Saturday, April 17, 2010

AKPsi Day!

This past Thursday, April 15, 2010 was Lambda Nu's first official Alpha Kappa Psi Day! On a gorgeous spring afternoon, Lambda Nu took over part of the Eric A. Friedheim Quadrangle on American University's campus for an afternoon of carnival fun. AKPsi day was a mix of business and pleasure - the brothers of Lambda Nu know when to put on the charm with a dapper suit, but are also able to let their ties loose and have a great time with the entire AU student body.


On the quad there were featured games of Pie the CEO, Balloon shave, Make a Yellow Rose, Rise in the Rank, and Pin the Tie on the CEO were featured on the quad, along with selling refreshing beverages and great company. Participants were able to win "AKPsi bucks" in order to try and win the coveted prize of a Starbucks gift card!












Even SUPERMAN made an appearance!!


Thanks to the hard work of our Vice President of Marketing, Dana Fleishaker, for her planning and execution of the day's event; on short notice she was able to assemble a day of fun and games, a perfect way to relax before hectic weeks of finals! Oh, and Alex Addarrio wanted to personally thank Dana... by pieing her in the face.

Fantastic Job Dana!


Also, enjoy a video of myself and Kendall Byl, having a little bit too much fun with the left-over helium balloons.


Friday, April 9, 2010

CONGRATULATIONS BETA IOTA, WELCOME TO THE BROTHERHOOD!!

On Saturday, April 10th, 2010 the Lambda Nu Chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi initiated the Beta Iota pledge class. Since January, when Beta Iota was inducted, every new member has proven to exemplify what it means to be a brother in Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity. Integrity, service, brotherhood, knowledge, and unity are AKPsi's core values. Throughout the pledging process, the Beta Iota pledge class has displayed efforts that reflect all of AKPsi's values with ease and efficiency.


It is remarkable how Beta Iota was made it so far since their road to brotherhood began. With the help of their pledgemaster, Jacque Martin, the pledge class was able to develop professional skills that impressed the brotherhood throughout the entire semester. Her guidance and friendship were vital to the pledges' success; and her dedication to their transformation has not gone unnoticed. Thank you Jacque for your hard work with the Beta Iota class!


I was completely amazed with the amount of vigor and excitement each new member displayed throughout pledging. Beta Iota's intelligence and determination, in combination with their compassion and friendliness, made it impossible for Lambda Nu to imagine the brotherhood without them. I think that I can speak on behalf of every Lambda Nu brother by saying, welcome Beta Iota pledge class of Spring 2010, we are so extremely happy and excited to call each of you a brother, and we look forward to all the future memories we will share together in Alpha Kappa Psi. CONGRATULATIONS !!!!!!!!
















Monday, March 29, 2010

Dress For Success Fashion Show

On Saturday, March 27, 2010 Alpha Kappa Psi Lambda Nu hosted its Dress for Success Fashion Show. Lambda Nu has hosted this event in the previous years and has been planning its return since this past fall semester. AKPSi brothers and pledges showed off their goods on the runway to benefit a great cause.

Dress for Success is a non-profit organization that works to promote economic independence for disadvantaged women all over the country. Volunteers all over the country donate clothing, their time, or their experience to help unemployed women enter the workforce. Jeff Mindell, a brother of Lambda Nu, invited his mother to come speak at the event, considering she has volunteered with Dress For Success for several years. Mrs. Mindell was able to share personal stories of how the organization is able to boost Women's self-confidence and encourage them to re-enter the workforce. Lambda Nu was extremely grateful to have Mrs. Mindell attend the event and share some of her personal experiences.

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The first portion of the event was the fashion show, which first consisted of a "Do's and Don'ts" collections.

Bright distracting socks? I don't think so.


Same goes for the ladies, leave the neon leg tights at home!

Next time keep it subtle, monochromatic suits, socks & tights will be sure to impress.

Same goes for heels!

They look great, but save them for the club.


And I know a backpack is comfortable and simple...


...but it just does NOT work in professional wear.








Those are just a few examples of the many Do's and Don'ts that Lambda Nu wanted to showcase at this year's Dress for Success Fashion Show. After our brothers and pledges were done struttin' their stuff on the runway, the brothers provided a silent auction for guests to bid on. In combination to the donations for the event with the proceeds from the auction, Lambda Nu was able to raise over $500 for Dress for Success! Thanks to everyone who participated in the show and donated to the great cause. Jeff Mindell, for MC-ing the event and for inviting his lovely mother to join; Liz Guez & her family for providing items for the silent auction, and the big thanks to Amanda Augustine, our Dress for Success Chair; without her hard work throughout the semester this event would not have been a success, wonderful job Amanda!




Sunday, March 28, 2010

Pledge Mission RUSH Commercials


A component of the pledge mission for the Beta Iota pledge class this year was to compile a RUSH video for Alpha Kappa Psi. A goal for AKPsi for this semester and for future ones is to expand outside of Kogod to attract students from CAS, SOC, SIS, & SPA. The pledges were instructed to use this commercial to attract these students outside of Kogod. They all did a wonderful job so please enjoy!!




Team B1





Business Intelligence Agency





Winners!: Phoenician Investments




Team Klaapendaaz





The Incredibles


Meltzer Speaker Series Presents Mike Rosenberg


On Thursday, March 25, 2010 Alpha Kappa Psi had the honor to co-sponsor the Alan Meltzer CEO Leadership Speaker Series. The highly anticipated guest speaker was Michael Rosenberg, American University and KSB graduate, and current president and CEO of Promotion in Motion Companies.


During the struggling economic times, it seems impossile to find a success story. However in Thursday's speaker, we learned that you don't have to look further than your campus dorm room. Michael Rosenberg attended American University with the initial intention to study music while mastering the violin. After a change of heart, in 1979 Rosenberg decided to switch into Kogod School of Business and put forth initiative and actually started his own business, right out of his dorm room in Anderson Hall. With only $150 in start-up capital, Rosenberg was able to create a national brand candy company that continues to grow today. Welch's Fruit Snacks, Sour Jacks, and Sun-Maid Milk Chocolate Raisins are just a few names that you might recognize as Rosenberg's products.

Rosenberg explained to the audience that it was not an easy ride to get to where he is today. Through multiple lawsuits, loss of licenses, and some failed product ideas, perseverance is key. So although the economic times seem disheartening, the next time you're bored in your dorm room, count up your loose change -- it could be the start of your own empire.


The Alan Melter CEO Leadership Speaker Series gives interested students the opportunity to hear from principled business leaders, and is something Alpha Kappa Psi has co-sponsored for the past few years. It is one of our most highly anticipated events and I would just like to thank the hard work from Kogod School of Business, Kogod Graduate Business Association, Kogod Marketing Asociation, and Kogod Undergraduate Business Association for their help in presenting the Speaker Series.


Friday, March 26, 2010

Mission Accomplished!


Last week was definitely a busy one for the Beta Iota pledge class. Their pledge mission kicked-off on Sunday, March 14th, where they were formed in teams and given task of assembling a hypothetical investment plan for the brotherhood. In addition to this task, each team received $50 in start-up cash to fundraise throughout the week. You might have seen the many facebook event invites for "Wawa Sales" or the familiar "Pizza and Cheesy Bread in Anderson" and one team even went to great lengths to offer washing students' dishes! All the brothers were extremely impressed with Beta Iota's creativity in fundraising, which proved to pay off -- the teams raised over $2,000 altogether!!




Sunday concluded the pledge mission week, where the teams in Beta Iota presented their investment proposals to Lambda Nu. It was obvious to everyone that the pledges put an enormous amount of time into their presentations, in addition to their RUSH video commercials.

Team "The Incredibles" were awarded with having the best presentation, while the "Phoenician Investments" won the entire week-long pledge mission. With extremely successful fundraising events, a thorough analysis of their investment portfolio, and hilarious rush video, Phoenician Investments earned their victory. However that does not slight any of the other teams. Pledge mission is huge time commitment and I want to thank all of the Beta Iota pledge class for their hard work and dedication, everyone did a phenomenal job!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Alumni Return to AU & Lambda Nu!

I hope everyone survived midterms and had a wonderful, relaxing, and fun spring break! My apologies for the few weeks on hiatus, I'm finally back with some Lambda Nu updates!

Our Vice President of Alumni, Zach Siegel hosted Lambda Nu's alumni career day on Saturday, March 20th. The day first began with one-on-one mock interviews. Alumni guests met with undergraduate AKPsi brothers to practice the routines of a real life job interview along with resume critiques. After the alumni provided feedback for the brothers, and the interview jitters subsided, everyone was able to mix and mingle over a savory lunch catered by subway.


The event then moved into a discussion forum with the alumni panel. Panel guests attending were: Lisa Calandriello who previously worked at Deloitte and is currently working for the Public Company Accounting Oversight board; Adelia Curtis-Duarte who works for OPOWER as a recruiter and impressions manager; Peter Drummond who has worked at Deloitte for the past two and a half years and recently promoted to a senior accounting position; Frank Galasso is a corporate finance expert who works at Accenture; Paul Swoish who works in auditing at Caliber CPA firm; and finally Eileen Levitt who started up her own Human Resources firm.





Zach hosted the panel discussion, prompting questions with about mentorship, social responsibility in business, memorable classes at AU, valuable aspects of AKPsi, and how to create a balance between work and a personal life -- no matter the topic, each alumni provided valuable insight and advice for the brothers in the audience. A very big thanks to all of them for their words of wisdom and for spending a beautiful spring day with us! An even bigger thanks to Zach for planning and organizing the event. His efforts began early in the semester to make the day a great success, well done and kudos to Zach!


A quick congratulations to the pledges for a successful pledge mission week! Stay tuned for a post summing up the awesome work they did all week !!