The first annual Regional Rally and regional update will be held on Sunday, May 4 to cap off an exciting Competition Weekend.  Your RMT has been listening to you!!  Over the past 2 years we have been gathering information and feedback from you with regards to your chorus and member needs and we have HEARD YOU.

Come to this exciting session to share in a Region 3 Update and to learn about the exciting plans your RMT has in store for YOU.  We will be kicking out a new Membership Initiative designed to reach more members and assist you in building your Dream Chorus.  Information, prizes, fun - all await you.  BUT you have to be present to participate. 

See you on Sunday!!

For many years, competitors have heard, "you MUST show your badge".  This year it will truly be enforced!  Quartets must bring their badges and show them at the Check-In Desk on Friday night.  If you do not have it, you must go back to your room and get it.  To avoid delaying the contest, you will lose Warm-Up room time while retrieving your badge - the clock will keep ticking.  Badges will be returned to the quartets upon leaving the contest stage.

Chorus members must turn in their badges to enter the Warm-Up room on Saturday.  Dual members will turn in their badge with their first chorus.  Upon check-in with your second chorus, you will receive another badge from the Check-In desk to turn in with your second chorus. 

REMEMBER - This year's registration has returned to an on-site pick-up.  Badges will NOT be coming in the mail.

Some of us feel as though we don't get enough singing time at Regional convention, so here's our big chance!  Please join us in the PANTLIND LOBBY at 3:00 pm on Friday - yes, by the fountain - for our 1^st Annual Region 3 Mass Sing, directed by Chris Noteware, and joined by Four Bettys! 

Song List -        Chordbuster's March

                        Harmonize the World

                        How We Sang Today

                        Send Your Love

                        Spirit of Sweet Adelines

                        That's What Friends Are For

Come rip some chords with old friends and new - let's start a tradition in Region 3!

The Sound Check Chorus will be in the DeVos Ballrooms A & B, beginning at 9:30am.  We encourage as many of you as possible to be a part of this process.  Jim Arns, director of the 2007 Region 3 Champion Chorus, will direct us in "Send Your Love" and "How We Sang Today".  We need ALL of you to attend and help us out!

Prior to the sound check, we will be conducting a 'pattern walk-through'.  If interested, meet at the Skywalk just outside the Ambassador Ballroom at 9:15 am.  The walk-through will end at the contest stage in time to join the sound check chorus.

Once the convention gets started we all get so wrapped up in the schedule, where to be, and what - to- wear, we sometimes forget to eat! 

Never fear - a fabulous concession stand will again be set up in the DeVos hallway by the windows.  Grab a quick bite between contestants or enjoy a more leisurely fare during intermission.  There will be a great selection - come hungry and enjoy!

Back by popular demand, recap sheets of both contests will be published for your competitive appetites!  New this year will be a contest PRevue Sheet with lots of timely scoops - look for it at the Registration table and in the Boutique.

Remember to bring some extra cashola to Friday's Quartet competition.  We will once again be collecting for the Young Women in Harmony fund - be generous, it will feel good!

Sound                     Bobbette Gantz, Co-Director of Channelaires Chorus.

Music                     Sharon Carlson, Member of Pacific Empire Chorus

Expression              * Jan Gervais, Director of Pacific Empire Chorus

Showmanship         Bonnie McKibbon, Bass of Panache, 1990 Queens of Harmony

* Panel Chair

Again this year, recordings will be made of both competitions, and the master copies will play over the Hotel television system.  Quartets can be viewed Friday evening after contest and Saturday until dinner time.  Choruses will show on Saturday evening.

It is our pleasure to assist all of you in having a wonderful convention and competition experience!

Chair of the Regional Convention (CRC) and Events Chair (EVC)

     Shelly Hughes, Melodeers and Midwest Crossroad Choruses

Assistant Chair of the Regional Convention (ACRC)

     Cindy Slowik, Midwest Crossroad and Melodeers Choruses

Competition Coordinator (CC)

     Pattee Bender, Grand Rapids Chorus

Official Panel Liaison (OPL)

     Jane Toftey, Choral-Aires Chorus

Convention Assistants Representative (CAR)

     Robin Kern, Melodeers and Midwest Crossroad Choruses

The Grand Rapids area has lots of road construction in progress.  Allow extra time for travel and keep your frustration level to a minimum.  Need directions?  Have questions about the Amway Grand Hotel?  Check out their website at www.amwaygrand.com for all your answers.

If you are one of those members who gets their hair "done" while staying at the Amway Grand, we are sorry as this is no longer available.  The Grand Salon has closed, there will be no appointments for hair, nails, or massages.  (you really do this here? - no wonder there's no time for food!)

You may call the Amway Grand Concierge at 616-774-2000 and they will assist you in making reservations for these procedures elsewhere, if necessary.

The Battle Creek Chorus has come upon a new idea for keeping prospective members.  In the past, our chorus has done well with our membership campaigns bringing in many guests, however when we tell them about the upfront International fee of $80, we never see them again.

This suggestion may help you all.  Tell them that they will be paying $25 a month, for three months and once that is collected by the treasurer, the chorus puts in the extra $5 (a bonus for the guest) and sends it to International (thus the $80 fee is paid).  The prospective member then continues to pay, whatever the chorus dues are for each month.  We share with them that they are not counted as a member with the International rolls, until after that 3 months, but they do not have a problem with that.  They are just very eager to continue to attend rehearsals and they seem to be quite relieved that they didn't have to come up with the $80 immediately, along with chorus dues, etc.

Sometimes we just have to take different steps to help them out because in the very beginning the fees can become so overwhelming. Let's hope this helps all of us to keep our very eager prospective members!

by Julie Zehnder

Director Battle Creek Chorus

Girls from five high schools in northern Illinois met at Barrington High School on February 10, 2008 for the 3^rd Annual Region 3 Young Women in Harmony Festival.*  Nine ensembles and four quartets sang and danced in the competition -- It may have been bitterly cold in Barrington, Illinois that Sunday afternoon, but the competition was hot inside!

At the end of the day, Bottomless Pitch Quartet, from Benet Academy, was awarded 1^st Place Honors -- individual medals, a trophy and monetary prize for their school music department.  (The lead, Amanda Siemann, would seem to come by this "barbershop stuff" pretty naturally - her mother, Georgia, is a Melodeer.)  Barrington High's Vivace and Ring Tones, received 2^nd- and 3^rd-Place individual quartet medals, as well.

Premium Blend from Barrington High won the ensemble contest with their rendition of "Lollipop" and "Kokomo".  The runner-up, Premium Blend from Woodstock High, performed a lovely version of "Scarlet Ribbons" and "Let Me Call You Sweetheart".  Barrington High's Madri-Gals rounded out the Top Three, singing "Til There Was You" and "I Enjoy Being a Girl".  Cash prizes were awarded to the schools' music departments on behalf of all three ensembles, along with something lovely to display in their schools' trophy cases. 

The judging duties were competently handled by Helen Giallombardo, Debi Miller, Bon Pressley and Dawn Peters of Jukebox, who also WOW-ed the appreciative audience with a short performance of their own.  The girls' portion of the contest once again moved along in an efficient and orderly fashion due to the efforts of Diane Landry, Kappie Swanson, Bev Turbak and Krickett Kean (Fandangle Quartet), with Shelly Hughes acting as Panel Secretary and Mary Pass taking the official photos.

"I think the level of the competition is really improving," one of the music teachers commented. "The girls are really beginning to 'get it' - some even look like Sweet Adelines." 

Sounds like we're on the right track.

*Early in the school year, invitations are sent to Music Departments of high schools all over northern Illinois, and any high school (or junior high) girls within Region 3 are eligible to compete.  Volunteer mentors, currently including Jarmela Speta, June Berg, Kathy Peterson, Donna Bates, and Diane Landry, go to the high schools, work with the teachers, the ensembles, and/or the quartets, as requested.  If you would like to encourage someone in your town, neighborhood, or local high school to get involved, please feel free to contact the Committee (kapswan@aol.com) for more information. 

-- Submitted by Krickett Kean

Understanding how to attract new chorus members is more than planning a guest night with cookies.  As we begin a new Marketing and Membership Campaign aimed at helping you reach new prospects, let's take a look at the process that an individual goes through in reaching any "buying" decision.

In any given situation, there is a buying decision that is made prior to "purchasing" or in our case "joining".  We can look at this as it relates to our "product".  Let's look at how most decisions are made.  There are FIVE psychological processes that are part of every major "buying" decision.

The first decision that a new member is makes is do they like YOU.  You are the single most important factor in the process.  The adage that you "only get one chance to make a first impression" holds true.  Are you planning your guest nights so that you are putting your best foot forward?  Are your members engaged and friendly?  Do you have a plan to help them integrate into the chorus?  Are you someone they can relate to?  John Maxwell calls this the "Law of Magnetism".  Like attracts like.  Have you ever looked around your chorus and wondered why your members are so similar - maybe in age or in demeanor.  Like attracts like.

Secondly, who are you?  Members want to know about your "company" or ORGANIZATION.  Is their association with you going to bring value to their lives?  We represent SAI and our own unique chorus within that barbershop world.  Initially, your chorus is the only exposure they will have to the bigger organization. 

The next decision is your PRODUCT.  Since most of our members joined because they love to sing, is your product something that will attract the caliber of singer that you are wanting.  Are you on your "A" game? 

The fourth decision is the COST.  Interestingly, you will note that this is actually one of the LAST decisions that a new prospect makes prior to joining.  Sometimes when a new member decides to not join, it may be a stall versus an objection.  This may be due to the fact that we have not convinced them that the price is worth the effort.  If they have not felt welcomed or concluded that the product is worthy of their time and energy, using the cost as a scapegoat is often an easy way to gracefully decline.  It is up to all of us to make sure that we have not created barriers to our new prospects in making this decision to join.  If the cost is a true deal-breaker, then it is important to find creative ways to allow that potential new member to ease into the chorus.

And lastly, the TIME TO BUY!!  When we look at chorus demographics, we see a decline overall in our organization and an aging membership.  Doing what you have always done, may not get you where you want to go!  If "like attracts like" and your chorus average age is 62 or you spend a significant amount of time talking versus singing, well, you get the picture.  To attract younger members, we may have to take a different approach as they are joining for different reasons.  They have grown up in an era of fast food, instant messaging and remote controls and have a different set of expectations.  This is a generation who will buy-into our organization only if can meet them on their turf.  If we expect to recruit this younger generation of singers, then we have to find ways to attract them based on THEIR level of needs and comfort.  So, Time to Buy for anyone is not only on a matter of demographics, but the delivery of our product.  We must know our audience and how to market to them.  And while it is important to learn from our past, can we really afford to live in it?

Five Buying Decision that everyone makes prior to joining.  Knowing these can help your chorus make healthy decisions in their quest to grow and thrive.  And most importantly, you may want to consider that "What got us HERE, will not get us THERE".  Change is not only good, I would suggest it is vital.