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How to to Plan a Class Reunion
Twenty years have gone by and you
can’t believe it. Either you were a class officer,
so planning the reunion defaults to you; or no one seems
to have planned a reunion, so you were roped into the
planning committee. No worries, putting together a reunion
doesn’t need to be overwhelming.
For starters, you’ll need about six people for
your planning committee, and one person to lead the
group. The phrase, “the more the merrier”
isn’t always best. Decisions need to be made and
too many people will cause you to get stuck in the quagmire.
If others want to help, put them on sub-committees to
delegate tasks to later.
Just like a wedding, it’s important
that you get a ring and a dress. No, that’s not
right. It’s important that you get a date and a
location. You can’t move forward if you don’t
solidify those two factors. Before deciding on a location,
get an idea of how much money you are going to spend.
Do you have any funds in an account leftover from previous
reunions? How much per head will you charge your classmates
to attend? Some events end up costing $50+ per person,
and your attendance will be lower if you don’t
keep it reasonable for people to attend. If you only
want to be able to charge $25 per person, then that
will influence your decision on location (union hall
vs. country club).
Will you be hiring a DJ? If so, get
this person reserved next. Don’t wait for the last
minute to try to find someone. You’ll need to pay
deposits on the banquet hall and the disc jockey. The
last big thing you’ll want to decide is if you’re
going to be having dinner or just h’or duerves.
If you’re just going to have snacks, you can save
a bundle by doing the food yourself. You don’t
need to have that catered.
Start getting a hold of classmates.
This is a daunting job. It’s a little easier now
with the internet and all the people-search resources.
Women are a little harder to find because of all the
possible name changes. Ask people to ask people to ask
people. This is truly a word of mouth venture. Also
contact parents. Other suggestions are to do a lot of
publicity. Post your reunion notices on www.classmates.com
and www.reunion.com. Send out press releases to media:
newspaper, TV and radio. Build a website preferably
with the domain name of your school and year dot com.
Having your own website will simplify things as you
can put all the pertinent information on the site, then
in all your other notices, give a contact phone number
then “see website for details.” Also contact
your Alma Matter to see if they can post the info on
the marquis out front. Mail invitations; even simple
flyers made on the computer will suffice, but give them
something to stick on their refrigerator.
Keep decorations simple. No one really
cares. They’re coming to see each other, not how
pretty the room looks. You can spend a bundle on room
décor if you’re not careful. Photocopy pictures
from the yearbook, cut them out, stick on poster boards
and laminate. Voila’. Get copies of the school
newspaper and leave those on the tables. Don’t
go overboard here. It’s a waste of money.
Door prizes are optional. People always
like to win stuff. Solicit business owners for donations
if you want. You can delegate this task to someone who
may have wanted to help but you didn’t need any
more decision makers. 50/50 raffles are always fun too.
Check to make sure raffles are permitted before conducting
this though. Most places don’t have a problem with
this type of activity.
One final word, if your banquet hall
rental fee does not include after-event clean up, but
offers that at an additional charge, take it! This option
will be much appreciated at the end of a long day of
setting up and pulling off your event. You don’t
want to mess with clearing tables and emptying trash
at one o’clock in the morning.
More importantly, have fun and don’t
sweat it. The details aren’t as important as old
friends reconnecting.
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