As summer activities came to a close and many Arrowmen returned to school, a unique opportunity approached the Southern Region on September 13. Beginning on Friday, the entire Southern Region leadership team comprised of section chiefs, vice-chiefs, secretaries, past officers and advisers all travelled to Dallas, TX for the 2013 Southern region Section Officer Seminar.
This year's seminar was profoundly different from last year's. All eleven of the Southern Region section chiefs are newly elected, allowing for a fresh outlook on key topics, an ability to enhance each section's operations, and a myriad of friendships to be made. However, these leaders did not travel hundreds of miles to just make friends; there were some objectives to complete, too.
The first topic on the agenda was to promote section officer synergy. After all, there aren't many opportunities for each section's officers to be at the same place throughout their terms. Therefore, the officers worked together in breakout sessions, totaling over two hours. These crucial breakouts enabled section officers to establish their goals, work to develop solutions to some problems with despondency and complacency within their sections, and of course, work to build a successful Conclave event. The goal was for each officer to leave the weekend with a comprehensive, clear, plan for success over the next year, without any ambiguities that could lead to problems later on.
The opening session Friday night declared a simple message: to "do it". The Section Officers Seminar, or SOS, is indeed a planning weekend, but success only comes with the implementation of that plan. As a result, each officer group left with action items to achieve, complete with backdating up to Conclave.
This year, the Southern Region leadership unveiled a plan to compose a "Southern Region Resource Guide for Lodges", a regional publication that would aid lodges in achieving JTE requirements and improving their lodge in all facets of lodge operation. Each section officer group chose a particular region subcommittee to focus their work on. These subcommittees, spanning topics from high adventure promotion to lodge camping support, drafted a portion of this Region Resource Guide and presented their work to the group for feedback and revision. This guide holds two purposes: to educate lodges within the Southern Region about the multitudinous resources the region has to offer and how to utilize them, but also to be an interactive guide to implement new methods in particular areas in their lodge. For example, the Lodge Camping Support Committee, with SR-1B serving as the vanguard, spoke about the awards and incentives the region has for lodges, but also provided methods to improve lodge camping in a lodge. This draft will be revised and formatted to be published by the end of the calendar year.
Lastly, all attendees had a great time. Saturday night, all sixty-five attendees drove to the nearby Fort Worth Stockyards for a hearty Texas barbecue dinner, live music and a rodeo. The event may have lasted only a weekend, but the relationships made there will certainly last for years. As a result of the productive weekend, the Southern Region leadership has taken the next step forward toward an auspicious future.