How to Plan Your Class Reunion

So, you've graduated and you've started your career. Maybe you've even started a family. Years have past since your last prom so what better way to catch up with old friend and plan a reunion. The keys to creating a successful reunion involve an efficient reunion committee and as much advance planning as possible.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Customized Invitations
• Electronic Personal Organizers
• Decorations
• Party Decorations
• Prizes
• Calendars
• Personal Organizers
• Computers
• Word Processors
• Decorations

1. Begin the planning process at least a year in advance. Select a reunion committee of 5 to 10 alumni, and conduct your first meeting to brainstorm and develop an initial plan.

2. Locate as many alumni as possible through your alma mater's alumni center. Make a list of missing classmates, and begin a more extensive search to locate these people.

3. Research large ballrooms, convention centers, cruises and restaurants in your school's town. Call well in advance to reserve the venue for your preferred reunion date. Ask about any initial deposits up front, and inquire about the refund policy.

4. Consider working with a reunion planning specialist. These professionals can help plan your reunion, and will often front the money until attendees have sent in RSVPs and paid.

5. Plan an entire weekend around your reunion festivities, since many attendees will be traveling from out of town solely for the event. Plan one main reunion event on a Saturday night, as well as planning a Friday night welcome mixer and a post-reunion brunch or picnic.

6. Send out initial reunion "save the date" invitations approximately nine months before the reunion date. Include a missing classmates list, and ask people to respond if they have any information about the lost alumni.

7. Ask local businesses to provide door prizes and awards for the event. Businesses can receive logos and advertising in the reunion invitations and event schedules in exchange for their donations.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask attendees to send alumni histories with their RSVPs. Create an inexpensive memory album with a then-and-now for each student.
• Set RSVP and payment deadlines well in advance.
• Make name tags for all attendees. You can include a senior photo on the name tag if it is not cost-prohibitive.
• Prepare a slide show or video compilation for the main event. Ask attendees to send their own clips for inclusion, and return all clips at the event.
• Decorate the center of tables with balloons in your school colors, stuffed mascot toys and relics from your school era.

[rickroot]

on 7/29/2009 ClassCreator.com is by far the best of the reunion planning sites. Great feature set and great tech support and SO easy to use!

[nui015590122]

on 12/23/2008 Try these sites if you want to waste some more time and money

http://RecordOnlineGuide.blogspot.com

[verum13]

on 7/7/2008 My 10-year reunion is in 2 weeks. The biggest challenge for me was finding my class based on 10 year old contact information and getting people to commit. I found close to 150 people on Myspace.com and Facebook. For the other 250 I used their old addresses we got from the high school and cross-referenced them with people search service www.intelius.com. For under 20 bucks I bought a 24-Hour People Search Pass and was able to find most of the people left on my list. Super helpful.

Does anyone have any creative ideas for nametags? I thought it might be fun to list Marital Status, Kids?, occupation, Senior Quote, Post Senior Quote, that way people wouldn't have to have the same conversation OVER and OVER again. At the end of the event I could collect them and put together a book to distribute. Has anyone done something like that?

[tedpack]

on 3/13/2008 The single most important thing you can do to insure a good time is talk to the DJ/Band before hand. The people who never left town and see each other every week at PTA, soccer practice, poker night etc. are going to want to dance. The ones who did leave town and flew 1,500 miles to attend are going to want to talk, and they are not going to want to shout over the music.

The ideal solution, if you can afford it, is to hire two rooms. Unless you are from Beverly Hills High, you won't be able to do that. Having the music "on" for 30 minutes, then off for 30 would be a reasonable compromise. Promise the DJ/Band the same amount of money as if he played all night. Impress upon him the desire of half the audience to talk. Reunions are not the same as dances or concerts. People (some people) want quiet time, to talk. Keep hammering that home to the DJ/Band. If necessary, tattoo it on his/the

[Ebby]

on 8/31/2007 Response to "Surveys essential". Too many cooks in the kitchen is not good either. Let's face it...it's a TON of work planning a reunion without asking everyone what THEY think. I guarantee, everyone will want or require something different. Who has the time, not to mention the ambition to survey everybody for their opinion? I've done 2 class reunions and am working on #3. Our class has over 300 grads. I don't necessarily WANT to plan another reunion but it seems that no one else will take the initiative. So to keep it simple (and to keep my sanity), I'll form a small committee, we'll plan things to the best of our ability and let as many people we can find know where and when. If they don't like it, maybe they can plan the next one.