It's all about the little things!

Source

Phase 3: Excellence: Here is where as Social Chair you need to shine. By this point in the game you have build up quite an impressive notebook of different events, contact, contracts and social ideas, make sure you do not lose this. On top of putting the finishing touches on this notebook, it is time to take your social life to the next level time to go decent to to a social life of excellence. The major tasks for this stage are building better connections with sororities and campus administration, hosting the reception of the year, and making your formal something your campus will be talking about for years to come. Also if you decide to, this is where you would announce the Sweetheart of your chapter. 

The first thing you need to do for this stage is set your social calendar, and get it passed by your chapter. Your best friend during this phase is going to be careful planning and organization from the beginning. Your social calendar should be fully set within the first month of the semester, leaving room for last minute social events and such. If you do not have fully formalized socials planned, at least put the tentative dates on the calendar. Also on this calendar you should have the dates and times for major brotherhood events, community service events and other such activities being planned by the members of your committee. This should be of the utmost importance as this stage will have you and your chapter very busy with social lives, so you want to make sure everyone knows what is happening and when.  Once you have this done it is time to start tackling building better connections. 

The easiest way to do this through thoughtful and respectful correspondences. I know this sounds like it is straight from Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Guide to Etiquette which it might be, but that does not mean it is no less important. There are three major times you need to send a card, handwritten note etc. Those are Founder’s Days, administration birthdays and after an event. There are different sets of rules for the different groups you are sending these cards to as well. You have a lot more leeway when it comes to inter-Greek relations then when sending things to the administration. 

When sending things to other Greeks there are a few things to keep in mind. 

1. Almost all correspondences should be done in physical form, such as cards or handwritten notes. The only time electronic versions are acceptable are for the setting up of social events(such as between you and the other social chair) and when sending out mass well wishes for things like Finals week. 
2. When sending cards to Sororities delivering in person is always better. 
3. Cards sent to Sororities should be homemade for extra points. The cheesier the better.
4. When sending cards to other fraternities they should be professional and it is acceptable to send via on-campus mail services. 

When sending cards to administrators you should always deliver the physical card or note in person when possible. These notes and cards should be professional and well thought out.  Also make sure your cards you send are all inclusive, for example instead of sending a card that says “Merry Christmas” with Santa Claus, opt for a card that is more neutral with something like “Happy Holidays”. 

When to send cards. 

1. If your mom would send you a card for the holiday, such as winter holidays, Valentine’s day or New Years, you should send a card.  
2. You should send a thank you note to every department or organization that attended your social event within three days of the event. 
3. You should send a thank you note to the host of any social event your chapter attends.

You might also consider sending a floral arrangement to a sorority that you are either close to, or want to get close to for their Founder’s Day. While these seems like a small thing, a fraternity brought over flowers to my sister’s sorority; she and her sisters talked about this for months, so take notes. I would also like to point out that the fraternity in questions and my sister’s sorority did not like each other before, and now they socialize on a regular basis. Also the sorority is the Alpha on campus, while the fraternity was Beta at best. See it works!