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MN BPA Flashes

ADVISOR APG ASSIGNMENTS + TRANSPORTATION

Hello!  Working tonight to get all APG DAILY ASSIGNMENTS finalized WITHIN the conference reg system so they will appear on your dashboard rather than outside the system on an excel file.  We should be able to go live with this tomorrow afternoon.

For those of you utilizing bus transportation, you may want to touch base with company to reconfirm as there are frequently chapters who have busses not show up.

Remember to make any room changes you may have directly with hotel.

And lastly, earlier today you received an automated text message as a test- this is thru the state conference registration system and will be used during the conference to send group advisor messages.  THIS IS NOT MY NEW CONTACT NUMBER.

NLC OVERVIEW + REGISTRATION PROCESS

Just a reminder about NLC registration procedures.  The only item you will handle with Minnesota BPA is the advancement tool in the State Registration System.  This is where you will accept or decline competition spots.  The deadline for Advancement/Event Accept or Decline will be Thursday, March 16 deadline of 12 NOON.  Any slot not accepted will automatically advance to the next competitor after 12 Noon on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

 

PROCEDURE TO REGISTER AND SECURE ROOMS

This year each chapter advisor will be responsible for complete registration of their chapter for NLC.  This means that you will pay National BPA direct for basic registration fees, but then in addition, you will be securing your hotel rooms and paying the hotel direct for your charges.

Attached you will find a Hotel Overview that MN BPA is assigned to – the Hilton.  Being assigned to this property does not mean MN Chapters are guaranteed to have a room at the Hilton.  It only means that if rooms are available when you register, that is where you will be housed.  If you choose to delay registering, the room block could be exhausted, so as always you are encouraged to register as soon as you are able.

MN BPA Chapters will register directly on the National Center system to register for the conference and secure rooms for chapter.  Payments made by each chapter as follows:

  • Registration Invoice – Registration paid to National Center from the invoice that you will receive when you submit.
  • Hotel Invoice – from the invoice that you receive and need to submit directly to the hotel.  

 

IF YOU WISH TO ORDER PINS OR STICKERS FOR TRADING

You can log into the MN conference registration system and order pins or stickers.  No t-shirts will be offered.  Deadline to place this order will be Monday, March 20, 2023.

More details will follow, but again, all registration and housing are processed and paid by each individual chapter for NLC 2023.

 

ADVANCEMENT & ACCEPTING OR DECLINING NLC SPOTS

The deadline for the National Leadership Conference Advancement/Event Accept or Decline within our state registration system is Registration will be Thursday, March 16 deadline of 12 NOON.  Any slot not accepted will automatically advance to the next competitor after 12 NOON on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

Remember the following key items:

  • Conflicts are only handled and accommodated if the conflict is because of two competitive events.  Conflicts are not accommodated because of individual travel itineraries or activities such as prom.
  • Housing in assigned property is required – you can not choose to book accommodations outside of the block or utilize condo or VRBO etc.

SLC STATESMAN AWARDS

Please make sure that you have “submitted” your statesman resume in the National system so that they are available for verification.  If they are not submitted, we do not have access.

SLC RECOGNITION

Attached you will find the announce order for the Grand Awards. 

The following will be announced and called to stage:

TOP 9 FOR ALL REGULAR CONTESTS

1st place will receive a trophy and all others called to stage will receive a plaque (teams will receive 1 plaque or trophy and all members will receive medals.  Places will be announced for the event NLC qualifying number.

TOP 10 FOR GENERALS

These are not for national advancement – anyone can choose to participate at NLC.   1st place will receive a trophy and all others will receive a plaque.

YARD SIGNS

All first place finishers (including team members if team event) will receive a yard sign to display at their school and graduation open houses.

Remember, if you are not planning on attending the Awards Ceremony, it is the responsibility of the Chapter Advisor to make arrangements for another chapter to have someone go to stage to receive award and bring awards back.  Awards and yard signs will not be mailed. 

ADVISOR CELL #S

At SLC we have a list of advisor cell numbers.  Attached is a list of what our state registration system has for your cell number.

IF THIS IS INCORRECT – please log into the state registration system and update by Wednesday.

Also, if you do not have an Administrator indicated as well as their email, please complete this field.  We have our great press release that can be sent with your chapter’s results from the system but not if we do not have the information!

SLC UPDATE

BILLING WITH HYATT

Please remember to cc me on the email when you return your excel billing form to the Hyatt.  Right now the data has not yet been transferred in a data dump to the Hyatt.  This will be done once registration has closed more than likely over the weekend. 

VOTING DELEGATES

Remember that each Region needs 10 voting delegates.  Region Chairs are collecting the names on behalf of the region, but each of you need to go into the students in your registration and check the box that they are a delegate or alternate.

OPENS/GENERALS

Competitors will have the option to take the opens in the same contest area (exhibit hall) at the same time as they would take paper pencil.  You had the option to indicate electronic when you registered.  Do not worry if they change their mind or you did not indicate.  This was to help me gauge paper copies required. 

PHOTOS TO UPLOAD

You can continue to upload the photos of your students throughout the month of February.  This functionality will stay open and assessable.

CANDIDATES

Candidates need to have all documents in their drop box provided by 11:59 pm on Feb. 15.  If your candidate needs a drop box and has not yet received one, please contact me.

TORCH AWARDS

It is up to each advisor to make certain that your students have met the point requirements for Torch.   Our state VP will be reviewing as well but keep in mind that this may take most of February for her to review.

STATE OFFICER ELECTIONS

The 2023 State Officer Candidate Packet is attached in word format so for those of you that do not have adobe editor to use for the application form.  Additionally, the candidates can use the questions they are to submit rather than retype.

IF YOU HAVE NOT REQUESTED A DROP BOX

Please remember to let Jackie know if you have a candidate so that a drop box can be set up for their materials.

CANDIDATES MUST BE ON SITE FROM START TO CLOSE OF CONFERENCE

There are activities they are required to participate in starting with interviews on Thursday afternoon and the new officers are announced at the closing ceremony on Saturday morning

TRANSCRIPTS

Official transcripts should be mailed to:

MN BPA
21576 NE Pickerel Lake Road
Detroit Lakes, MN  56501

EXAMS

Candidates will take an exam in person on Thursday afternoon when they have their briefing.

DEADLINE TO HAVE ALL ITEMS IN DROP BOX IS:  February 15, 2023.

SLC REGISTRATION INFORMATION

REGISRTATION & PRE-SUBMIT DEADLINE:
Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023

The attached pdf includes everything from

  • Agenda
  • Housing
  • Contests information
  • Pre-submit information
  • Registration details
  • Conflict policies
  • Additional items available to order
  • Menus for optional buffets

Anything that you have on your mind is probably in this packet!  I encourage you to archive it and digest it.

Also included are the forms that you will need to submit to the Hyatt once you finalize your housing and hit submit.

STATE OFFICER ELECTIONS

MN BPA will be having the election of state officers at SLC.  The newly elected team will serve beginning at the close of the National Leadership Conference thru the close of the 2024 NLC.  Candidates must be an underclassman.

 Here are a few additional details for those chapters that have members considering seeking election to State Office for MN BPA.

  • All components will take place at SLC. 
  • Candidates must be in attendance for entirety of conference.
  • All candidates must be members of the organization and submit all materials by 11:59 pm on February 15, 2023.

If you have a student that is interested, please provide me their name and email address so that a drop box can be set up for them to put the required documents .  You will also have access to facilitate their submissions if needed.  Even if they decide that they are not going to seek office, it will be easier to just delete them from the list – I would prefer getting these drop boxes set up in a timely manner for all.

Here are the components that the candidates will need to submit in their designated Dropbox by deadline date:

  • Candidate's Letter of Application
  • Candidate's Nomination Form (signed by candidate and local advisor)
  • Candidate's Resume (1 page and must include career objective)
  • Candidate's 100-Word Statement
  • Candidate’s 100-Word Statement (emailed as word document not pdf or google doc)
  • Chapter Advisor Letter of Recommendation
  • Official Transcript – will need to be mailed USPS
  • Code of Ethics (signed by candidate)
  • State Officer Reason for Removal Form (signed by candidate)
  • Color Photo PNG (Wallet size or larger)
  • Completed MN BPA CANDIDATE WORKSHEET (last page of this packet)
  • Candidate Checklist (signed by candidate & local advisor)

Thank you for encouraging your students to consider candidacy!

STATE REGISTRATION SYSTEM OPEN

The State Registration System is now open.  You should have received an email with link from the system.  But you will simply use the password and site that you have been going to for region registration.

AGENDA AND SCHEDULE

Probably the most questions right now are when contests are scheduled.  Attached is the TENTATIVE SCHEDULE as of today – I say tentative because some events may have to change to accommodate numbers in contests if they are lab events.  Additionally, some room locations have yet to be determined or may change.  We won’t know that until registration closes.  But keep in mind that all judged events are held on Friday and there is not a way to do a judged event on Thursday.   

EQUIPMENT PROVIDED

On the contest schedule you will notice icons have been added – this indicates what equipment MN BPA provides for the event.  Remember, MN BPA does not provide internet for any contest/competitor.

OFFICER ELECTIONS AT SLC

Election of State Officers will be held at the 2023 State Leadership Conference.  This election will be for a regular term of office beginning upon the conclusion of NLC until the close of NLC 2024. 

A complete packet of information will be available next week.

Please keep in mind that we will need delegates from every region and all chapters attending from within a region will need to be a part of the elections.  

Sessions that will be scheduled include:

  • Voting Delegate Briefing – prior to Opening Session on Thursday evening
  • Campaign Rally – following Opening Session
  • Caucuses & Voting – Friday evening

Candidates will once again utilize a specific drop box to submit their materials.  If you have a student interested in being a candidate, please let me know and a drop box will be set up for them.

MN BPA CARES + SHARES

The Minnesota BPA State Officer team has put together a homeless shelter drive for the 2023 State Leadership Conference. This project is called BPA Cares and Shares and involves collecting a variety of items that will be packaged at SLC and distributed by either the House of Charity or Simpson Housing organizations. The House of Charity organization has asked for Snack Pack or Adult Comfort Kit items while Simpson Housing has asked for Baby Care kit items. Specific items that the organizations have asked for are included in the PDF document. Please reference this when collecting items and ensure that members are bringing in new and unused items.

Prior to arrival on Thursday, March 9th, we ask that the members of each region collect as many of the items as possible and bring them to their Chapter Advisor to be organized. We also ask each chapter to group together the items by type (ex. Baby wipes) and category (ex. Baby Care) in containers that will be dropped off at arrival on Thursday. Please label each container of items with your chapter name to ensure your chapter is appropriately rewarded.  Chapter Advisors will bring items to conference registration on Thursday, March 9, 2023.

The State Officer team has created a point system based on the price value of the item and will count and organize the items after collection on Thursday. The top three chapters with the highest point value will get to throw pies at state officers! On Friday night, we will have a designated part of the entertainment area where members will organize items into kits based on the item category. Further instructions on creating kits will be provided by the BPA State Officer team on Friday night. To create each kit, Ziploc bags and baskets will also be provided. After items are separated into kits, they will be stored until departure on Saturday and transported to the House of Charity and Simpson Housing locations to be distributed by each organization.

 

Thank you for your participation in our project!

Sincerely,

MN BPA State Officers

SLC OVERVIEW

MN BPA will gather for the annual State Leadership Conference, March 9-11, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.

Attached is an overview of deadline dates as well as conference registration fees & room rates. 

Also attached is an overall conference agenda – you will see that there are officer election sessions built into the overall agenda as we will transition to election of state officers moving forward to take place annually at SLC.  

More registration information will follow in the coming weeks.  In the meanwhile, be certain to double check your membership rosters as students need to be state and national members PRIOR to region competition.

ELECTION RESULTS

Congratulations to the newly elected 2023 State Officers for MN Business Professionals of America.

These officers will serve through the end of NLC 2023.  At SLC 2023 we will hold a regular election and moving forward elections will take place annually at SLC.

  • Wyatt Bendickson – Triton HS – President
  • Claire Brandenburg – Watertown Mayer HS – Executive VP
  • Ava Gran – Barnum HS– VP Membership Outreach
  • Lydia Stanton – Triton HS – VP Communications
  • Will Green – East Ridge HS – VP Development
  • Alexandra Carlson – Minnewaska HS - VP Specialized Activities

Thank you to all who participated in the election process held earlier this week!

HOUSING ASSIGNMENT FOR NLC 2023

Please see the attached hotel information sheet specific to our Minnesota state association housing assignment for NLC 2023.

More information will be shared via the NLC HQ website over the next few months leading up to the opening of registration, but in the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or are in need of additional information.

As you plan for NLC this spring, the Board of Directors has decided to not manage the rooms and registration process.  Each chapter will secure rooms and registration direct with the National Center.  MN BPA will offer trading pins through a pre-order system prior to NLC.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

As you know, MN BPA will not be offering an in-person Fall Leadership Conference.  With this change, the election of state officers in the future will take place at SLC annually with the first election being March of 2023.

For the interim – a fall election will take place to elect a slate of officers.  This team will serve thru the close of the National Leadership Conference at which point the team elected at SLC 2023 will begin their term of office.

MN BPA VIRTUAL ELECTION SESSION will take place on Monday, October 31, 2022 from 10:00 am – 11:30 am as set by the MN BPA Board of Directors.

 Here are a few additional details for those chapters that have members considering seeking election to State Office for MN BPA.

  • All components including speeches will take place virtually on Monday, October 31, 2022 from 10:00 am – 11:30 am
  • Elected officers will have an orientation training on Saturday, November 12 from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.
  • All candidates must be members of the organization by the date their materials are due and submitted (October 1).

If you have a student that is interested, please provide me their name and email address so that a drop box can be set up for them to put the required documents .  The complete packet of information will be out next week.  You will also have access to facilitate their submissions if needed.  Even if they decide that they are not going to seek office, it will be easier to just delete them from the list – I would prefer getting these drop boxes set up in a timely manner for all.

Here are the components that the candidates will need to submit in their designated Dropbox no later than midnight on October 1, 2022:

  • Candidate's Letter of Application
  • Candidate's Nomination Form (signed by candidate and local advisor)
  • Candidate's Resume (1 page and must include career objective)
  • Candidate’s 100-Word Statement (IN WORD DOC NOT PDF)
  • Chapter Advisor Letter of Recommendation
  • Official Transcript – will need to be mailed USPS
  • Code of Ethics (signed by candidate)
  • State Officer Reason for Removal Form (signed by candidate)
  • Color Photo PNG (Wallet size or larger)
  • Completed MN BPA CANDIDATE WORKSHEET (last page of this packet)
  • Candidate Checklist (signed by candidate & local advisor)

Thank you for encouraging  your students to consider as well as serve as voting delegates on behalf of the respective regions!

WELCOME BACK!

Welcome back!  Hopefully as you look back over the summer months you have had time to do the things you love, recharge and are ready for a fabulous year at your school.  MN BPA is happy you make the decision to be a part of this organization and provide our opportunities to your students.  THANK YOU!

Over the next week you will receive many emails ranging from membership details, interim state officer election opportunities, competitive events, and calendar of events.

NEW ADVISORS TO BPA?

If you have a new advisor in your school, please forward this email and be sure to have them reach out to me so that I can adjust my list serve.  I appreciate your help in making sure all are connected!

LINKS TO NATIONAL SITES

If you are an established chapter, your login credentials above will work on all National BPA websites (see below):

Please let me need any additional assistance or have any questions and welcome back to the BPA!

Jackie Schiller

Dates for 2023 and Election of State Officers

June 16, 2022

SAVE THE DATES!

The election for State Officers this coming fall will be for a short interim term (November 1 through NLC) until the elections of officers is moved permanently to the State Leadership Conference in March of 2023. Officers elected at SLC 2023 will begin their official term of office at the conclusion of NLC.

Election in the fall will be conducted virtually in late October with applications due on the traditional date of October 1, 2022.  More information on the application process will be available when you are back to school in September.

SLC 2023

The annual BPA State Leadership Conference will be held Thursday – Saturday, March 9-11, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.

Have a fantastic summer!  Please reach out if there is anything that I can do for you to help!

Jackie Schiller

FLC Discontinued

5/31/22

After much discussion and consideration, the board has concluded that we will be discontinuing Fall Leadership Conference.  This was not an easy decision for us.  We know all the benefits of this conference, as all the board members attend it with our students.  We took a hard look at our past financials, and we have been losing money on this conference for several years.  With rising costs and low attendance, the costs outweigh the benefits when you consider the low number of members that are attending,

Moving forward we will be electronically voting in the fall for an interim officer team to serve from fall until the State Leadership Conference.  We will then elect our new officer team at state.  This is not new to some of us, because it is how we used to do elections in the past. 

The board will also be meeting this summer and looking at ways we can provide leadership training in the future.  If you have any ideas of what you would like to see or have any questions, please contact your board representative.  

Jill Wrobbel