Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) recently held its November monthly meeting, and it was a crucial step for the club in attracting new members while retaining existing ones. FBLA is a business club at Lambert that focuses on assisting students become young entrepreneurs and leaders. Members showed up in the morning to attend a presentation curated by the FBLA officers recapping previous events and introducing new opportunities, a crucial meeting set for them since the meeting was one of the last before the new year and state competitions start.
“This November FBLA meeting is particularly important because we’re approaching the end of the year and a lot of opportunities are opening up in FBLA,” Lambert sophomore and FBLA officer Vivan Kotla explained. “Because the first couple of months’ membership is always very strong, and then people start to diverge from the club, so this is meant to bring them back.”
Many of the Lambert students who join FBLA do so for the opportunities available to them, allowing them to boost their college applications and develop experience in the business field. The November monthly meeting is meant for inspiring students across Lambert to join FBLA and capitalize on the competition aspect the club has to offer. The competition aspect, where members participate in business and team-building activities to earn prizes, is exactly what many members are looking for since it helps them build their own industry experience and also shows colleges they are ready to go down a business pathway.
“Before the meeting, we had our fall rally in October, so we did a recap of that,” Kotla said. “We talked about our Chipotle Fundraiser which will happen next month. We did a recap of Trunk-or-Treat, and we announced our member of the month.”
The officers often rely on word of mouth to attract potential members. This made the November meeting all the more important, as the leadership team was able to pitch competition opportunities ahead of upcoming event signups. Furthermore, students also gained crucial information about new competitions to participate in, giving them the chance to bolster their business acumen through these experiences.
Additionally, they also introduced the upcoming year’s leadership team to fuel interest in the club from new and returning members.
“One really big thing was our subcommittees, and we announced the people who got into a subcommittee,” Kotla explained.
While competitions and events are important selling points for FBLA’s members, many participants seek to have a bigger impact on the club. Leadership positions are a significant part of their high school experience, and they often are held in high regard in a college application which makes FBLA’s potential positions all the more favorable. Announcing leadership positions meant that members both old and new would be more attentive in light of the opportunities they are learning about.
The November FBLA meeting proved to be significant for new and returning Longhorns, as they were able to learn about new opportunities and events on the horizon to build their high school experience through FBLA’s opportunities of leadership and competition in the business world.
