–This post was written by Zenobia Bey, President of DePaul University’s Golden Key Chapter–

The Region 5 Regional Summit hosted by Golden Key International Honour Society’s DePaul University Chapter was held in Chicago, IL at the Hilton Garden Inn Magnificent Mile on February 8, 2013. One of the highlights of having the Summit in the Magnificent Mile area of Chicago was that our guests had the opportunity to visit a variety of restaurants, entertainment, sightseeing and tourist attractions. Region 5 members enjoyed meeting other members and advisors from various universities within the surrounding states (Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana) and our visiting state (Kansas).  We had the pleasure of interacting with Holly McCaleb (Director of US University Relations), Ted Ross (Associate Director of Region 5), Lenora Oeters (Manager of US Chapter Development), Jean Ann Miller (Council of Advisors Representative, Region 5), and Nadiya Sorych (Council of Student Members Representative, Region 5).
Day 1: During our welcome event, members showed their school spirit and represented their chapters by participating in a school spirit contest. I found it to be a wonderful addition to the Summit welcome event as an icebreaker. We were honored to have our first keynote speaker, Doug Bruno, DePaul University Women’s Basketball Coach. Each chapter had an opportunity to exchanged school t-shirts with other universities. I must admit that I love my Wayne State University t-shirt!!!
Day 2: Participants enjoyed a delicious early morning group breakfast, followed by a collaboration of events by showing our team spirit in a daily icebreaker, participating in an array of workshops, Officer/Advisor roundtables, info sessions, networking opportunities, member engagement, idea sharing, etc.  I really enjoyed being a roundtable presenter. Not only did I enjoy sharing my experiences as a leader, I also gained insight from other leaders as well as event ideas.  Being a presenter is beneficial for collaborating in a team environment, public speaking and presentation skills development.  Everyone had fun working on our service project that consisted of chapter members acquiring winter gear  (i.e., gloves, hats, scarves, ear muffs, and leg warmers) to be donated to homeless shelters. During the Summit’s closing dinner and group photo, everyone looked great in their cocktail dress attire. We were honored to introduce a dynamic keynote speaker, Kelli Ballard, who is an attorney, DePaul alum and a GK member. Kelli gave a very motivating speech and the standing ovation that she received was well deserved.  We ended the night with a group photo followed by many members going out for a night on the town.
                          
Day 3: On the final day of Regional Summit, some of us slept a little late, while others either met with Ted Ross for one-on-one meetings or headed home. A few of the DePaul University chapter officers delivered the donated winter items to the Salvation Army Emergency Shelter and Pacific Garden Mission Emergency Shelter organizations.  Administrators from both shelters were extremely excited to receive our donations and many thanks were given to all participating chapters and Golden Key as a whole.
Overall, the regional summit was a big success! I would like to personally give a very special thank you to our Regional Associate Director, Ted Ross for organizing/facilitating our summit, a big thank you to the Golden Key Headquarter staff, speakers, workshop presenters, and chapter participants for your contributions and attendance! A special thank you also goes out to the DePaul chapter officers who provided unwavering support and assistance at the Regional Summit.
                            

—This post was written by Holly Jackson, Region 4 Council of Student Members Representative—
The Region 4 Summit took place February 8-10, 2013 at Northern Kentucky University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Although this was my fourth regional conference, it was still as fun and exciting as the first, which was actually at NKU too!
We started the conference with registration and check-in at our hotel, which was on the river in Newport, KY. After getting everyone together, we all carpooled over to NKU for our Opening Session, where Dr. Carrie McCoy gave a wonderful opening speech about leadership. Gene Zackerman (the International Leadership Council President), Jeff Fox (Region 4’s Council of Advisor’s representative and our fantastic host advisor), and LaShandra Little (our fabulous regional Associate Director), welcomed everyone and the weekend officially began.
Saturday was packed with workshops and volunteering. We all enjoyed every moment. Our Keynote Speaker for the day was NKU President Dr. Geoffrey S. Mearns, who is a true Region 4 leader having come from Cleveland State before ending up at NKU. Later, workshops ran the gambit from Golden Key-centered ones like “Golden Key 101” and “Successful Officer Transitions” to professional-based ones like “Interviewing 101” and “Demystifying How to ‘Dress for Success.’” Better World Books Representative Traci Kolar helped out during the weekend and led a workshop as well, showing their commitment to helping Golden Key chapters. For lunch, attendees learned the ins and outs of business luncheon etiquette thanks to Betsy John-Jennings, who wasn’t afraid to call people out on their mistakes. I will certainly never set my spoon down on a tablecloth again at a restaurant after stirring my coffee! After workshops and lunch, we all went to the Brighton Center in Newport, where we helped sort food and clothes, and well as clean and do creative projects to help the center. The Brighton Center provides opportunities for individuals and families to reach self-sufficiency through family support services, education and leadership in Newport and we were excited to help in any way we could. 
          
Saturday evening (after we had all had a chance to clean up, and maybe nap), we had our closing dinner, which a delicious Italian buffet with spaghetti, lasagna, breadsticks and salad. Plus, cookies. Yum! We all dressed up a bit and just hung out for a while. Afterwards a lot of us went out and explored Newport and Cincinnati, where Mardi Gras was the main event of the weekend. It was an adventure and a lot of fun. Sunday, of course, involved one-on-ones and sleeping just a little more.

One of my favorite parts of the conference was definitely getting to see my friends. I’d be silly not to admit that I wasn’t excited to see friends from chapters like Wright State, my alma mater, (I’m at the University of Kentucky now), NKU, of course, and Penn State, among the other schools. And, as with every conference, I got to meet some of the wonderful people I’ve heard about and talked to via the Internet about regional ideas. The workshops are always a great chance to put yourself out there and gain practical experience in front of an audience if you present, which I did this year, and learn more, if you attend. Also, the food was delicious. That’s always a plus.
I look forward to next year. I know multiple chapters were talking about wanting to host in the next few years, which is really exciting. Region 4 is fabulous and I know that each year things are just going to continue to be even more awesome at our Regional Summits.