Planning the trip typically took almost three months and involved contacting companies to booking site tours, coordinating meet-ups with local alumni and collegiate chapters, and coordinating logistics including hotels and transportation. Such trips are for many brothers the highlight of each semester and a cherished tradition in the chapter.
    This semester the vice president of professional trips, Brenda Chavez, arranged the Pro Trip to Chicago. While most Beta Eta alumni tend to work or attend graduate school on the eastern seaboard, numerous brothers have recently begun internships and jobs in Chicago. With a growing interest in Chicago among Beta Eta brothers, members agreed that attending Chicago would be beneficial both professionally and personally.
   The chapter visited Groupon, Aon, FCB Advertising, and Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations. On these tours, brothers received advice on interviewing, working in cross-functional teams, entrepreneurship, and the transition from college to a career. In addition to the professional advice learned from these company visits, Beta Eta reconnected with alumni, Brothers Liz Edens and Nick Dogali. They shared their experiences in transitioning from Florida to Chicago, detailed their career paths, and spent time getting to know some old and new brothers.
    The unique opportunity of visiting company sites and networking combined with the appeal of travel will preserve Pro Trip as a main focal point in Beta Eta’s commitment to growing its members professionally and personally. Furthermore, Beta Eta is making strides in making these trips even more affordable by creating the vice president of sponsorship position. This officer will be a leader in forming branding and financial partnerships with companies. In the future, Beta Eta hopes to subsidize even more of the costs of trips to make it even more widely available to brothers.