FBLA-PBL

Refimprove|date=April 2007Infobox Organization
name= FBLA-PBL


caption = Logo for FBLA-PBL, Inc.
size=
motto=
formation= 1940
type= career and technical student organization (CTSO)
headquarters= 1912 Association Drive
Reston, Virginia, USA 20191-1591
membership= 253,365 (2008)
language=
leader_title= President, CEO
leader_name= Jean Buckley
key_people=
num_staff=
budget=
website= http://www.fbla-pbl.org/

:"FBLA redirects here. For other uses, see FBLA (disambiguation)"

The Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, or "FBLA-PBL", is an American career and technical student organization that has its headquarters in Reston, Virginia. FBLA-PBL is a non-profit organization of high school ("FBLA"), middle school ("Middle Level"), and college ("PBL") students, as well as professional members ("Professional Division") who primarily help students transition to the business world. FBLA-PBL is the largest student-run business related organization in the world, with 253,365 members. Local FBLA-PBL chapters are often connected to their school's business education department.

History

Dr. Hamden L. Forkner developed the idea of FBLA in 1937 while serving as the head of the Teacher's College of Columbia University. The National Business Education Association agreed to sponsor the organization in 1940. Johnson City, Tennessee was the site of the first chapter of FBLA on February 3, 1942. Iowa became the first state chapter. Phi Beta Lambda, the college level, became a separate division in 1958. A Professional Division (originally for alumni) was formed in 1979. In 1994, the Middle Level was added for middle school students. cite web|url=http://www.fbla-pbl.org/web/page/614/sectionid/614/pagelevel/2/main_interior.asp|title=About us|publisher=FBLA-PBL, Inc.|accessdate=2007-10-17] FBLA-PBL's current President and CEO is Jean Buckley.

tructure

FBLA-PBL is structured into various levels of organization: local, district/sectional, state, regional, and national.

Local

The first level is the local (i.e. chapter) level, generally consisting of an individual high/middle school, or college/university. To charter a chapter in FBLA, you must have at least five members. PBL requires three members to charter a local chapter.

District/Sectional

The next level is the sectional level, also known as the district, regional or area level. This level consists of chapters in the same general area within a state. Some states have vice presidents representing the districts.

Many states utilize districts or sectional conferences to make it easier for members to participate in the organization without all the necessary travel. Some states do not use sections or districts at all, and these states are commonly geographically smaller states such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

tate

The state level incorporates all sections (and thus all chapters) within the boundaries of that state. It should also be noted that not all 50 states have active state chapters and there are some international territories considered "states." For example, DoDDS Europe, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands are treated as states.

Regional

The regional level should not be confused with the sectional level. The regional level consists of the national level divided into five administrative regions: Western, Mountain Plains, North Central, Southern, and Eastern. These regions are used to determine representation of national officers on the national board as each region has one National Vice President. Also, the National Fall Leadership Conferences ("NFLC") are planned in four of the five regions every year.citeweb|title=FBLA Bylaws|publisher=FBLA-PBL, Inc.|url=http://www.fbla-pbl.org/web/page/666/sectionid/587/pagelevel/2/fbla.asp|accessdate=2007-10-17] Customarily, chapters attend the NFLC in their region, though this is not a requirement.

The National Vice President of each region can appoint their own team of officers to assist in accomplishing national goals within the region. The major focus of the regional officer team generally consists of improving communication, increasing involvement, and increasing membership. At the National Leadership Conference, each region holds independent meetings to recognize accomplishments in that region and to elect the next regional vice president.

National

The national level is the highest level and consists of every member in the organization. It is considered an honor for competitors that have qualified to compete at the national level because they must have demonstrated skills superior to others from their state (see competitions section for explanation).

The 2009 National Leadership Conference (NLC) will be held in Anaheim, California.

Competitions

FBLA-PBL holds yearly competitions. These competitions range across topics covering technology, business, and public speaking. Some of these events are Website Development, Technology Concepts, Accounting I, Management Decision Making, Public Speaking I, and Impromptu Speaking. There are also competitions specific to FBLA-PBL, such as the FBLA Principles and Procedures event.

There are four different classifications of competitions: individual, team, recognition, and chapter. Most individual competitions are based on Scantron tests or computer tests, such as the Accounting I competition. Most multiple-choice tests are 100 questions [cite web|url=http://www.fbla-pbl.org/data/files/docs/FBCompetitiveEvents08_09.pdf|title=Competitive Events Guidelines|accessdate=2008-08-12|format=PDF] , and all multiple-choice tests are taken online at FBLA Nationals. Some are speaking competitions, such as Public Speaking I, and others have an interview portion, such as the Job Interview competition. Team competitions include the Website Development event and the Parliamentary Procedures event, among others. There are three subclassifications for team competitions. The first consists of a two or three person team that takes a written test in a preliminary round and presents their own solution to a problem assigned to them in the final round; an example is the Management Decision Making event. The second includes a two to three person team that presents a report or website in both the preliminary and final rounds; an example is the Website Development event. The third includes a four or five person team where members of the team take a written test individually and then move on to the final round based on the average of the team's scores. The final round is a presentation of a premade script that must be modified to incorporate a problem. The only example of this subclassification is the Parliamentary Procedures event. The Recognition class of competitive events began in 2006, a departure from the previous grouping of the other three classes of competitive events. Chapter competitions focus on the presentation of a report to a panel of judges, as is seen in the Community Service Project event.

The competitions usually start at the district/sectional level, but in some cases start at the local level. The decision to hold competitions at the local level is left to the adviser of the chapter. From the district/sectional level, competitions progress to the state level. If a member places in the top three of an individual competition or top two of a team or chapter competition at the state level, they move on to the national level.

The top ten competitors in each national-level event are featured on stage at the Awards of Excellence Program at the National Leadership Conference where they receive trophies and/or certificates. Some events are sponsored, adding a cash or scholarship award to the top competitors for that event.

Conferences

Within a state, several sections or districts may each hold leadership conferences from which the winners may attend the State Leadership Conference.

Each state chapter holds a State Leadership Conference (SLC). During the SLCs members compete to go to the NLC, workshops are held, and members run for State Officer positions.

FBLA-PBL holds its national conferences all over the United States. In the fall, there are commonly four conferences, each better known as the National Fall Leadership Conference (NFLC). In the past, national conferences have been held in Anaheim, Baltimore, Birmingham, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, East Brunswick, Greensboro, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, Omaha, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, and Salt Lake City. Fact|date=January 2008

The National Leadership Conference (NLC) is held early in the summer. Two are held each year; one for both the FBLA and Middle Level divisions, and another for the PBL (Phi Beta Lambda) division. This is the pinnacle of the FBLA-PBL year in which all competitors compete against one another for national honors. Additionally, members have the option of attending workshops in order to grow in character and leadership, and to expand their knowledge of business and business-related fields. Some members run for a National Officer position at the NLC, and 8 candidates per conference are chosen as the National Officers for the next school year. The highest-scoring member on the written test for the Parliamentary Procedures event who meets the National Officer guidelines is appointed as the National Parliamentarian for the next school year (one each for FBLA and PBL). The NLC is the largest conference of the year, drawing crowds of approximately 6,000 students and advisers for NLCs held before 2007 and approximately 7,200 students and advisers for the 2007 NLC. Among the workshop presenters at the 2006 NLC was Coach Ken Carter, who inspired the 2005 film "Coach Carter". Carter was the keynote speaker for both FBLA and PBL's NLC opening session. He offered students the "Coach Ken Carter Experience."Fact|date=January 2008

The 2007 NFLCs were held in Portland, OR; Cincinnati, OH; Birmingham, AL; and Buffalo, NY.Fact|date=January 2008

Future NLCs

Past NLCs

Institute for Leaders

At the NLC, a two day seminar is presented by FBLA-PBL and TRI Leadership Resources, which is open to all FBLA-PBL members who pay a fee and register in advance to the NLC. Tracks available during this "Institute for Leaders" include Mastering Officership, Communication, and Entrepreneurship, among many others. General Opening and Closing sessions are held on each day; these provide members from every track an opportunity to get together, share what they learned, and make connections. At these general sessions are keynote speakers, highlighted in 2004 by a special talk by The Apprentice runner-up Kwame Jackson.

Running for office

Members may run for local, district/section, state, regional, and national office. Regional offices are appointed by national officers from the respective regions. District officers are also appointed in a few states. On the national level, the Parliamentarian is an appointed position given to the person with the highest Parliamentary Procedures test score.

At the National level, the following offices are available for FBLA and PBL:
*President
*Secretary
*Treasurer
*Parliamentarian
*Eastern Region Vice President
*Mountain Plains Vice President
*North Central Region Vice President
*Southern Region Vice President
*Western Region Vice President

Candidates for each Region Vice President must be a member of the region in which they would like to be the Vice President. .

In the Professional Division, only the offices of President, Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer are available [citeweb|title=Professional Division Bylaws|publisher=FBLA-PBL, Inc.|url=http://www.fbla-pbl.org/web/page/612/sectionid/611/pagelevel/2/professional_division.asp|accessdate=2007-10-17] . The Middle Level has no national representation and its administration lies in the control of the association president and chief executive officer [citeweb|title=FBLA-ML Bylaws|publisher=FBLA-PBL, Inc.|url=http://www.fbla-pbl.org/web/page/603/sectionid/586/pagelevel/2/fbla_middlelevel.asp|accessdate=2007-10-17] .

Regional, state, district/section, and local offices vary. Generally though, the offices of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Historian, Reporter, Parliamentarian, and Webmaster are used, or their duties and responsibilities are combined to form one office (i.e. Secretary/Treasurer, or Historian/Reporter).

The March of Dimes

FBLA-PBL has had a partnership with the March of Dimes for over 35 years [ [http://www.fbla-pbl.org/web/page/715/sectionid/587/fbla.asp Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda ] ] . During this time, FBLA-PBL members have raised and donated over 15 million dollars to the charity, originally founded by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Today, the March of Dimes is fighting to prevent premature birth, a common problem in America and all around the world.

The newest addition to this partnership is the "March To" program. Through this program members sell paper feet in celebration of heading towards the National Leadership Conference. This program was piloted by the North Central region in the 2003-2004 year with "March To Denver". The following year, a nationwide "March to Orlando" was held.Fact|date=October 2007

Famous alumni

Some of the notable alumni include Johnny Mathis (singer), Troy Aikman (NFL Quarterback), and Ronnie Musgrove (former Governor of Mississippi and former national officer of FBLA-PBL)cite web|url=http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/vocational/FBLA/history.htm|title=Mississippi FBLA history|publisher=Mississippi Department of Education|accessdate=2006-09-06] . Pat Nixon (the former First Lady of the United States) was an FBLA adviser during her years as a high school teacher.

References

External links

* [http://www.fbla-pbl.org Official FBLA-PBL Website]
* [http://www.fbla-pbl.org/web/sectionid/587/module/scl/c/149/pagelevel/3/parentid/591/main_interior.asp FBLA High School State Chapter Links]
* [http://www.fbla-pbl.org/web/sectionid/585/module/scl/c/147/pagelevel/3/parentid/633/main_interior.asp PBL College State Chapter Links]