The Judge

I've been recently watching updates on our Traveling Gavel, the judge on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/PADeMolayJudge) and I wanted to share some info and guidelines with anyone who doesn't quite know what the Judge is.

First and foremost,

WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

“The Judge” as we all know it was presented to Brother Justin D. Killian, PSMC, at the Installation and Induction Ceremonies of New Castle Builders Chapter in New Castle, PA in 2005.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ME?

“The Judge” was created with one mission in mind: travel. It's purpose is to encourage visitation and travel between Chapters within Pennsylvania. (And to bodly go where no man has gone... oh wait, wrong show!) 

Rules of the Judge

Territory: The gavel is limited in its travel to the Chapters within the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania. Who is eligible to obtain the gavel? A. Any Pennsylvania DeMolay Chapter. B. Any Pennsylvania DeMolay current Elected State Officer. Obtaining the Gavel: For any Chapter to obtain the Gavel, they must: A. Travel to the Chapter that currently has possession, with proper adult supervision in accordance with the Youth Protection guidelines of DeMolay International (minimum of 2 advisors) except when an advisor is only supervising his/her own family members. B. Have the most points of any Chapter present. C. Attend the entire meeting... from opening through the closing. Points System: When more than one Chapter is vying for possession of the gavel, the winner is determined by the most number of points earned. Points are determined by the following method: A. Number of active DeMolay members of the Chapter present multiplied by the number of miles traveled, one way, between the Chapter being visited and the Chapter visiting. B. In the event of a tie. The presiding Master Councilor will flip a coin, conduct a rock-paper-scissors contest, or use some other fair means to make the final decision. Gavel Travel Log: Contained in the travel box with the Gavel is a travel log. You must record your possession and other information as required upon receipt of the Gavel.

Obligations Concerning the Gavel

Chapter in possession of the Gavel must: A. Display the Gavel at all Regular Meetings, Installations, Awards and Honors Ceremonies and Induction Ceremonies held by the Chapter. B. Freely turn the Gavel over to any Chapter or State Elected Officer who arrives to receive it, and has the most points (see above). C. Record their possession in the Gavel Travel Log. D. Report their possession to the Pennsylvania DeMolay Webmaster for inclusion on this site. E. See that all Gavel materials (Gavel, storage box, Gavel Travel Log) are maintained and turned over to the next recipients upon the award. F. The Chapter in possession of the Gavel may, at its discretion, bring it to any statewide event to show it off to the other Chapters, and may, at its discretion, give it to any Chapter that has not yet received it during the competition year. Chapter in pursuit of the Gavel: A. Must follow all protocol and decorum while visiting the Chapter in possession of the Gavel. B. CANNOT make any attempt to steal or retrieve the Gavel in any way other than that listed above. C. Must have the most points of those present, based upon the system listed above to obtain the Gavel. An Elected State Officer in possession of the Gavel: A. Must visit a Chapter and turn over the Gavel within three weeks of his receipt of the Gavel. He MAY put it in his home Chapter, but this is his choice. By taking it, he is committing to promoting its purpose, which is to encourage Chapters to interact and visit each other. B. Must report his travels to the Pennsylvania DeMolay Webmaster for inclusion on this site. C. Must record his possession in the Gavel Travel Log. D. Must see that all Gavel materials (Gavel, storage box, Gavel Travel Log) are maintained and turned over to the next recipients upon the award. An Elected State Officer in pursuit of the Gavel: A. Must follow all protocol and decorum while visiting the Chapter in possession of the Gavel. B. CANNOT make any attempt to steal or retrieve the Gavel in any way other than that listed above. C. Can only take the gavel if no other Chapter is represented at the event. D. Must have the most points of any other Elected State Officer present, based upon the system listed above to obtain the Gavel. The Judge can be quite the motivator for the members to travel to other Chapters and visit - encourage your Chapter brothers to go where the Judge travels to next!  Hint, it's hiding away with the brothers of the Pike!

 

Etiquette and You - College Edition

A hot topic amongst DeMolay's today is that of etiquette. Your first response to that topic is probably "Really? Etiquette? Surely you're joking." But, what is the social media issue but one of etiquette? What do most adult's complaints about youth boil down to? A lack of etiquette. It was almost fortuitous that I came across another great article about etiquette this morning.

The folks over at The Art of Manliness Blog just put out a great new article entitled How to be a Gentleman Scholar: Classroom Etiquette for the Modern Man. As DeMolays head to college to this fall, I would encourage them to take a quick gander at this article and learn some of the key points. Many are lessons we teach in DeMolay already, like:

• Be on time.
• Be respectful.
• Don't dominate others.
• Pay attention.

These are pretty simple lessons, but everyone can use a reminder from time to time.

On a side note, I will be travelling on Thursday of this week and will not be able to post. I'm going to try to line up a special guest to post, so check back and see who it is!

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Once more into the breach, my friends!

It appears that a specific topic has reared its head once more in DeMolay - the use of social media and how it reflects on the organization. We've covered the perils of social media on this blog before, in a couple of different ways, so I'm not going to spend a lot time discussing the specific things one should do to be safe on social media. Rather, I'd like to take the time to approach this from a "corporate" standpoint and address how organizations are managing this area.

Often, we find that the ideals an organization hopes to engender with their social media policies often end up at odds with the real world. It's great to outline a hard line policy, but how you put those words into effect (or fail to do so) can make or break a company or group. I did a little internet search and found some good resources that discuss these problems, that I wanted to share.

First, we have an article entitled "16 Social Media Guidelines Used by Real Companies." These are VERY good starting places for anyone looking to manage social media within an organization. They are realistic and set the correct tone. A company can't expect to completely control the behavior of its employees when they aren't at work, but asking them to be sensible and not impugn the company in their daily life is fair.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have some of the polices outlined in this article, "5 Noteworthy Examples of Social Media Policies." Some of these companies are a little stricter - and quite frankly nuts. I don't know of anyone who is going to put a disclaimer on every social media post, stating that this is their own view and not the view of the company they work for. That's just silliness.

The best article I found was this one, "10 Social Media Policy Musts." In the article, the author outlines the 10 things that a social media policy should try to cover and explains why they are important. I would encourage DeMolay International, DeMolay Jurisdictions, and even Chapters to consider all of the points in this article.

As a former HR wonk, I have to point out one important detail that none of these articles discuss - the fact that a policy has to exist to hold someone accountable. I spent several years working in HR. I learned, rather quickly, that you can't hold an employee to a standard that has not yet been set. If an employee finds a loophole, you just have to let it go and set a new standard that addresses the issue. Making a martyr out of one person in a crusade to dissuade further behavior only looks bad for the company and puts you at risk for legal action. I experienced this first hand with an employee incident that I managed, and learned a lot from. That's all we can ask of ourselves and our leaders - continue to learn and grow!

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Interviewing Logic

As a recovering Human Resources employee, I'm always interested in what is going on in the HR world and how that impacts the general population. One of the ways that HR usually interacts with people is through the interview process when a person is applying for a job. The art of an interview is very distinct and some people are very good at (while others are not.)

Recently, "Dad" Labagh forwarded me a link that his wife sent him with information about what interview questions are actually trying to find out about you. If you know what a person is trying to learn, then you can be better prepared to answer. Check it out!

http://lifehacker.com/the-logic-behind-19-common-interview-questions-1376990545

I've always appreciated LifeHacker and this article is no exception. Anyone can benefit from this article, whether it be DeMolays or adults.

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Experiences in Ritual Competitions

Today's article comes from Bro.  Isaac Holtzer, Deputy State Master Councilor of PA DeMolay. He writes about his experiences at the Mid-Atlantic Tournament of Champions.

On September 6 - 8, 2013, ten DeMolays from Pennsylvania attended the Mid-Atlantic Tournament of Champions, or MATOC. MATOC is an event that hosts DeMolays from all over Region II of DeMolay International for a ritual competition. Competitions range from "Rookie of the Year," which covers the obligations for new members, to the DeMolay Degree, to the Chaplain Prayers. The goal for every DeMolay there is to get as close to a perfect score as possible, which is 1000, and do better than everyone else who competed. Every competitor starts with a perfect score and they lose points if they mess up the words or there is an issue with the presentation.

Imagine going into a lodge room with four people watching everything you do, ready to catch something you do wrong, and then performing the best ritual you can. This is what Matt Maple, Isaac Holtzer, Lorenzo Rodriguez, Phil Cancila, David Kopp, Eric Dye, Tyler Moyer, Adam Pritchard, Andrew Santilli, and Anthony Kallhoff did at MATOC. They competed in many competitions as a team and individually; they included the Preceptor Trio, Magnificent Seven, Orator, Flower Talk, Ceremony of Light, Chaplain, RD Ceremony, and Majority Service. Many of them even became MATOC Champions, doing better than everyone else in their chosen competitions. A member of PA DeMolay won the Rookie of the Year, Magnificent Seven, Preceptor Trio, and Majority Service. This goes to show that Pennsylvania DeMolay does some very impressive ritual.

I personally have attended the past two MATOCs. Both times I have had the opportunity to meet with other DeMolays from neighboring jurisdictions and compete in brotherly competition. When I first went to MATOC, what made me excited was that everyone helped each other at practicing their ritual, even though they were competing against each other, which really shows how we are truly a fraternity.  The first time I competed I was extremely nervous going into the competition and I hoped I would not receive the lowest score out of everyone. It turned out I did the opposite and I won, but only by five points. At the second MATOC I attended I was not as nervous and I focused on getting a higher score, possibly a 1000, which is very difficult to achieve. I did not get a perfect score, however I did obtain my goal to do better. MATOC has helped give me a passion to do the best I can at ritual and I hope everyone goes to MATOC in their DeMolay career.

Many DeMolays in Pennsylvania hear about the Mid-Atlantic Tournament of Champions and get nervous, not wanting to go, but would like to see how well they can perform ritual. In this past year, we have found a solution to this problem! We now have statewide ritual tournaments at every weekend we have at Patton Campus. This gives every DeMolay the opportunity to compete in ritual even if you do not want to travel to MATOC. The best part about the statewide competitions is that you can compete more than once and try to get a better score. So there is no reason you cannot compete in a ritual tournament!

Until next time - Isaac