[226] in APO News
Nationals
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (ezraerb@Athena.MIT.EDU)
Mon Jan 4 14:39:12 1993
From: ezraerb@Athena.MIT.EDU
To: apo-news@Athena.MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 04 Jan 93 14:37:37 EST
Here is my report of Nationals.
I arrived at 9:00 AM December 27th, and the registration line was
already quite long. I finally managed to register, then I dropped of my stuff
in my room and went to the comic book convention across the street at the Hotel
57 for the next five hours. I arrived back just in time to catch the opening
workshop. Some parts of it (Floor Services) were quite good, others
(Information) were awful. Next I had dinner at Wendy's and went to the opening
session.
The next three days passed by in a blur. I remember signing up to lead
tors of Boston and nobody showing up because they wern't publicized. I remember
playing spades with Spike during his Safety and Security shifts to keep him
sane. I remember watching Star Trek the Next Generation in Elsewhere with a
great bunch of brothers. I remember playing Nuclear War at four in the morning.
I remember going back to MIT to print out 'How to Speak Bostonese'. I remember
having lunch at McDonalds with a bunch of brothers I had met ten minutes
earlier.
I attended only two workshops. The workshop on motivation by Stan
Carpenter was excellent. I would glady have gone again if I had had the time.
The other workshop was the APO-L social which was not that great.
I went to both banquets. The food itself was excellent, although the
service was slow due to the room being so crowded. The first banquet featured
Governor Weld as the keynote speaker. The entire speech was geared toward the
next election and maybe 10% actually dealt with APO. Surely the committee could
have done better that that! The awards banquet featured the ever-popular slide
show which was quite good (we cheered when Larry Labell's APO-FUN licence plate
came up.) MRM won UBOB again.
We practiced our toast song over and over, and it paid off. Alpha Chi
made the finals and was one of only ten chapters to sing at the Fellowship
Banquet.
I went to both parties for some of the time (the rest I spent playing
spades) The first was quite good, and it was due to the spirit of the crowed as
much as the particular DJ. (The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!) The
second party was awful, mainly because, after five or ten minutes, karoke is
fun only if you are doing it.
I actually saw some of the legislative session. The beginning saw much
parliamentary maneuvering and flammage, but eventually things calmed down and
business was accomplished. Even the debate over the controversial motions was
reasoned and thoughtful.
I would like to send my appreciation to all those brothers who told me
to get sleep during Nationals. I really needed the advice. I would also like to
thank Steve and Mary Ann McDonald for running Elsewhere, one of the only things
that kept me sane during those four days.
In summary, Nationals was a blast. I heartily recommend that anyone who
can make it go to Nationals two years from now in San Antonio. I know I will be
there.
YiLFSS, (leadership, friendship, service, and sleeplessness)
Ezra Erb
