Class Reunion Planning 101 (High School or College Reunions)

One of the most interesting things to come out of our recent class reunion was an interest in sharing information about the business skills and expertise that our classmates have. This got us thinking. While we would never use the class database as a marketing tool for personal enrichment, why not allow people to advertise on the class website for free or a minimal cost. We are currently investigating two options for classmates: 1. A list of subject areas of expertise. Need a lawyer. Click on "attorneys" and a list of classmate's names come up. Click on the names to get to their individual websites. Click on "plumbers" and a list of names pops up and so on. This would be a free option. 2. Buy a full page or half page add in the website. Money for this can go to maintaining the website. Hosting costs, survey subscriptions, email blast subscriptions, etc. When we get closer I'll share more on this subject. In the meanti...

Ryan Hutchins, writer for the Star-Ledger, recently wrote an article for the newspaper about a 16-year-old high school sophomore named Joyce Holly who lost her yearbook. That was June, 1979. She left it in a Somerset (NJ) County Park after a North Brunswick High School marching band picnic. Flash forward, 30 years later and the yearbook has been recovered thanks to Somerset County Sheriff, Captain Jeffry Thompson. It appears that Sheriff Thompson was retiring after 28 years and wanted to clear out his office, and the book was on his shelf. "I just held on to it because I said: 'You know what? That means something to somebody.'" The book was found by park police 30 years ago, but Holly couldn't be found. Even with Google, Facebook and other online search engines, Holly's whereabouts remained a mystery because she started using the name "Jaye" as her first name and she moved out of New Jersey. But with retirement approaching, the Sheriff got s...

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...

Looking for a good excuse to get a mini-reunion going? Celebrate your classmates' collective birthdays! This is not something to do every year, but rather try it the year you all have a significant birthday: 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years old. Don't wait for a major reunion, choose a location that will hold about 10% of your class. In my case, from a class of 600, I expect 60 to show up. No formal hotel facilities are necessary. Just book a nice restaurant with a room big enough to hold all of you and serve a nice buffet with a cash bar. If you have a smaller class than mine, then just meet at a favorite pub. The class before ours had great success meeting in the summer at a lakeside restaurant. The sounds of lapping water and reflections of moonlight make for a magical setting that requires nothing but the company of friends. Don't fuss with decorations, djs , a photographer, or videographer - unless you want to. People will shoot with their phones and upload them to Facebook ....

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...