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Volume 1, Issue 1

Western Region FBLA

Future Bus iness Leaders o f Amer ica

This is such an exciting time of

the year! Many states have

planned upcoming fall events,

and one of which has passed

is the National Fall Leadership

Conference. I attended the

NFLC in Salt Lake City Utah at

the end of last month. Your na-

tional officer team hosted a

state officer track during the

conference. We are very ex-

cited to promote programs

such as the Community Ser-

vice Awards and Seven Up.

Just some more interesting

facts about me are that I am

currently a Junior at Scap-

poose High School in Oregon

and currently spend my time

working at the St. Helen Com-

munity Credit Union or with

friends. I love to travel and

meet new people! I am truly ecstatic

serving as your Western Region Vice

President and cannot wait to see

what the rest of the year has to bring.

National Vice President’s Corner

November 2013

Western Region Calendar

November 8—9 NFLC—Grapevine

November 15—16 NFLC—Cleveland

November 15 American Enterprise Day

November 17 March of Dimes World Prematurity Day

November 22—23 NFLC—Salt Lake City

National Vice

President’s Corner

2

Western Region

Calendar

2

Program of Work

By Parker Snook

3

Membership

By Jerry Sun

3

NFLC

By Bradyn Poulsen

4

Contribute to The

Western Word!

4

Get To Know Your

Executive Board

5

Table of Contents

Newsletter Designed by

Elizabeth Zhang

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This year, your national offi-cer team assiduously devel-oped a Program of Work that entails many exciting programs. We have also set goals on increasing our so-cial media outreach to con-nect with more members.

One of our newest programs this year is Seven Up! Chap-ters can receive this award by increasing their member-ship by seven from that of the previous year. The seven chapters that raise their membership the most will be recognized on stage at NLC.

Another award this year is the Community Service Award. This recognizes mem-bers for outstanding involve-ment and contribution in the community. This program has four levels: Future, Business, Leader, and America. Each level requires a certain amount of community ser-vice, which accumulates over one’s FBLA career. To sign up go to http://www.fbla-pbl.org/csa/.

One of the aspects that this year’s Program of Work fo-cuses on is social media. We are steadily reaching goals

that have resulted in a dra-matic increase in our con-nections with members across the nation. One way this is being accomplished is the State Officer Board room. State Officer Teams are able to interact with each other and learn about the programs implemented in other states.

This year’s Program of Work contains all the information above and more. Your team has already accomplished portions of it and cannot wait to complete it!

Program of Work

Page 3 Western Region FBLA V olume 1 , I s sue 1

By Parker Snook

Membership Recruitment

Autumn marks the begin-ning of school and the membership recruitment season! Remember that chapters need to not only recruit new members, but retain members from prior years to have advanta-geous diversity in interests and experiences. How are your chapters looking to re-cruit members? Feel free to post on our FBLA Western Region Facebook page or tweet at us: @westernfbla.

There is a plethora of great recruitment tools your chap-

ter can utilize, many of which can be found on the FBLA-PBL national website (www.fbla-pbl.org). Several ideas are hosting after school events, handing out flyers, conducting icebreak-ers, and organizing raffles. Take a look at it; you’re bound to find something you might use!

From my past experience, I have found that a well-decorated club poster and sign-up sheets work per-fectly fine, as long as poten-tial members know why they

should join FBLA. Typically, my school hosts a club fair, during which we receive the majority of our signees. How-ever, the classic word-of-mouth technique works equally as well. When mem-bers have a blast in FBLA, others will take notice. But whatever your method of recruiting is, start now.

After all, autumn marks the beginning of a new FBLA year. Let’s make this year a great one!

Best of luck to your recruit-ment process!

By Jerry Sun

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National Fall Leadership Conference

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By Bradyn Poulsen

The Fall Leadership Conferences gave members the opportunity to participate in motivational sessions, development, and workshops. The Western Region was excited to host one of the three National Fall Lead-ership Conferences in Salt Lake City, Utah on November 22-23. Members and advisers attended the conference in the Hilton Salt Lake City Center.

With guest speakers Grant Baldwin and Byron Garrett, this conference was full of ex-citement and inspiration to help our mem-bers strive for their excellence in action. Within walking distance of the Hilton Salt Lake City Center, members found attrac-tions, such as Abravanel Hall, City Creek Center, State Capital, and Temple Square that make Salt Lake City a premiere loca-tion for the NFLC.

Workshops this year were on the business topics of Accounting, Career Exploration, Communication, Community Service, FBLA-PBL Organization, Financial Literacy, Goal Setting, Leadership, Management, Micro-soft Updates, New Technologies, Personal Development, Team Building, Technology, and Web Design.

Hotel and early bird registration passed on October 25th, while regular online registra-tion ($70) lasted until Nov 12. On-site regis-tration was $80.

Want to contribute to The

Western Word?

Contact Elizabeth Zhang (elizabeth@wrfbla.org)

to find out about how your article may be fea-

tured in the next issue of our newsletter!

From Left to Right: Bryan Poulsen (PBL National Western Region Vice

President), Byron Garrett (Closing Session Speaker), Bradyn Poulsen

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As a senior at Westmoor

High School in Daly City,

California, I love to make

others smile. I believe that

when people smile, it not

only brightens my day, but

their day as well! Outside of

FBLA, I lose my voice at

school rallies and climb on

ladders to hang spirit post-

ers (I’m only 5’2). When I

feel like I need exercise –

which is almost always – I

either play a pick-up game

of basketball or go out for a

nice run. I’m also always on social media so if

you have Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter,

please add me because I’d love an extra friend!

I stand by the three F’s – family, friends, and

FBLA. If you have a chance, please feel free to

talk to me. I’m always open to talking to new

friends about anything. Don’t be afraid to say hi!

Get To Know Your Executive Board

Page 5 Western Region FBLA V olume 1 , I s sue 1

Derrick Chow

Treasurer

Westmoor HS

derrick@wrfbla.org

I am currently a junior at

Newbury Park HS in Southern

California. I have a 1 year

old, 100 pound purebred Si-

berian husky, and an older

sister attending Northeastern

University I really enjoy bak-

ing, sketching, painting

(mainly in watercolor), play-

ing tennis, and watching Ko-

rean dramas. My favorite

foods are chocolate ice

cream, Red Lobster biscuits,

and burrito bowls from Chi-

potle. My favorite drinks are

peach-flavored ramune and hot chocolate. I

have always disliked yogurt, milk, coffee, and

whipped cream. Moving away from food, my fa-

vorite shows are Adventure Time, The Big Bang

Theory, and PBS Nature. My favorite “extra-

curricular activity” is definitely FBLA, in which I am

a regional public relations officer in California, but

I also enjoy Science Olympiad and HOSA.

Elizabeth Zhang

Executive Assistant

Newbury Park HS

elizabeth@wrfbla.org

I am a senior from the Inter-

national Community School

in Kirkland, Washington. I

am currently serving as my

local chapter's co-president

and prior to that, public re-

lations officer. I have partici-

pated in the Buzz Squad

program with the FBLA Na-

tional Center for NLC and

placed nationally for Emerg-

ing Business Issues in 2012.

Among others, I am also ac-

tively involved in various ex-

tracurricular programs, in-

cluding my school’s ASB. Ultimately, making peo-

ple smile is my hobby; making friends is my life-

style; making memories is my goal. While school

leaves me perpetually tired, in my free time, I

can be found following my different interests and

passions. I am proud to support my hometown

Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders FC.

Jerry Sun

Executive Assistant

Int’l Community HS

jerry@wrfbla.org

My name is Bradyn Poulsen

and I have been practicing

web development and pro-

gramming since 5th grade, af-

ter my brother attended na-

tionals for Website Design. With

over three years of professional

practice, I have created abili-

ties and techniques that allow

me to excel in my web skills,

making my time on websites

quick and efficient while pro-

viding genuine high quality ef-

fort I continually strive for. I

teach the Advanced Web De-

velopment class at my high

school while managing my marketing business. Other

hobbies of mine include repelling, running, volleyball,

and programming competitions with my brother,

Bryan Poulsen (PBL Western Region Vice President). I

love my family and extremely miss my older brothers,

who moved out during my middle school years. I love

meeting new people and invite you to add/follow

me! @bradynp on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and

Snapchat and @bradynpoulsen on Instagram.

Bradyn Poulsen

Webmaster

Pine View HS

bradyn@wrfbla.org