Class Reunion Planning 101 (High School or College Reunions)

I have learned a lot about reunion planning. It was several decades ago that I graduated from high school and was Secretary of the class. Somehow I knew, even back then, that I would be involved in planning the reunions. I deliberately never let anyone write in my yearbook, because I thought a "clean" version might be useful in the future. Little did I know that years later we would be photocopying it, and, today, scanning it, to make an online yearbook and name-tags. Every ten years I plan yet another reunion,  And each of them has brought forth a new set of challenges. In addition, new technologies have enhanced communication among classmates in ways that I never dreamed. In future updates, I will address many of tips I have discovered. I welcome everyone who has ever planned a reunion or been to a reunion to join me in this forum. Together we can help others who are grappling with the challenges of their reunions and share some fun stories at the same time.

Well, if not you, who else? I'm just saying, if the thought crossed your mind, then probably you're the one! But before you jump on board, be sure you can say "yes" to the following questions. 1. Are you sincerely interested in your classmates? Not that you have to communicate in detail with every last one of them, but are you interested in seeing them connect with each other? 2. Do you have an office at your disposal with a computer, access to the internet, knowledge to use it, fax, copier, and (ideally free) phone. These are all indispensible to being the point person. 3. Do you have an ability to delegate? You need to set up lines of communication and systems so that you understand how they work, and then teach others to do them, so things run smoothly. You do not have to do everything yourself - nor should you. 4. Are you organized? I am managing five teams of people: the search for lost classmates committee, the database team, the location finding team, the p...

Some of the members in our Linkedin .com Group "Reunion Planners (High School, College, Family, Corporate)" have mentioned that short reunion cruises are wonderful alternatives to land-based reunions if you're near a major port city.   Linda Hilson of cruise planners, All Points Beyond  https://www.allpointsbeyondtravel.com /   tells me that there are several options. First, there are dinner cruises like those provided by World Yacht, http://www.worldyacht.com/ , which circles Manhattan. You depart at a certain time and return 4 or 5 hours later, having had the time of your life. But that's it. No down time together to relax. Strict in and out times, etc. Then there are two-day cruises to nowhere. Imagine going out to sea for two overnights, all meals included. It's a party on a beautiful ship where your reunion group can take part in festivities all weekend long. This type of cruise departs only a few times a year out of major cities and may not coincide with ...

Why wait 5 or 10 years before you get together for another class reunion? You should encourage classmates to put together mini-reunions any time or anywhere. Using the internet and Facebook an informal mini-reunion can spring up orchestrated by anyone who wants to reach out and say: "Hey I'll be here on this date and at this time. Meet me there." One of my friends, Vicki, has become the class ambassador. She travels a lot, and when she's in a major metropolitan area, she makes an announcement to her friends on Facebook that she'll be there and voila a party happens around her at a local restaurant or bar. It's truly amazing. Another friend, Barbara, knows she's planning a vacation in Fort Lauderdale in the Spring, so she has organized a mini-reunion welcoming other classmates to join her there for a weekend Luau. In this case she has 6 months lead time to generate enthusiasm and get commitments from the class. Steve has a band, (Steve and Steve), ...

I recently came across a New York Times blog called "Bits," written by a recent college grad, Jenna Wortham, who posed the question, "Who Needs a College Reunion? I've Got Facebook." http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/who-needs-a-college-reunion-ive-got-facebook/ . She was invited to her five-year reunion and adamantly stated that she had no intention of going because Facebook kept her up to date on each and every classmate she cared about. She knew who married who, what their children looked like, what gainful employment they had, what community groups they supported, and so on. And there's no doubt that she was keeping tabs on everyone that was important to her. But I have to extrapolate forward 10, 20, 30 years and wonder if she'll still feel the same way then? Somehow the passage of time, the frailty of the human body, and the growing nostalgia for days gone by takes its toll on our curiosity, and I believe she'll want to go back to se...

I always recommend that no one should produce/direct/or shoot their own reunion videos. You've waited all these years, why work at your party? Let someone else do the schelping and the interviewing. You should be free to enjoy yourself and not be chained to a camera all night. Consider having a professional video production company that specializes in party videos shoot and edit your program. Try to make a deal that if they shoot and edit it for free, they can "sell" the dvds to classmates after the fact and keep the profits. This only works if you have a fairly large class, but it does work. For example for our recent reunion, the production company is selling the dvds or digital downloads for $25.0. The video is a good value because not only is the party on it, but also all the party videos that we rolled in during the night's festivities. These included multiple shorts featuring scenes around town, the best tv shows, Time magazine covers, and montages of the deca...

Another detail you'll want to review with your venue event manager is the floor plan. It's a mundane but essential part of making a successful party. The smooth flow of traffic is essential to keep a somewhat inebriated herd content. Here are ten floorplan "must-haves" to keep things running well: 1. two sign-in tables -usually in the foyer outside the main room for people to check in or pay if they haven't already. Consider splitting up the alphabet by last name - half at one table, half at the other. 2. name tag table - for people to pick up their pre -printed name tags or write their own if they paid at the door. 3. table for seating cards - if you have pre -assigned seating for your reunion (I don't recommend this), but if you do, people will need to pick up their table numbers outside the main room. Arrange the cards in alphabetical order by last name. 4. bar(s) -to avoid bottlenecks. Some places recommend 1 bartender per 100 people. Keep them away from ...

One of the hardest things about being a reunion planner is keeping the list of classmates who have passed on. You know they are gone, but you see them as they were - vibrant teenagers with their whole lives ahead of them. You are not alone in this thought. You share the zeitgeist of the entire class - the collective spirit of your alma mater. Together you mourn the loss of even one classmate. And as you get older the numbers rise, and it gets more surreal. Therefore, it is very appropriate for you to create a tribute to those who have "moved on." 1. a special page on your website or class directory dedicated to their memory is appropriate. 2. a video montage or slide show on the website is appropriate. 3. if you have an online yearbook with the ability to write blog messages on the yearbook page, encourage classmates to write their memories of those who died in the blog. I would not, however, suggest a video or slide show tribute DURING the reunion because it may irrevoc...

I'll never forget the story of my girlfriend's brother,John. He was three years younger than us and had always lived life on the edge. Sex, drugs and heavier drugs. Therefore at the twentieth high school reunion, many of his classmates were not surprised to see his name listed among the "dearly departed" in their printed directory. "Too bad about John. He was a great guy, but I didn't really think he'd live this long," were typical comments. There was, however, one person who was very surprised to read about John in the memorial pages- and that was John. He could say as did Mark Twain, "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Indeed John was alive and well. How did this happen? Well the reporter in this case, didn't check his/her sources. Whenever I hear about the passing of a classmate, I always try to get three people to corroborate the story and then verify it with a search in the Social Security Administration's...

Should you enlist the services of a professional photographer? The answer is a resounding yes and no. Yes, you should bring aboard a photographer: 1. if it's free 2. if prints or downloads can be made available at a reasonable price 3. if you'd like a group shot of the whole gang 4. if you want formal table shots of each table If you publish your class reunion on public sites like http://www.reunionannouncements.com/ you will undoubtedly be contacted by several vendors selling services. One of them will be a photographer who will come and shoot your reunion at no charge, in exchange for being able to sell prints after the reunion. This is a win/win situation, particularly if you answered "yes" to any of the above. But read on there may be a reason to avoid having a professional photographer. You may decide you don't need a professional photographer for your reunion: 1. because everyone with a digital camera or phone is a photographer and that's good enough 2. ...

About a month before the reunion, you'll want to check in with the banquet manager and review the details of the menu, the layout of the room, the location of the bars, the check in tables and any special needs you may have like multi-media playback. Hotels will provide projection systems and screens for a price, (and not cheaply, I might add.) The specifics of the menu can change up to about a week before (double check this with your banquet manager,) but you'll want to make the initial choices a month before. Things to consider: 1.Long before you've planned the menu, you've decided on whether to have a Cash Bar vs. Open Bar or something in-between (maybe wine and beer only.) This is because the price you charge for reunion tickets a year before must reflect the cost of food and drinks, if you are not having a cash bar. Double check that soft drinks, juice and water are free. That said, I believe a cash bar is the fairest way to deal with alcoholic drinks since not e...

Even before this economy became unstable, some people were thinking that $95.00 for a ticket to their class reunion was steep. I've explained how it's not just the meal and banquet hall that costs so much. It's the entertainment, the party favors, decorations, cost of mailings, monthly survey and e-mail blasting services, video transfers, website hosting costs, office supplies etc. that really impact the final cost. For our reunion, I know $95.00 is the right price point. But I also know that some people would be more likely to come if it were somewhat less. How how do we help them? At the beginning of ticket sales (about 10 months prior to the event) offer a discount -$10.00 off the price. This is an important incentive to get people to sign on early, so you can meet the minimum that the hotel requires. It also helps them out financially - win/win. Another idea centers around what I call "scholarships." One month before the reunion, offer $20 off the ticket pri...

As the checks come pouring in, you'll find notes accompanying them. Many of them ask the question: What's the dress code? As planner for the reunion, you are setting the tone of the party and people believe you have a "vision" of what it should look like. And maybe you do. Essentially the "place" seems to dictate the level of formality when it comes to dress code. But there is no question that everyone wants to look their best. For the banquet hall reunion that I am planning cocktail dresses and jackets and ties would be appropriate. But my advice is: don't overdo it, and make sure you look like yourself. You don't want to put people off. For casual reunions at the poolside, lakeside, at picnic groves, or in someone's back yard, tee shirts, shorts and bathing suits may be the order of the day. Or not. You'll want to wear what works for you, particularly as you launch into your 40th and 50th reunions. Just wear what you feel good in. I tell ...

Back in June, I wrote a little bit about about "people finding" websites in How Do I Find My Classmates? There are several to choose from if you Google "people search" as a subject. the differences between the are subtle, but each offers value to your search. 1. http://www.whitepages.com/ is a good basic "name," "address," "state," "phone number" tool which offers basic and advanced searching, but there is not a great deal of difference between the two search modes, and it very quickly wants to hand you off to a helpful, but paid service called www.USSearch.com . (Note USSearch promises to give you a free search for your first 24 hours. So if you can work long and hard, you may get a lot accomplished for free here). 2. www.zabasearch.com/advanced.php is the advanced mode of http://www.zabasearch.com/ . The advanced mode allows you to search also by middle name, and approximate birth year, as well as the usual "name,...

That is the question. Actually it's more than one question - because videos can serve several different purposes. You can create: 1. videos to entertain at your party 2. videos to document your party and/or 3. videos to inform classmates on your website or Facebook page First rule of video production: ask someone else to do it, if you are the class reunion planner. Canvas your classmates and see if anyone wants to handle it. Reunion planners like us have enough to do. Entertainment Think about starting your party with a video. Nothing is more exciting than launching the party with a great video with a rocking soundtrack. Consider editing the following elements together to make a short and sweet, 2-3 minute party tape: contemporary footage and old photos of your favorite haunts around town, pop culture and news footage from your decade, headlines from the town paper from the year you graduated, photos of classmates horsing around. Combine fast-paced cutting with favorite anthems...

Sometimes people are funny. They don't want to be the first to sign up to buy a ticket and would rather hedge their bets to see who of their friends have committed first. We've solved that problem by offering incentives to our classmates and, believe me, they work. 1. Most successful is the "early-bird special." Assuming you have started a whole year in advance. Offer people a discount for those who sign up in the first three months. We met our minimum number right off the bat and were breathing a whole lot easier. We promised the hotel a minimum of 125 people, and during the "early bird" phase we sold 124 tickets. Amazing how that worked. (This, of course presumes, that you have a margin of extra money to play with.) 2. Another phenomena that I didn't predict was the "free drink on me" incentive. Several classmates helped with the sign up drive by each offering to buy the next ten people who signed up a free drink at the reunion....

There are many services out there that will offer templates for high school reunion websites. They are better than nothing, but if you want something a little less boilerplate, you'll have to make it yourself. If you have a dedicated web designer in your class who will willing to volunteer his/her services, as we were fortunate enough to have, (thank you Jan Reisen of http://www.perfectisite.com/ ) you can custom design a site to meet your needs. Make sure your designer understands that this website will have a life long after the reunion and that he/she is an intrinsic part of the reunion committee forever and ever. Jan understood this and has exceeded our expectations time and time again. She designed our site based on a few basic components we felt we had to have. 1. A news page for updates about the reunion 2. An on-line yearbook (our directory) with blogs on each page to write messages to classmates and a in-memoriam page 3. A place to upload photos with instructions. We chose...

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...

For the most part, people put themselves out there. They paste their pictures all over Facebook .com, share their family photos on Shutterfly .com, and put their entire resumes on LinkedIn .com. Twitter.com will tweet every last breath you take if you let it: "What are you doing now?" "I'm breathing." It's all voluntary. It's all good fun, and it's a great way to let people know you're still alive and well. With the special interest groups, you can direct people's attention to favorite charities, important public events, (like the reunion) and track your favorite celebrity's page. But there are some people who have no interest in social networking and prefer to remain private. They have not succumbed to the idea of Twittering their private thoughts in 50 characters or less. And some don't want to have anything to do with the reunion. So be cautious about posting private information on the class website when you have control of it. Re...

Lou posted a comment after the article Should I Be the One to Organize the Reunion? about all the fun activities he planned for the entire reunion weekend I agree. Why limit the reunion to four hours on a Saturday night? Make an entire weekend of it, making it especially worthwhile for those who have traveled a great distance and may be staying in the hotel. Here are some ideas to extend the festivities: 1. A Friday night pre-party bash. It could be simply drinks at the hotel lounge or a pot-luck picnic at a local picnic grove. Perhaps you'll want to get together at a local hangout of 'yore. Create a simple "pay as you go" experience for those who wish to attend. No reservations. No money collected in advance. Keep it simple and have fun. 2. Saturday morning. Be creative. Plan a golf outing, a hike, a basketball pickup game at the courts, a brunch, a trip to the zoo or a botanical garden. Small groups can assemble for inexpensive get-togethers. Find creative, inexpen...