Kappa Kappa Psi
& Tau Beta Sigma
Electronic Newsletter
Volume 2, Number 4
February 21, 2001

IN THIS ISSUE:

• NEWSFLASH: JEWELRY PROGRAM UPDATE

• Get With The Program

• Help the National Headquarters with an Official Chapter Email Address

• Reminders

1. Changes with our Jewelry Vendor
Some of you have noticed we are currently going through some changes with our jewelry vendor. Preferred Greek apparently has gone out of business and arranged for a different jewelry company to handle our product inventory. That's why the 800 number is out of service for Preferred Greek.

The new company, Awards Concepts, is handling all jewelry orders at this time and you may place your orders directly through the same website we have used all year. You can access the site through the National Homepage at http://www.kkytbs.org under national information. Or you can go direct to their webstore at the following URL: http://store.yahoo.com/preferredgreekjewelry/

I am working with both National Councils to negotiate a reasonable agreement with Awards Concepts and the remains of Preferred Greek to determine if we will stay with the new company or strike out in a new direction. There are some good possibilities, and as soon as we are able to inform you of the decision, we will advise you promptly. In the meantime, Awards Concepts does have a fairly large amount of KKPsi & TBS jewelry inventory for you. As we do every year, members of the National Council will have a representative sampling of our official jewelry at each district convention in March & April.

For customer service assistance, you may call Awards Concepts at 800-659-7801 and ask for Lisa. As she handles a number of fraternal groups, you will need to identify your organization. However, if anyone is unable to resolve any problems with your jewelry orders, please give us a call at National Headquarters and we will do all we can to assist you.

2. Get With The Program
Mike Osborn, KKPsi National Vice President for Programs, recently unveiled the first edition of new publication designed to keep the membership of Kappa Kappa Psi informed as to the programs and awards of the Fraternity. This publication is in the form of a web based publication to strive for the easiest access. You may access Mike Osborn’s newsletter at http://zip.to/getwiththeprograms. Examples of topics in the first publication include:

• a. An article concerning the importance on the on-time submission of the Fall Activity Reports to the National Headquarters.

• b. The annual National Council Winter Meeting and national awards. Most national awards have a January 1 deadline so that the materials you submit will arrive in time to be ready for National Council Review by mid January.

• c. Program(s) of the Month

3. Help the National Headquarters with an Official Chapter Email Address
It has now been approximately one year since the web-based services for members and chapters became available. This service includes a free, permanent, e-mail address, conforming to an easy-to-remember format, and many chapters have claimed and are using their “official” e-mail addresses. However, a substantial number of chapters are still using personal e-mail address, and this is causing the Headquarters staff to spend substantial time and effort in keeping records up-to-date as those addresses change. We need your help!!

It is clear the National Headquarters will ultimately, only use official e-mail address available through the National Headquarters’ web services to communicate with all chapters via electronic communications.

Each chapter already has a special, official format for your email address, and it includes ONLY the chapter name, spelled as one word, followed by “@kkpsi.org” or “@tbsigma.org” as appropriate., for example, “alphaomega@kkpsi.org” or “alphaomega@tbsigma.org.” Please do not use any other characters (numerals, dashes, underscores, etc.). If your chapters has already claimed an official e-mail address that does not conform to this format, please make the correction and advise the National Publications Manager, Mike McMurtrey at podium@kkytbs.org.

The official chapter email address is intended for official communications between the National Headquarters and Chapters, as it offers an efficient, inexpensive, and quick means for us to get information out to you at the chapter level. We need to ensure it is easy to maintain, and I hope you all will help us make that happen! If you have any questions about your personal or chapter -mail address, please don’t hesitate to contact the National Headquarters at 800.543.6505 or email Mike.

4. REMINDERS:

- Initiate Registration Reports: We are in the heaviest time of the year for new members. REMEMBER, you have 30 days following the Initiation Date to submit your Initiate Report to the National Headquarters and avoid the Late Fees!

- MARCH 1, 2001 Final Registration Deadline for NIMB:
FINAL DEADLINE FOR NEW REGISTRATIONS for a guaranteed reservation in the First National Intercollegiate Marching Band French Riviera Tour in June 26 to July 5, 2002. If you have questions, call the HQs at 800-543-6505, or check out information and registration form on the National Headquarters website: http://www.kkytbs.org/nimb.htm

- 2001 National Convention in Corpus Christi, Texas "A Musical Quest in the Southwest"
Register for convention and hotel early, but deadline is June 8th!
Major events include:
National Intercollegiate Band - July 22-24
NIB Concert - July 24 with Colonel Bryan Shelburne Conducting
USAF Band of the Air Force Reserves Concert - July 26
District Leadership Conference - July 23-24
Opening Session to the Convention - July 25
Banquet - July 27
Closing Business Sessions and 'Saturday Night Event' - July 28