It's a Convention Year!

For a lot of people in the blogosphere January marked a new beginning; a time to celebrate the year to come with all its inherent excitement and mystery. For me, that time is February.

Oh sure, I could have jumped on that bandwagon, but the truth is I was pretty darn busy putting 2011 to bed. Now that February has arrived I can look forward to the year to come. And what a year it’s going to be!

If you didn’t know already, 2012 is going to be HUGE for Sons of Norway because it’s a convention year! Starting this month lodges throughout North America and Norway are considering issues they feel are important to their members, their districts and to the organization as a whole. In the coming weeks they’ll be voting on resolutions to bring to their district conventions, choosing delegates to represent them and then participating in the governance of Sons of Norway. All very important and heady tasks, for sure.

If you’ve never been to a district or international convention, I strongly urge you to go. There are two ways you can get to a convention, the first is to run for and be elected as a delegate and the second is to attend as an event guest.

Being a delegate is probably one of the most important jobs a Sons of Norway member can have. In doing so, you will represent the wishes and needs of your fellow lodge members. But, in a grander sense, you will also be a steward of the organization because it will be your job to help chart the course for Sons of Norway’s future. The decisions you make, the votes you cast, the statements you give will all be part of our lush history and our great future!

For those who wish to simply attend as a guest of the event, you have an important role to play as well. You will serve as a witness to everything that happens and learn a great deal more about Sons of Norway than you ever have before. You will also be the ones who help support delegates, volunteer to make the convention great and take part in many of the wonderful cultural and educational elements of a convention.

Above all, though, everyone who takes part in a convention is there for a single, unifying reason: to keep Sons of Norway a vibrant, relevant organization for years to come. That’s something that everyone should be proud of and the reason why the most common words that cross my lips at conventions is “thank you.”

So with that, we’ve officially kicked off the 2012 convention year! In the coming days, weeks and months I’ll be posting a ton of convention-related info, especially about the international convention, so be sure to keep checking back. Also, if you’d like to learn more about your district convention, or the international convention this August, here are some links you might like to check out.