Comments on: How to Plan Your Class Reunion

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?

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

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.

on 11/22/2005 Only a handful of people making plans for many is not good for the overall success of a reunion event. In the list of planning essentials you do not mention surveying the classmates to find out what sort of event the majority would like. You need to know the best time for the majority of people to attend, especially those out of town. You should be aware of the preferences as to the type of event. And to be even more efficient, find out the ways they would like their reunion fees dispersed. A few good questions posed to the classmates, before the final plans are made, will insure the best event. Granted, you cannot please everyone, but it should be a goal to please the majority to generate the best attendance. With the speed of the Internet it is possible to get loads of input from classmates. Don't miss this chance to collect ideas, tips and suggestions from them.