Michigan Jaycees 2Q Convention – August 12-14 2011: A First Timers View
Michigan Jaycees 2Q Convention – August 12-14 2011: A First Timers View
Packed and energized for the weekend to come, I locked my apartment doors, tossed my gear in the back my truck and headed for Grand Rapids. During the drive I thought about seeing my fellow Kentwood, Region C and Michigan Jaycees; many for the first time. I thought about the evening baseball game, opening ceremonies, party and how I would be able to sleep after all this excitement. This was my first Jaycee Convention, the first time I would truly feel as though I was part of something much bigger than any one region or chapter.
As I pulled into the hotel parking lot, I passed one of the most inspiring people I know and I yelled out my window “WhoooHooo Jenny D.!” After parking and getting the room that my chapter would be staying in for the weekend, I made my way down the registration area. Having pre-registered, the whole process was easy. I received a bunch of information in this bright green bag and an extra-large shirt to wear at the baseball game later that night.
When COB Lisa Welter arrived we decided to head up to the room after she registered, and she was shocked! You see, we had four people staying in the room with us, and the room we got only had one King sized bed. Now, being the only guy in the bunch, I didn’t have any problem with this arrangement Haha. Just kidding. Lisa got on the phone right away and got this little issue taken care of right away. Shucks!
Now, after collecting all of our gear again, getting a new room (right next to our old one actually), Jen Klein arrived and we made our way to the charter bus that would carry us to the Whitecaps baseball game. The bus was packed. While the bus was nice, we found out very quickly that some seats came with a special feature! Who knew that we could take a quick shower before the game! The air conditioning had sprung a couple leaks. One row had the awesome idea of using the window shade as a lean-to and others used their foam fingers to catch the drips. Not really a problem though, just live art, right??? Really though nobody seemed to mind and we still had a great time on the bus.
The game was awesome. Our fearless leader, President Lance Snell was able to meet us at the game. Johnny Lu was also there helping the Grand Rapids Jaycees sell some raffle tickets. No big winning for me though. We all drank some beer, ate some food, and talked with our fellow Jaycees. There were some close calls with some of the foul balls, and we successfully got the entire stadium doing the wave. Now let me tell you, that wave was a feat for sure, but whom better than the Jaycees to pull it off. After the game, when the Whitecaps mopped the floor with the guest team, there were some awesome fireworks and a very musical ride home. And guess what, nobody even noticed, or at the least mentioned the drips on the way back. Who knows why, but I vote for the beer and the singing distraction.
Once back at the hotel we met up with Alyssa and headed down to the ballroom. Opening ceremonies were led by the 87th Michigan Jaycees President, David Q. Worthams. He was very energetic and was very good at passing that energy on to the crowd. Then came the First Timers challenge. As a first timer, I had to go to the stage and introduce myself in front of all of these people along with the two others who were first timers. Then I was lead off the stage and met with a group of JCI Senators. We were charged with answering a bunch of trivia questions, getting our fellow members favorite local chapter project, and getting their signature. This task consumed the rest of my night. I met tons of great Jaycees and learned about lots of new projects that I hope to someday bring to the Kentwood chapter. Around 2AM I finally made it back to the room to catch some Z’s. What a day.
Saturday started out like any other day. Up at 7am… stupid body clock. My first training was at 10 so I decided to read some Wikipedia articles on my phone for a while until somebody else woke up. Lisa was the first one ready and out the door. Being on the Michigan Board must be hard during Convention with the schedule one has to keep. I got up and got around and by 9:15 or so, everyone else was up and getting ready.
Joined by Jen and Alyssa, I went to the New Member Orientation and Passport to Leadership training provided by Darlene Dresch and Gil Mayrand. Stand up when speaking! That was one of the things I already knew, but humans are like sheep, and because the first person introducing themselves did not stand, I did not stand. Once introductions were done and Gil mentioned standing when speaking, a switch went off in my head. I was not there to be a sheep. I was there to be Sheppard, a Leader of people. Among everything I learned at the convention, this might be the most important thing. After this training was over, Jen and Alyssa left and I remained behind as my next training was in the same room. Stepping your way through the project, provided by Amy Fenner was an interesting training and gave me some ideas about how to better manage our old and new CPG’s for archival purposes.
After training I went to turn in my First Timers paperwork to the Senate room and grab some lunch before the Business meeting got underway. The business meeting was very important at this meeting. The Michigan Jaycee Constitution was changed to combine the ID and Membership VP positions, and the regions are going to be remapped. After the business portion of the Lunch, the awards ceremony began. The Kentwood Jaycees had one award given to Community VP Kevin Jones. Congrats Kevin! Several other Region C chapters were presented awards as well. For a while I felt as if I was cog in a machine, up and down and clapping and whoohoo-ing. There were some excellent speeches given and a lot of thought provoking comments. So far so good for my first Convention.
Between lunch and dinner, I spent time with Jen and Alyssa in our room, watching TV and being the “heater” for the two ladies, because they were cold, and I was roasting. Before dinner Lisa and I had to change into our formal gear. Purple was the Region C color for this convention so I had my purple dress shirt and tie. Jen and Alyssa were heading out to dinner too.
The Presidential Ball was very good. The dinner was surprisingly good. Roast beef, cooked perfect with a little red left, potatoes and mixed veggies. Ben Symko, his wife and Edonna Russell joined us for dinner and the rest of the ball. We watched video, and more awards were handed out. Jen and Alyssa came in after a while and then the Outstanding Young Michigander awards started. These young men and women had very moving back stories and will move on to the national stage to perhaps become one of the 10 Outstanding Young Americans for this year. What an honor that would be. After the final award, and the Jaycee Creed, we adjourned back to our rooms.
While in our room, all I could think about was how to make the Kentwood chapter stronger and better, first for our members and then for our region, state and nation. Ideas were flowing like water from a wide open fire-hydrant. Jen, Alyssa and Lisa were great listening and commenting on my ideas. I think I’ll be running for ID Membership VP next year. Whoohoo! After we got our Region C shirts on, we headed down to the patio for our Region C meeting. There I had my first experience with Woo. 17 shots later, I think Woo and I became pretty good friends. I met the 50th president of the Kentwood Jaycees and we talked about technology and ways to involve our membership better. It was almost 3, I think, when we ended up going back to the room and crashing. Dang, what a night!
Sunday morning was rush rush rush. Got up about 10:30 and had to be checked out by 11. So we hustled to get things around and get out. As I left the hotel I thought back and recalled all of the people whom I met and had great conversations with. The relationships I built with my fellow Jaycees and the inspiration that I got from listening to their stories. My popped Woo cherry, the laughs and smiles of those around me. This truly is, without question the best young people’s organization in the world and I’m proud to be a part of it.
Noel Groom