GATC

Just like club officers are trained at COTC, all of the governors of all of the districts of CKI also get trained so that they are prepared to lead their district during the new year.  GATC refers to the Governors and Administrators Training Conference.  This year it was held in St. Louis, MO from April 8th to the 11th.

The governors arrived on Thursday afternoon and were given the opportunity to bond and get to know one another until the administrators came in on Friday.  We sat through sessions on everything one could possibly want to know about CKI, from how to sets goals to filling out monthly reports to the different extensions in the International Office to call if you have a question.  
On Friday afternoon we headed off to Washington University in St. Louis, where ICON (International Convention) will be held this summer for a tour.  This is the first year, in a long time, that ICON will be held at a college/university.  During our tours we were able to see where everything was going to take place for the convention. 

When we got back to the hotel there was free time until the administrators all arrived.  After dinner we had more sessions on our roles and responsibilities as governors and administrators.  For free time that evening we paired up and had a wii bowling tournament!

Saturday morning had even more workshops (I know! there were a lot of them).  After lunch we divided up into subregions and participated in service projects for Kiwanis One Day.  Our subregion made neck pillows to go onto hospital carts for parents to use at a local children's hospital.  During that time we talked about what all we wanted to see our subregion accomplish this year.  Afterwards I sat down and talked with our District Administrator Tom on a game plan for the year.  We devised some good plans on strengthening our district and helping the struggling clubs.  

The entire evening was free time to hang with the governors and administrators.  The Alabama advisor was nice enough to give a few of us a lift to the St. Louis Arch.  It wouldn't have been a trip to St. Louis without seeing it!  It was so beautiful seeing it at night.  After taking numerous pictures we headed back to the hotel, switched around a few people, and then went to Steak and Shake for a late night snack.

On Sunday there was a farewell breakfast and then we sadly had to say our goodbyes to everyone.  I stuck around until that evening and toured around St. Louis with Susan, a past Carolinas Circle Ker!

My absolute favorite part of the entire weekend was the ability to bond with not only all of the other governors, but especially those in our subregion.  Our subregion consists of the Alabama, Carolinas, Eastern Canada and the Caribbean, Florida, and Georgia Districts!  We are all super excited to be working together and have tons of ideas to make our subregion be the best one there is!  

A CKI Filled Day!

I don't think it was possible to fit any more Circle K into my day today!  After spending the morning in class at UNC I headed over to Duke to meet up with all of my committee chairs.  The one benefit of them all being from Duke is that they are all super close, which means we can do business face to face!  I was able to sit down with each committee chair and go over each committee's plans for the coming year.

I made a detour on my way back to UNC and dropped Minerva (LSSP chair and district Con-Con chair) off at the airport so she could head out to St. Louis and scope some sites for LSSP (Large Scale Service Project) this summer.  After hitting tons of rush hour traffic I ended up with 10 minutes to pack for GATC (Governor's and Administrator's Training Conference) and change into formal business wear until I had to head out to NC State's Spring Banquet.  Somehow I manage to  get everything done and I was able to pick up Ruddy, UNC's club secretary, and Andrew, Triad LTG, right on time.

NC State's Spring Banquet was my first official Governor's visit!!!  The potluck had great food, great people and overall it was just a great time.  I had the opportunity to induct NC State's new officers, which was an amazing experience--with such talented leaders I can't wait to see what the club will do next year!  

Now I feel obliged to fill you in on a little district drama...NC State stole UNC's mascot, Ramses, back at DCON.  We then reciprocated and stole NC States mascot, Wolfie, and gave it to USC-Aiken, 4.5hrs away.  At the banquet NC State revealed that they had gotten Wolfie back and left Ramses in their place.  We did not go home emptied handed however.  They gave us a "new" Ramses that is a sheep, not a ram.  My club seems to find our "new" mascot much cuter than our old mascot (he's, rather she's fatter and softer) so who knows now if we'll ever get the real Ramses back!

After the banquet and dropping people back off at UNC I headed home to Mooresville so I could fly out of Charlotte in the morning for GATC.  Such an exhausting, though awesome CKI day!

DCON Sub-Committees

This year the Carolinas District will be celebrating its 50th District Convention (DCON)!  In order to make it the best DCON that it can possibly be the Conventions-Conferences committee has decided to have sub-committees this year to help better facilitate tasks.  You can apply to be a member or a chair of one of the sub-committees. They are as follows: 

- Audio Visual

- Awards

- Elections, Credentials and Resolutions

- Hospitality

- Sergeant-at-Arms

- Sponsorship

We are also looking for a DCON Host Committee!  If your club is knowledgeable about the Raleigh area and would like to take a more active role in planning DCON please consider having your club apply.  If you are interested in being a part of planning this amazing event, either through a sub-committee or the host committee, please check out our website, carolinascki.org, for an application.  DCON Host Committee applications are due April 15th and sub-committee member/chair applications are due April 25th.  

A CKI New Year!

Happy CKI New Year!  Today is the day where all of the new officers officially take office.  Congratulations to all of the new club and district officers!  I am very excited to be working with each of you in the coming year!

Club Officer Training Conference

It was an absolute pleasure getting to meet all of the new club officers this past weekend at COTC (Club Officer Training Conference).  I hope everyone enjoyed learning everything they could want to know about Circle K, meeting members from all over the district, and how to lead your clubs to success this year!  Most importantly, now that I'm facebook friends with all of you (and not in a creepy way since we've actually met) I can stalk you to death until you turn in club monthly reports :)  I am really looking forward to working with all of you in the coming year!

50th Anniversary

Guess what!? It's the Carolinas 50th Anniversary this year!  Get pumped for an AMAZING year and an even more AWESOME DCON!

2010-2011 District Committee Chairs

It's official: Duke is taking over!  The following committee chairs have been appointed.  All of them happen to be from Duke but we'll love them anyways ;)

Conventions-Conferences and Laws & Regulations: Minerva Thai
District Service Project: Effie Kim
Governor's Project: Linda Li
Kiwanis Family Relations: Alice Ji

Grad School

For those of you worried about whether or not I would get into grad school and thus still be in Circle K next year...I GOT INTO UNC!!!  For those of you who were hoping and wishing on every star in the galaxy that I would go to NC State...I GOT INTO UNC!!!  Just wanted to share :)

Jamaica

Over Spring Break I had the pleasure of visiting the Eastern Canada and Caribbean District.  I was accompanied by Minerva Thai, current District Bulletin Editor, Scott Barron, Immediate-Past Governor of the Georgia District, and our International Representative Alex Garner.  We had an absolute blast seeing the sights and getting to know members of their District.

We flew into Kingston, Jamaica on Tuesday and were able to attend a club meeting that same night.  The meeting was run very differently than any I have seen in our District.  The meeting had an interesting mix of being more formal than ours by following Robert's Rules of Orders, while still being much more relaxed.  On Wednesday we were able go to a nearby beach and enjoy the Caribbean weather.  

Thursday was a day of traveling.  In the morning we hung out around the house (the DCON chair was nice enough to let us stay with her) and then all piled into a bus and headed off to Runaway Bay, on the other side of the island, where DCON was to be held.  We had Friday morning to ourselves so we headed out to another beach.  The water was crystal clear and we found a dock to jump off of.  If you look REALLY closely you can see our heads swimming way out there in the ocean :)

EC&Cs DCON had a lot of similarities to our DCON but it was also a lot different.  I really enjoyed being able to compare the two and get ideas on how to make our upcoming DCON even better.  They held workshops, caucusing and all the appropriate sessions, but what I most enjoyed was the Mr and Ms EC&C competition.  Contestants sang, danced and answered CKI related questions as judges voted on the winners.  It was quite entertaining!  

Overall, it was a wonderful experience being able to hear about and see how other Circle K clubs and districts operate.  I now also have friends all over Jamaica!  We also met members from a club in Aruba, so guess where the next International Circle K trip will be too?  :D

2010-2011 District Board Officers

The following people were appointed to the District Board tonight:

District Treasurer: Yuwa Harimoto, UNC

Coastal Lieutenant Governor: Demetria Chestnut, Coastal Carolina

Metro Lieutenant Governor: Mildred Sierra, Queens University of Charlotte

Triad Lieutenant Governor: Andrew Bannister, UNC

This almost completes our board!  This is the first time in at least the past four years that we have had all of the Lieutenant Governor positions filled!!!  I am super exciting to be working with such a full board this year!  However, we are still in need of a District Secretary.  If you are interested in the position please contact me at carolinascki@gmail.com. 

 

District Convention

DCON was a whirlwind.  Between hanging out with old friends, making new ones, caucusing, facilitating workshops, getting no sleep and a million other things throughout the weekend I somehow managed to have an absolute blast! 

I cannot put into words how honored I am to be serving as your 2010-2011 District Governor.  I absolutely love Circle K and especially the Carolinas District.  I am going to do everything that I can to rebuild our district this year and make it the best that it can be!