Golden Key members from across the Mountain West region met at the U to attend workshops, participate in service projects and get to know each other as a part of the 2004 Mountain West Regional Conference, heldover the past weekend.

This is the fourth conference the U’s chapter has hosted.

“It is a good thing for [the U Golden Key chapter], but it is sad that none of the other chapters seem strong enough to do that yet,” said Ben Yang, chapter president.

“This is the last year that the headquarters will make conferences hosted by individual chapters, so we wanted to go out with a bang,” said Brenna VanFrank, chapter graduate adviser and member of the regional conference committee.

The conference agenda focused on networking, getting to know different people and chapters, and providing workshops that “give an overview of how to run a chapter,” Yang said.

VanFrank also said that Golden Key headquarters commented on the “awesome job volunteers from the U did.”

“It made me proud of my chapter,” she said.

The organization’s regional conference committee consists of Michele Bullough, Del Drummond, Katrina Ho, Tiffany Trinh and VanFrank. The committee started to prepare for the conference in September of last year, VanFrank said.

“I think we pulled it off really well,” she said.

“This year’s committee really put more work into this conference than we ever have before,” Yang said.

All the hard work put into organizing the conference paid off. From Crimson Nights to a pajama party, Golden Key members enjoyed a packed schedule.

“The highlight of the conference was the pajama party, with three different service projects going on, a ping-pong tournament, food and a movie going,” VanFrank said.

Even with all of the fun, true to the Golden Key mission, members from other chapters got involved with the U’s Golden Key service projects.

“Other chapters brought three full cartloads for the hygiene drive and made three quilts for emergency shelters,” Yang said.

On the chapter level, Yang is still interested in the service aspect of Golden Key.

The CEO of the organization, Alex Perwich, was present at the U’s conference, and VanFrank said Perwich’s participation was beneficial for attendees-many of whom were attending the regional conference for the first time.

“The majority of the people [who participated] were brand new [to Golden Key officer positions], so it was good for them to meet the CEO and talk to him personally,” VanFrank said.

Yang said that all of the visiting schools had positive things to say not only about the conference, but the U as well.

“We were able to give a bunch of people pretty good impressions of the U,” Yang said.

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