National Convention Parliamentary Procedure

This year and last, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to assist with the Parliamentary Procedure Leadership Development Event. I assisted at both the novice and high school levels of the competition. For this blog post, I would like to explain what I did at both of those events!

The first event that I was exposed to was the novice event at the 2016 National FFA Convention. There, I waited with the teams in the holding room. We talked, played games, and practiced Parliamentary Procedure!

My favorite thing about this competition was talking with members from other states and getting to know them. A conversation that I remember to this day was with the members of the Texas FFA Association because they told me all about their state and they asked about Pennsylvania! It was incredible.

The next event was the high school competition at National Convention in 2017. This time, I was asked to help the judges with comment cards for the semi-final round of the competition. Helping out with comment cards meant that I would be taking notes on the teams who were competing, just like the judges were, so that we could ensure that nothing was missed.

This was an incredible opportunity because I got to put my Parliamentary Procedure knowledge to a very rapid test. The teams compete quickly, even more quickly than we held our debates in class. We had to ensure that they were using, making, and seconding all of their motions correctly, that they were using Parliamentary Procedure as outlined in Robert's Rules of Order, and that they looked good while doing so.

Once the teams were finished competing, I filled out a final comment card, which stated the pros and cons of each team and what the members could do to improve their debate.

Both of these opportunities were incredible, and I am very grateful for each of them! I learned so much, and I would urge anybody in the future to pursue them as well! Parliamentary Procedure is a skill that you have to exercise to keep it healthy! Opportunities like these are excellent ways to keep Parliamentary Procedure fresh in your mind, as well as give back to the community. You can help raise the next generation of parliamentarians. Watching a member from Puerto Rico receive their accreditation was more fulfilling than receiving my own.