Convention 2009 Registration - Less than a month left to sign up for the fun!

We are very excited to tell everyone that as of our early bird registration close last Friday, we have over 130 attendees registered for Convention 2009! This is definitely a great showing for the event and we're looking forward to seeing you there.

So far these numbers also include registrations from past National Council officers and some of our founders! Abby and Rashmi will both be in attendance, and they'll be joined by Christine Jackson, another charter member! Since registration is still open until June 1st, who knows what other surprises we'll have in store!

It's not too late, you can still register: http://www.phisigmarho.org/Convention2009/

News from the PSR Nominating Committee for the 12th NC!

The preliminary slate of candidates for the 12th National Council is complete and has been sent to all who are eligible to vote at the National Convention meeting. The candidates' platforms will be available to view in the "Sisters Only" section of the National website by Monday, May 11, 2009. A login and password is required and will be made available to voting delegates.

There is still opportunity for sisters who are not on the slate or who were not nominated to run for a National Council position. An individual sister, active chapter, or alumnae group may nominate other sisters, or a sister may nominate herself, by contacting the Nominating Committee for a nomination form. A sister who wishes to be considered as candidate will then be required to submit a platform to the Nominating Committee by June 1, 2009. The Nominating Committee will follow up with all additional candidates, which may include phone interviews. The final National Council ballot will be announced on June 15, 2009.

There is also still opportunity for sisters to run for a Foundation Board of Directors position. A sister who wishes to be considered as a candidate for the Foundation must follow the same process detailed above, with a deadline of May 20, 2009. Platforms submitted to the Nominating Committee for Foundation positions will be sent to the current Foundation Board of Directors. These candidates are not voted on by the general Sorority body, but are selected by the Foundation Board of Directors.

Please contact the Nominating Committee at nominations@phisigmarho.org with questions and requests for more information or nominating documents.

More from Pittsburgh! A look at where Convention will be...

I grew up in Pittsburgh, so celebrating 25 years there with you all is very exciting for me! I spent this past weekend there and did the tourist thing in Station Square, up the incline to Mt. Washington, and downtown. I thought I'd share a few pictures of the view from Mt. Washington for you all to convince you to come join us in Pittsburgh - since we'll be spending Friday night here!

Here's a view looking up from the Monongahela Incline as we headed up Mt. Washington:


Station Square (where we'll be Friday night) from the top:


The Point, with Heinz Field (Go Steelers!) and PNC Park (There's a Pirate game on Friday, July 17th if you're interested) in the background:


Downtown Pittsburgh:


Pittsburgh is not only the "Steel City", but the "City of Bridges" with 446 bridges!:


The next two pictures are from Station Square - the Bessemer Court fountains and some old steel mill historic statues:

This is in downtown Pittsburgh, the PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) Center Buildings, which are my favorite. Primanti Brothers, home of the world famous sandwiches, is located in the market area.

I just wanted to share a little with on the city that I love and hope you guys will get to see it yourself in a few months!

See you in Pittsburgh,
Nikki Yovanof
VP of PRogramming

Come to Convention 2009, from Pitt-Zeta!

Cheers from the lovely city of Pittsburgh! Myself and all the girls from the University of Pittsburgh chapter are so excited to be welcoming Phi Rhos from all over the country to our town this July. I love this city and hope that all of you will too. Its a wonderful, homey place, and hopefully while you are here you can experience some of the fun it has to offer! Especially Friday evening when we head
off to Station Square for dinner and entertainment, including wonderful restaurants, hopefully some outdoor music, shopping and dance clubs -- for the ladies over 21, the country bar Saddleridge is a person favorite! I'm sure that this 25th anniversary edition of the National Convention will be one to remember! I, and we here at Pitt,
look forward meeting you all this summer!

Convention 2009 - Early Bird Reigstration Deadline in 1 Week!

We only have one week left to register for Convention 2009 at the early-bird registration rate! After that, the registration fees will go up. This is a great opportunity for you to get to convention at a lower price for meals, social activities, the formal banquet, networking sessions with alumnae and actives, time to chat with our Alpha Chapter, Alpha class and other Alpha Class members, join the legislative session, and hang out with all your favorite Phi Rhos! Hope we can see you all in Pittsburgh!

Encyclopedia Britannica's 300 Women Who Changed the World

A random link that might be of interest to you all on 300 Women Who Changed the World: http://www.britannica.com/women. There are some great links to women who studied math and science early on (like the mathematician, Hypatia, mentioned in the opening page). The time line of women through history is a really cool reference!

I can't help but think that it won't be long before we see some Phi Rhos on lists like these!

LEAPing into 2010 National Leadership Conference

It's time to start planning for future events starting with National Leadership Conference 2010! This will be the third national leadership conference we've hosted since the founding of LEAP. The first was held at the University of Dayton in 2006 and the last one was at the University of Kentucky in 2008. National Council is trying to plan the 2010 Conference and first we have to select a location! If your chapter or alumnae association/organization is interested in having us look at your university, please let us know! It's a lot of fun, a great leadership experience for the planners, and awesome exposure of your Chapter to the rest of the Sorority.