Greetings Brothers! I hope everyone had a great holiday with friends and family and had a chance to recharge for 2016.
We have a lot of stuff lined up for Eta Iota in the coming year with ongoing focus on important house renovations, maintaining a solid balance sheet for future operations and of course, celebrating 45 years at Sigma Chi at ERAU.
Invitations have been mailed for Eta Iota’s 45th Birthday and you should have received them by now. This month’s update will recap how we’ve incorporated feedback from the last major birthday event and Birthday Chairman, James “Gassi” Ahrens(’90) has the Top 10 list of reasons to attend (as if you needed that many).
Two items covered in this month’s briefing:
- We listened to feedback from past birthdays and made some changes for 45th we think you’ll enjoy.
- Gassi’s Top 10 reasons to attend Eta Iota’s 45th Birthday
Feedback from 40th Shaping 45th
Immediately following 40th birthday, we sent a survey to all alumni and received some great insight from 107 responses. The following are some highlights from the survey:
85% of responses rated the entire weekend as “excellent” with the highest ratings coming from the Friday night house party and the Saturday night casual banquet. Good news – those are in the schedule again with some improvements (read on for details)!
Despite bad weather for the campus tour in 2011, you guys still enjoyed the Thursday event at ERAU and several suggested an additional tour on Friday. That’s the plan this time so even if your travel plans don’t get you into Daytona until Late Thursday or early Friday, you can still enjoy a follow up tour scheduled for Friday.
The Friday night party at the house was a big hit with everyone but we did get some really good insight from the responses with the main topics being:
- “Band was too loud and made it difficult to mingle.” Got it! This was by far the most common comment so we cut back on the band and have lighter entertainment planned early on followed by some casual tunes on the back deck. This will make it much easier to meet other alumni, actives and pledges while taking in the recent improvements to the house.
- “Transportation to/from the hotel would be nice.” Got that too! We are arranging pre-paid options for the main hours and looking at securing Uber discounts for those who choose to stay late.
- “Great food & plenty of beer but more wine would’ve been nice.” We are bringing back the same BBQ menu and beer options and will have plenty of wine along with a few non-alcoholic beverages on hand for those looking for an alternative. You won’t be thirsty!
The House Corp meeting on Saturday morning received mixed feedback with most of the suggestions focused on shortening the time and keeping the discussions on track. We’re doing a couple things different this time to help with this. In addition to a streamlined agenda, we will be soliciting nominations ahead of time for House Corp Officers and Trustees. Look for details on this in next month’s HC email to volunteer or make a nomination.
The causal parrot head theme of the anniversary’s main event Saturday night received a ton of great feedback so we are keeping this similar with a few improvements to be even better. Notably, there will be an open bar with beer & wine this time around as everyone seemed to plow through their drink budget pretty quickly. Also, the menu will feature steak and fish choices to be different from Friday night’s menu (a suggestion made by many from 40th).
Last but not least, several people mentioned in the survey that they wanted to see and engage with more of the active brothers. Feedback indicated that ticket prices may have been part of the issue and prevented many actives from attending. This year, we are making it easier for actives to attend by reducing the cost of their registration.
First off, their registration costs are already $100 lower than alumni ticket prices but we are also trying a new option for alumni to help offset the costs even further. When you register for 45th you can add a small donation in increments of $25 to help sponsor an active brother.
We are seeing some really great participation with this option so far with just over half of alumni registered so far chipping in $25 or more to reduce total costs for our active brothers. So far, the total amount has reached $1,000 which paves the way for 8 brothers to attend at no cost or a 16% discount if spreading the discount across all 50 actives. We’re off to a great start here but I know we can do more so please consider this when registering!
Top 10 Reasons to Attend 45th Birthday
In case you needed any further encouragement to register now, James Ahrens has authored the following Top 10 Reasons to Attend the 45th Birthday.
10) Be amazed at all the great work done on the house in the past few years – See the new decks, staircase, upstairs bathroom, new columns, upgraded fire pit, and much, much more. Thanks to the latest fund raising effort we’ve had a tremendous amount of work done to the house and there is still more to do, but you’ll be blown away at what we’ve accomplished so far!
9) Meet the undergraduate Actives and Pledges – The current occupants of 520 S. Ridgewood Ave have been doing a great job upholding the values of Sigma Chi so come see why we have found them worthy!
8) Meet Alumni from the past 45 years – No organization on campus has over 850 initiates comprised of so many different temperaments, talents, and convictions. We are the strongest alumni group from Embry-Riddle and we are some of the best pilots, engineers, mechanics, computer geeks, and business people across aviation, aerospace, technology, & many other industries!
7) See how Embry-Riddle has grown – Don’t forget to come early on Thursday March 31st for the campus tour and reception hosted by the Embry-Riddle Alumni Association. The campus has expanded greatly over the years with new facilities, degree programs, and student amenities. If you come in Friday there will be additional tours at 11am and 2pm on Friday April 1st!
6) Hang out at The Ocean Deck – After the Thursday tour we’ll all be hanging out at The Ocean Deck all night long. So if you’re flight gets in after 8pm you know where to find us. Everyone gets a discount card to use all weekend long at the Deck for food & drinks!
5) Sigma Chi Golf Scramble – For those who chase little white balls we are playing at the Spruce Creek Golf & Country Club on Friday April 1st at 10am. Lunch, drinks, and prizes for all golfers playing so bring your sticks or arrange to rent clubs before you come down!
4) Jersey Night at the House Friday – The big house party starts with awesome BBQ at 6pm. Enjoy the sounds of Dan & Ryan (J’s, O’Malleys, the Bank) who will reunite just for us!
3) House Corporation Meeting – Roll out of bed and crawl downstairs at the Hilton for House Corp at 9:30am. Come hear all the stuff we’ve done and plan to do over the next several years. There will be elections for officers & trustees and morning refreshments will be served to rehydrate and caffeinate you.
2) Parrothead Cocktail Party, Silent Auction, & Margaritaville Dinner Party – Enjoy the sound of steel drums while you drink FREE Beer & Wine as you bid on awesome gift baskets and prizes. We have up for bid a ride in a Hot Air Balloon in Colorado with John Downey, a weekend in the Keys with Joe Bilotti flying you from Boca Raton to Key West in his Eclipse jet, and ride with Pete Zaccagnino in his de Havilland DH-115 fighter jet that he flew winning Gold at the Reno Air Races! Then enjoy a wonderful island inspired dinner as we celebrate our 45th Birthday with special guests and entertainment!
1) Sunday Chapter Meeting – Book you flight later in the afternoon so you can enjoy sharing the bonds of brotherhood at Sunday’s chapter meeting at the hotel from 9:30am to Noon. You don’t want to miss out on this experience!
Register online at www.etaiota.org/birthday where you can also sponsor the undergraduates to help reduce their ticket cost, book your hotel room at the Daytona Beach Hilton Resort, and order your 45th Birthday Party shirt.
In Hoc,
James “Gassi” Ahrens ‘90
Birthday Party Chairman
That’s about it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a note.
In Hoc,
John Banta (’96)
Eta Iota House Corporation President