theta. His stories and experiences are amazing. Everytime I see him he reminds me that I look like Payton Manning. I actually heard this about 30 times this semester. Kind of crazy! The conference was great for me and my personal development because I had a chance to speak in front of the 175 people in the room. Public speaking has become easy for me through this job, but this was definitely my biggest audience. I spoke about the importance of teambuilding within a pledgeclass.

On the way home yesterday, a few of us stopped by the Annheiser Busch brewery. It's huge and the best part was the stabble with about 10 Clydesdales and Dalmations running around. We also stopped by the Broadway Oyster Bar. If you're ever in St. Louis check it out. It's right between the Arch and the Brewery.