Following are the results of the survey that was conducted fall '98 through spring '99. Relevant remarks follow each question, with suggested events and overall comments at the end.
| YES | NO | ||
| 1 | Does homecoming compete with the summer party or a reunion (when applicable) in terms of your decision to visit Ithaca? | 14 | 47 |
| 23% | 77% | ||
| child rearing is the main obstacle | |||
| 3 | Would moving the Alpha Theta meeting from 10:00 am Saturday morning to 4:00 pm Saturday afternoon increase the likelihood of your attending the meeting? | 19 | 41 |
| 32% | 68% | ||
| morning is better | |||
| Business is best conducted in the morning. | |||
| Combine it with a happy hour at the house. | |||
| except if football game is still going | |||
| Everyone is always exhausted at 10am on Saturday. | |||
| 4 | Do you believe the active chapter should secure, at its own initial expense, advance football tickets for alumni on homecoming weekend? | 21 | 42 |
| 33% | 67% | ||
| On a reservation basis I don't see why this should be a problem. | |||
| Only if we have a thorough mechanism for communicating their availability to alumni. | |||
| At least a block. | |||
| They could coordinate block seating. | |||
| only if it means better tickets, I guess | |||
| purchase in advance after alumni attendees have paid | |||
| no, but provisions for alumni to buy tickets in advance would be helpful | |||
| group seating | |||
| They are less expensive for students to buy. However, we must give them an apprx count well in advance. | |||
| 5 | Should the payment of dues to Alpha Theta entitle you to attend chapter alumni festivities at no charge? | 11 | 51 |
| 18% | 82% | ||
| Dues are for administration. We don't need to give AARP discounts to Ivy Leaguers. | |||
| Surely not that many alumni who come that the cost of the parties will increase more than the income from the dues | |||
| but at a reduced rate might be a good incentive | |||
| $$'s not the issue | |||
| not if my dues would go up | |||
| I know how much these events cost. That is not practical. | |||
| 6 | Does the concept of a charge levied by the active chapter deter you from stopping by the chapter house during homecoming weekend? | 6 | 55 |
| 10% | 90% | ||
| If I stopped in but didn't participate in any of the events, I wouldn't expect to be charged. | |||
| Perhaps a free reception sponsored by Alpha Theta is a good idea, Fri nite or Sat afternoon. Still charge for dinner & party. | |||
| I think it might be a good idea if Alpha Theta sponsors 1 of the events, including free participation by the actives. Sat reception & ftball game perhaps. Maybe some alumni would be enticed to attend a "free" alumni event, rather than an actives party. | |||
| Since upstairs is set up for dinner on Sat afternoon, perhaps AT meeting & happy hour can be in bar & dining room, say 3-6pm. Overlap with ftball game is good idea, since many folks don't go or leave early. | |||
| I like the idea of such an event being paid for by AT, with actives invited & encouraged to attend. | |||
| $$'s not the issue | |||
| no, but it should be a variable charge depending upon which activities you attend | |||
| charge for dinner and reception is OK | |||
| 7 | Instead of the active chapter charging a fee for homecoming festivities, would you prefer to send a donation to Alpha Theta in addition to the annual dues for subsequent distribution to the active chapter? | 10 | 45 |
| 18% | 82% | ||
| Fee ok if it represents costs per average of use of services causing costs for the alumuni. I would keep any fee very minimal or skip it and book it as PR, acquisition costs. | |||
| Don't care, isn't that just playing with the money? It doesn't change the costs. | |||
| we should pay directly for what we get | |||
| Actually, I was amazed at how much a bargain Homecoming was last year. We charged $30 15 years ago! | |||
| Interesting concept, but good luck collecting the contribution. | |||
| 8 | Should the active chapter sponsor some type of open house or reception for alumni during reunion weekend? | 54 | 3 |
| 95% | 5% | ||
| It would be a nice gesture, but we shouldn't force them to. | |||
| Important to build good relations with alumni | |||
| maybe if enough alums are coming back | |||
| Attended 50th last June. Very surprised no open house. BIG MISTAKE | |||
| if university schedule of events provide time for it | |||
| yes, I was very disappointed to find the Fraternity locked during reunion weekend | |||
| 9 | Would you be willing to serve as an alumnus coordinator for the summer party? | 2 | 58 |
| 3% | 97% | ||
| 10 | Would you be willing to serve as class representative? | 9 | 48 |
| 16% | 84% | ||
| 2 | What events conducted by the active chapter would make attendance at homecoming more attractive to you? | ||
| open house | |||
| Dancing at the formal. Consider focusing on attracting different eras each year - 80-85 one year 75-79 next year, etc to generate interest. | |||
| golf tournament | |||
| Activities for kids. | |||
| advertise the entertainment better (e.g. the singing groups) | |||
| It isn't the events. The last visit @ Homecoming, none of the brothers bothered to acknowledge presence of alumni brothers. They ignored us! | |||
| social hour after the football game at the house | |||
| formal Sat eve dance | |||
| honor reunion classes | |||
| low key, informal cocktail party | |||
| need people from my class attending | |||
| babysitting? | |||
| room availability | |||
| active/alumni sports competition | |||
| focus on Cornell's milestone reunion years (10th, 15th, 25th, etc.) | |||
| 11 | Do you have any other input or suggestions regarding Alpha Theta, Homecoming, Beta Theta DATA, or alumni relations in general? | ||
| attendance would be improved if we had some way to find out who is planning on attending - any way to check on who is planning on going? - webpage? | |||
| Email and the website are powerful communication tools, especially for letting alums know who is planning to return for events - I believe it makes a difference in attendance.... | |||
| Quite frankly, the tailgating needs to be eliminated or start later so that the undergrads can attend the Alpha Theta meeting, and get in the habit, so that when they are alums, they will attend and participate in the house corporation. | |||
| I don't think a lot of the undergrads even know there is a house corporation. We have had attendance problems at the meeting ever since tailgating started at Cornell. | |||
| I would hope we are a better fraternity than all the collections of drunks that call themselves fraternities at the tailgate area. | |||
| Homecoming '98, which I attended, was pathetic. I am not likely to attend soon. | |||
| I was appalled at the condition of the kitchen & dining room at the house at Homecoming this fall. Shame on the current actives. Also, there is too much binge drinking at the house. | |||
| Good idea to leverage the Internet - I think that you also need people to pick up the phone more! | |||
| An advance listing of alumni planning to attend Homecoming would help. Alumni may see others they know that plan on coming to Homecoming and decide to join them! | |||
| try to get more alumni news in BTD | |||
| Biggest key to Homecoming is convincing old farts that their fellow old farts will be there. Key is getting a list of early commitments, and advertising who will be in attendance. | |||
| I would be more likely to attend Homecoming & summer party if I knew that many other alumni were coming back. | |||
| Suggestion: Target a few classes and see if a critical mass of alumni can come & communicate their commitment in advance. | |||
| Distribute email addresses. We need to communicate w/alumni as to the physical status of the house, where money has been spent over the past 10 years, where money will have to be spent. (In preparation for fund raiser) | |||
| alumni need to give more - I think the list at the end of BTD is a good motivation | |||
| My attendance at Homecoming is usually a function of who else will be attending. The '96 Homecoming had good attendance because people committed to going on the email network. | |||
| Alums who bring their kids to Homecoming don't attend the formal, so events like the formal or football should be charged separately. | |||
| Run copies of the annual photo w/o names, asking people to fill in names to generate more correspondence. |
