Interview with a Member: Carly Nahon, River City BBG #2054

Posted on 10/24/2012 @ 12:03 PM

Sarah Minion, 68th International N'siah

Every visit, I will be featuring some of the members I meet in that region, and will be asking them to answer various questions! From Cotton States, check out Carly Nahon from River City BBG #2054!!

Name: Carly Nahon
Chapter: River City BBG #2054
Region: Cotton States Region
What do you love about your chapter? I love the bonds between every member no matter what the age is and everyone is included!
Favorite BBG cheer? We pledge to thee!
Have you been to any BBYO summer programs? I went to CLTC 1!
What’s the most interesting fact about yourself? The most interesting thing about me is that I am an actress!
What are you most excited about this year in BBYO? I am excited for being able to witness new MITS, going to IC, and being on board!

Top Ten Favorite Moments from my Cotton States visit (in no particular order):

Posted on 10/24/2012 @ 12:03 PM

Sarah Minion, 68th International N'siah

10. Staying up until 5:32 am with Arianne Schaffer
9. Hanging out with Becka Handler all day every day
8. Joe Bloomston’s song “He is Not Proud”
7. Bonding with N’siah Ariel Yazdian
6. When Kevin threw fries at my head
5. Filming the Operation 600 video
4. Getting impeached... NOT (thank you Iris Levine)
3. Learning how to swing dance with Sam Black!
2. Staying up late and bonding in the cabin with LOTS of food
1. Loitering outside of Starbucks for internet with Cara Levi

South Jersey Region Visit October 2012

Posted on 10/15/2012 @ 12:03 PM

Logan Miller, 88th International Grand Aleph Godol

SJR RLTI

During the weekend of September 28th to 30th I got to visit SJR for their RLTI convention. The weekend was full of some great programs and I was so happy to spend some time with the Alephs and BBGs of South Jersey weekend. Here is a little taste of what the convention looked like.

Central Region West Visit (August 30th-September 9th)

Posted on 10/02/2012 @ 12:03 PM

Logan Miller, 88th International Grand Aleph Godol

Top 10 moments of my CRW visit in no particular order:

• CRW Kickoff 2012 - My last night on the west coast was one well spent. CRW had their 2012-2013 kickoff at the Tech Museum in San Jose. Nearly 500 teens came down! It was insane helping with admission as the line to get in just seemed to keep growing. It was a great kickoff and awesome to go to two CRW regional events in just over a week.
• Regional Execs - a weekend for all Chapter Godolim and N’siot, this was the first time CRW ever planned a regional execs. The 35 attendees brought their sleeping bags and clothes for a camping trip at Briones National Park. This was my first time camping and as the expression goes “you can take the boy out of the city but you can’t take the city out of the boy”. Not showering for 2 days was definitely a first for me. All in all though, it was a great weekend. I got to lead a session on parlimentary procedure and got to see some of the strengths and weaknesses of each chapter.
• Shabbat Dinner with David Ben Gurion AZA and Dreidel AZA - I got to spend a Shabbat evening with both David Ben Gurion AZA as well as Dreidel AZA for their first ever inter-chapter football game followed by a Shabbat dinner and service. Props to both chapters for their three-fold evening bringing together Alephs across the bay area. Thanks Eric Polansky for having us at your house.
• San Francisco with MaChar AZA - Several of the boys of Machar took me to San Francisco to see the city. It was my first time in San Fran so it was awesome to see some of the sights and the amazing ice cream at Ghirardelli. We all split the “Earthquake” which consists of 8 scoops of ice cream and 8 toppings. To say the least it was legend. Wait for it. Dairy.
• Seeing Grant Fineman - One night I got to see the 87th Grand Aleph Moreh Grant Fineman for dinner at UC Berkeley. It was great to see him again as he’s wrapping up his first month at school. Miss you buddy! Hope to see you again soon!
• Dreidel AZA Business Meeting - I went up to Oakland for the Dreidel AZA business meeting. It was tons of fun hanging out with them during business as well as playing punchball with them post-meeting.
• Parent Meeting - On Labor Day the chapters in the Peninsula area of CRW held a meeting for current and prospective members to give them a little more insight as to what BBYO is all about. The event at the Foster City JCC was a success with over 30 parents and a great presentation by Leeba Morse the Program Director of CRW as well as their Regional Godol Sagee Moyal and N”siah Alana Levine-Gorelick.
• Simon Wisenthal AZA - I got to hang out with some of the boys in Simon Wisenthal AZA for some poolside pizza after the parents meeting on Labor Day. Tons of fun playing basketball with the guys.
• Shopping with Leeba - Before the regional execs convention, Leeba Morse (Program Director for CRW) and I went shopping for our camping trip. I love shopping for food so shopping for 35 people was so much fun!

NFL Sunday - I spent my last morning in Cali on the first Sunday of the NFL year. Some of the guys came back with Alex Finkelstein and I for a sleepover at the Finkelstein residence after kickoff and we woke up to the sweet smell of Sunday football and BBQ curtousy of Chef Alex Finkelstein. Great wings Alex!

Thank you so much to the Finkelstein, Leviloff, Merritt, and Keider families for hosting me during my time in CRW.

Fraternally Submitted to Central Region West with undying love to the AZA board, BBG board, Machar AZA, Moad AZA, Dreidel AZA, Simon Weisenthal AZA, DBG AZA, Daniel Keider, Josh Berl, Tony, Grant Fineman, and the rest of Central Region West, I remain,

Logan Miller
88th Grand Aleph Godol

Atlanta Council Visit (August 21st-26th 2012)

Posted on 09/28/2012 @ 12:03 PM

Logan Miller, 88th International Grand Aleph Godol

I was so excited for my first visit of the year in Atlanta and got lucky with a row to my self on the flight from Washington D.C to Atlanta. I got to meet with some great people and see every AZA chapter. Here is a little taste of what my trip looked like:

Chapters I met with:

• Kol Ram AZA - A new AZA chapter in Atlanta Council. Best of luck this year. They already have 20 teens at their programs!
• Frank Fierman AZA - I hope the flyer we made together for your upcoming programs helped! Zelman AZA - Great job with freshman recruitment guys. Keep it up!
• Palmach AZA & Hazakah AZA - Got to spend an evening with both chapter boards at a wing restuarant. Great spending time with all of you. Best of luck Adam Turry and Zach Fram.
• Avitz AZA - Thank you for attacking Jake Gottlieb’s car after our meeting. Loved spending some quality time with the Avitz board in the parking lot of the MJCCA.

Who I met outside of BBYO:

• Kelly Brown - a former BBG and BBYO Professional staff member, who currently works at the JCC. Kelly gave me some great advice for the year based on her experiences working with past international boards. Kelly also went to my high school so it was great to talk to a Queens native down in the south. Thanks Kelly for all the advice and best of luck with your new role at the MJCCA!
• Greer Mendel (Marketing Director for the Jewish Family and Career Services) - Laura Fendrick and I got to meet with Greer to talk about blogging as well as various social media tactics to market AZA and BBG throughout the year. Thank you Greer for meeting with us!
• Lisa Katz - (Community Impact Manager for the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta) Lisa gave me a taste for what the Jewish Federation aims to accomplish. Its basic goals are to care for those in need and ensure Jewish continuity. Thanks Lisa for meeting with me and giving me an idea of how Jewish federations across North America operate.
• Janel Schwartz - (Chief Development Officer of the MJCCA) An alum of GJHRR and the writer of the BBG Prayer for Global Jewry. Janel gave me some fundraising tips and talked to me a little bit about her BBYO experience. Thanks Janel!
• Howie Rosenberg - (Director of Teen Department at the MJCCA) With Howie, I was able to learn more about what his role with BBYO and the JCC will be this upcoming year as well as give him some more insight into the incredible things going on in AZA and BBG right now. Howie is a huge sports fan so it was great to talk some baseball with Howie at lunch. Thanks Howie!

Leadership Summit Shabbaton
With roughly 70 attendees, the Leadership Summit Shabbaton was lots of fun. I ran a program about leadership and got to hang out with the Alephs of Atlanta Council -- it was a great night. We woke up the next morning and continued with the convention, and I led a session for non-board members on how they could get more involved. One of the highlights for me was the business meeting in the evening. After several attempts in the past, a motion passed officially making Atlanta a spring council. It was a nice way to finish my visit in Atlanta. Congratulations to Elli Bock and Jake Gottlieb for planning a great weekend.

Thank you so much to Jake Gottlieb and the rest of the Gottlieb family for hosting me at your home all week.

Fraternally Submitted to Atlanta Council with undying love to Jonathan Schuster, Jake Gottlieb, Jake Cook, Gil Eplan-Frankel, David Bernstein, Ryan Padawer, the 64th BBG Council Board, Palmach AZA, Kol Ram AZA, Avitz AZA, Frank Fierman AZA, Hazakah AZA, Zelman AZA, Chloe Ramsey, Laura Fendrick, and the rest of Atlanta Council, I remain