With each topic Frank spoke about, he had an entertaining example to support his point. He spoke about marketing strategy, customer relationships, health and fire regulations, business culture, and employee retention. One quote Frank said stood out to me. He said, “when you make one customer happy they tell 2 people, but when you make one customer angry they tell 20.” Therefore, it’s always crucial to have satisfied customers. This in turn builds your business’ reputation and establishes a long-term customer relationship. Frank also emphasized the importance of the Internet in expansion. The deli can now take orders online and deliver all over the US. Furthermore, customers can sign up to receive updates and new specials.

Mill Basin Deli is family owned and has been around for 36 years. It started off small with a modest 30 person dining area. Now, it’s grown to seat approximately 120 people. How did this modest family business manage to maintain, retain, and expand? They did this through quality and keeping customers happy.

To visit simply go to http://www.millbasindeli.com/.

According to Corrigan and Dieli, the first step in networking is putting yourself out there and coming prepared. Do your research on the firm or person, always leave with a business card, and have a brief elevator pitch ready. The team went on to speak about developing and maintain these relationships through sending professional emails and asking for advice. Refer to a specific topic you talked about to distinguish yourself from the crowd. Further, it is beneficial to attend social events sponsored by companies so that employers can know you on a social and professional level. Corrigan and Dieli also mentioned the importance of online privacy of personal pages such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, as this information is largely open to the public.

Overall, the event’s main message was to attend as many events and talk to as many people as possible. It is important to develop relationships with a wide variety of people because recruiters always refer applicants to each other. The more developed your network, the larger your chances of success.

The weekend was an incredible experience, to say the least. Seeing multitudes of brothers from so many different places attend, despite heavy snow and dangerous driving conditions, is a true testament to the brotherhood that we all share as a fraternity. Not only we did we form strong bonds with multiple chapters (that we intend to both invite to Binghamton and visit in the near future), but we developed ourselves professionally through seminars on values-based leadership, decision making, and more. After speaking with many of the brothers from our chapter,

Ever wonder why someone might want to join a business fraternity instead of a business club? It’s for experiences like this. Brotherhood is a connection like no other.

1) Highest GPA in all of Greek Life at Binghamton (Delta Sigma Pi and Alpha Kappa Psi were tied for first)

2) Most social of the Professional Fraternities

3) Number one in “Philanthrophy Dollars” among the Professional Fraternities

This is just a testament to how the unity within our fraternity can allow us to accomplish amazing things. We describe ourselves as a group that can work hard and play hard, and now we have the numbers back it up.

The original document with the above rankings can be found here.

A large part of our community service efforts have been dedicated to Blessed Hope Church, a local congregation that accommodates underprivileged families around the area. We visited weekly, served food, and organized activities for the children to participate in after their Saturday service. At the end of the semester, one of our Brothers dressed up as Santa and distributed toys, including sports balls and board games, to the children. Nearly half of our community service activities were dedicated to the volunteer work at Blessed Hope.

Additionally, we are avid participators in events around campus. We contributed to the SA’s on-campus Haunted House, where our Brothers helped set up and act; The Chow Walk to fight hunger; and the Breast Cancer Walk. For the holidays, AKPsi also held a book and clothing drive for Africa, where we collected more than 500 books and 10 bags full of clothes, shoes, and toys.

In the upcoming spring semester, we are again going to participate in Relay for Life, as well as work with Greek Life to organize Dance Your Heart Out, a campus-wide dance marathon to benefit relief in Haiti.
The Brothers of the Omega Zeta Chapter have dedicated much of their time and effort to service. With each rewarding event, AKPsi has helped to raise awareness for important issues. We have even higher service expectations for the upcoming Spring semester and hope to continue upholding the values of principled business leaders.

• We have established our home in Greek Life, and our letters proudly hang alongside the socials’,
• Our chapter has won AKPsi’s Case Competition at our Principled Business Leadership Institute for the last 2 years,
• Our Brothers have won PwC’s xACT competition for the last 2 years, with each of the top 3 teams being composed of our Brothers,
• We’ve become one of the top five largest Greek organizations on campus (65 active Brothers),
• We’ve received Honorable Mention for Greek Chapter of the Year and Outstanding Greek-Affiliated/Special Event of the Year at the 2009 XCELsior Awards, and
• We’ve brought new recruiters to campus; sponsored some of the business world’s most prevalent companies; and collaborated with many of campus’ most active organizations, both professionally and socially.

As soon as I became a Brother, I dreamed of Alpha Kappa Psi being one of the most recognizable Greek names on campus.  We are well on course of that goal; and while I do not intend to put all of our cards on the table, I can assure you that we have an exciting Spring semester and many more years of activity before us.

Alpha Kappa Psi is a Brotherhood of principled business leaders. As such, we recognize that effective leadership is a multi-faceted talent, necessarily utilizing each of our core values: Brotherhood, Knowledge, Integrity, Service, and Unity. Our Brothers are some of the best and brightest students Binghamton has to offer. Our average GPA is well above the school average. We TA your classes, found and lead your clubs, and intern for Fortune 500 companies. With AKPsi, you improve in all technical aspects required of a leader.  Public speaking, effective resume and cover letter writing, time management, persistence, and creativity are just some of the many skills and character traits that you will learn and further build on with Brotherhood. We seek mutual benefit, aiming to help each of our Brothers as much as they help our organization.

More than a resume builder, though, we are motivated by a sense of integrity and commitment to ethics. We strive to improve our community in any way we can, completing 700 hours of community service last year (‘08-‘09), and an additional 166.5 hours this semester. We believe that one cannot effectively lead without fairness, responsibility, and honesty. “To reach a great height a person needs to have great depth” (Anonymous).

Further, we are a Brotherhood. I have found the bonds of unity unlike any I’ve seen before. While honors societies and clubs have their merits, we take pride in not being counted among them. We are a fraternity. Further, we are a co-ed fraternity, open to all majors. We are continually looking for diverse perspectives, and I fully invite anyone with an interest in business to consider us further.

The future of AKPsi looks brighter every day, and I am proud that I have been able to leave my mark thus far. To my current Brothers, I thank you for everything you have given and congratulate you on everything you have gained. To my potential future Brothers, I encourage those of you with both strong potential and personality to consider your fit among our principled business leaders.

Edward Carpenter
President, Alpha Kappa Psi

RSM McGradrey

On Wednesday, October 14th, three of the largest organizations in Binghamton University’s School of Management collaborated together to bring forth a presentation by RSM McGladrey&Pullen, the 5th largest accounting firm. The event took place in the University Union’s Mandela Room, and members from Alpha Kappa Psi, Beta Alpha Psi and Delta Sigma Pi filled the venue to hear the firm’s take on the current economical crisis. Cristin Singer, a partner in the New York office and the firm’s leading liason for Binghamton University, educated students on how the crisis has been affecting accountants and how students soon entering the workforce should prepare for their careers. The presentation was interactive towards the end, as students were able to voice their concerns regarding their potential jobs in the unsteady business world. The firm, however, instilled a sense of confidence and assured the students that with the guidelines specified in the presentation, the economy would eventually get back on its feet.

McGladrey & Pullen LLP (a partner-owned CPA firm) delivers audit and attest services. McGladrey & Pullen serves clients from approximately 100 offices across the United States. McGladrey & Pullen and RSM McGladrey have an alternative practice structure. Though separate and independent legal entities they can work together to serve clients’ business needs. When considered together, the two companies rank as the fifth largest provider of accounting, tax and business consulting.

RSM McGladrey is a leading provider of financially focused business services to midsized companies. The RSM McGladrey group of companies offers accounting, tax services, business consulting, retirement resources, employer services, corporate finance, wealth management and financial process outsourcing. RSM McGladrey Inc. serves clients’ global business needs through its membership in RSM International (an affiliation of separate and independent accounting and consulting firms).