Is Planning a Class Reunion Like Planning a Family Reunion?
A friend of this blog asked me today if planning a class reunion was similar to planning a family reunion.
"Well," I answered, "planning a class reunion is no picnic."
I believe school reunions are more challenging than family reunions.
And I believe family reunions, for the most part, are just that - "picnics."
1. Class reunions are much larger. My class, for example, was 620 people, and it's a huge management effort to coordinate communication, databases, bank accounts, ticket sales, teams of people, etc. Planning the class reunion is a big management gig.
2. Classmates are not connected by family ties and therefore are not easily found, especially when women marry and change their names. That, in itself, makes a huge difference.
Thankfully we have social networking tools - huge resources for finding classmates - like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Classmates.com, and Google to find people.
3. Once we found the right location, (in our case a hotel with a lovely banquet hall,) our efforts involved contract signing, hotel arrangements and a host of negotiations that aren't really necessary for a family reunion. Of course, I'm assuming that family reunions are at picnic groves, family members' homes, campgrounds, and the like - and don't require this kind of formal planning.
4. In my experience, class reunions require a significant outlay of cash for their venues like our hotel. We're paying $95.00 a person for the pleasure of gathering at our next event. While I know this is twice the amount of some reunions in other parts of the country, here in NJ, after you wind up paying for the hotel/food/tax and service charge, entertainment, decorations, video, party favors, postage and what-have-you, the money adds up. Family reunions are generally not this elaborate or expensive.
5. Another distinction is the variety and types of committees that school reunions require today. We have committees for: the website design and development, surveys, searching lost classmates, database input, video production, nametags, decorations, party favors and ticket sales. Somehow family reunions, at least the ones I've been to, haven't been so labor intensive.
Now I know I'm probably going to get 100 comments from family reunion planners, but I welcome them. I'd like to know if some families go "all out." So please let us know.
"Well," I answered, "planning a class reunion is no picnic."
I believe school reunions are more challenging than family reunions.
And I believe family reunions, for the most part, are just that - "picnics."
1. Class reunions are much larger. My class, for example, was 620 people, and it's a huge management effort to coordinate communication, databases, bank accounts, ticket sales, teams of people, etc. Planning the class reunion is a big management gig.
2. Classmates are not connected by family ties and therefore are not easily found, especially when women marry and change their names. That, in itself, makes a huge difference.
Thankfully we have social networking tools - huge resources for finding classmates - like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Classmates.com, and Google to find people.
3. Once we found the right location, (in our case a hotel with a lovely banquet hall,) our efforts involved contract signing, hotel arrangements and a host of negotiations that aren't really necessary for a family reunion. Of course, I'm assuming that family reunions are at picnic groves, family members' homes, campgrounds, and the like - and don't require this kind of formal planning.
4. In my experience, class reunions require a significant outlay of cash for their venues like our hotel. We're paying $95.00 a person for the pleasure of gathering at our next event. While I know this is twice the amount of some reunions in other parts of the country, here in NJ, after you wind up paying for the hotel/food/tax and service charge, entertainment, decorations, video, party favors, postage and what-have-you, the money adds up. Family reunions are generally not this elaborate or expensive.
5. Another distinction is the variety and types of committees that school reunions require today. We have committees for: the website design and development, surveys, searching lost classmates, database input, video production, nametags, decorations, party favors and ticket sales. Somehow family reunions, at least the ones I've been to, haven't been so labor intensive.
Now I know I'm probably going to get 100 comments from family reunion planners, but I welcome them. I'd like to know if some families go "all out." So please let us know.
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