Conference Reports: Fall 2005
Phi Theta Kappa Fall Conference, Fall 2005
Written by Rana Haddad
On the cold and windy days of October 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, 2005, the Phi Theta Kappa Fall Conference 2005 for the Greater Northwest Region was held at the Red Lion Hotel in Kelso, Washington, hosted by the Gamma Tau Chapter of Lower Columbia College. The conference started in the evening, pleasuring the audience with an attention-grabbing keynote speaker. The speaker, of African-American heritage, told an inspirational story of her hardships as a child with polio and the kinds of limitations that she felt other people had put upon her through labels, class, and overall societal structure. With a happy ending that emphasized education and the community support offered to her, she was warmly thanked and welcomed to Phi Theta Kappa.
After some socializing, we were split into focused-group discussions. Discussions often led to realizing and trying to solve the problems different chapters around the Greater Northwest Region were facing. Many chapters faced funding issues, lack-of-membership problems, and various troubles dealing with the structure of the leadership team and activities that each chapter had.
The next morning started off with a general session, with an overview of the International Convention here in Seattle. A bit of hype was built up regarding the then-unknown keynote speakers, whom we have now discovered to be Cokie Roberts (Emmy award-winning journalist and author), Wangari Maathai (Nobel Peace Laureate), and Madeline Albright (former Secretary of State and U.S. Ambassador to the UN). There were several hour-long workshops that dealt with topics such as Leadership Roles and Issues with Leadership Structure, the Phi Theta Kappa Hallmarks, Robert's Rules, and more. The Wenatchee Community College presented community colleges presented a workshop on fund-raising, which had an effect in highlighting the difference of fund-raising tactics that other community colleges used, all based on the demographics of the students.
The morning after a water-squirt gun-filled Halloween costume party, the International Vice President for our Phi Theta Kappa Division (IV), Lindsay Moore, gave a general speech introducing herself as a Californian, and effectively addressed the theme of pop-culture and its influence on society and education.
During the last hours of the conference, chapters signed up for volunteer hours for preparation of, during, and after the International Conference, taking place on April 20th to 22nd, in Seattle's own Convention Center.
The Winter Conference will be held on February 25th in the Seattle Convention Center, and will mainly be updating and preparing for the Phi Theta Kappa International Conference.
Go Seattle!
Looking for something older?
You can check out our report for the Summer Regional Conference, too.