Planning a reunion can be a challenging but rewarding task. People like to plan college reunions because it celebrates the successes of your fellow graduates. College reunions are typically planned by alumni volunteers.
#1. Find schoolmates
The most important step in planning a reunion is to find schoolmates. Go all out in getting their contact information. Usually, in colleges, there is an Alumni association that can help you to contact your class members and to plan the events. After you’ve got some contacts, create a group for your graduating class on Facebook (for example) and spread the word.
#2. Get your team
Form your own committee of people who will volunteer their time. Remember it’s all about reconnecting so every member of the team should be an ex classmate. You may want to appoint different roles to different people based on their capabilities. Make sure that these individuals are dedicated and enthusiastic people who are prepared to go the extra mile to ensure a successful reunion. You and your team need adequate planning time to bring ideas together. After assigning their roles, be sure to meet up with them frequently so as to discuss details of the reunion.
#3. Budget
This is one of the most important aspect in the planning stage. You and your team need to come up with a budget as soon as possible and share ideas on how to raise funds. Funds could be raised through selling tickets, contributions from each member or even asking for sponsorship. Setting a budget is important to control expenditure.
#4. Venue
The venue will depend on the budget, style of party and number of attendees. Choose any hall or hotel so long as it fits your requirements. Some reunions choose to use their college hall to save money and the plus side to is that it can bring back memories.
#5. Entertainment
It’s very important that guests are entertained otherwise they may get bored. Get a band or DJ to get the place lively with music. Try to meet up with them before the day of the reunion and see if they can flow with your event. Perhaps you would want to add tunes from your high school days to add to the memories. If your budget won’t allow for a professional DJ, you could ask one of your schoolmates to take up that role. Apart from the music, you can also play a video of old hang-outs and clips submitted by classmates who could not attend the event. You can also come up with games that everyone can enjoy.
#6. Promotion
Make sure you properly announce your event on all the social media you have access to. Newspaper, radio, bloggers, TV- all of them. Try your best to start advertising as early as possible, so your event will be on air long enough. Apart from social media, you could print posters and distribute all over town. Another effective means of publicity is through word-of-mouth. Tell your friends and family to share the word with other people. The tickets should be sold as soon as the basic details are finalized. The key is to be persistent with the publicity.
#7. Menu
When deciding on the menu, bear in mind that there may be vegetarians. So you should go in for variety as much as possible. This is why buffet is the wisest choice for reunions. Aside from significant savings, it gives people the opportunity to mingle during the meal. Most reunions will go in for a three-course meal but remember to go in for tasting before deciding on the final menu. Try to minimize alcohol consumption as much as possible. Many caterers and hotels now offer small food stations throughout the room, instead of the traditional long row of food. This minimizes line-ups and congestion at the buffet table.
#8. Decorations
Decorations for reunions don’t have to be very elaborate. You can have a simple banner which says ‘reunion’. You can also use balloons and flowers on each table. Try and see if you can get old pictures to display around the hall.
To make it more memorable, try to get some ‘cool’ ex- teachers to give short remarks. At the end of the event, everyone should go back home feeling happy they came.
Reunions are often thought of as awkward gatherings where the nerds get their revenge of success at the popular kids, and the night of dread for the underachievers. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. If the party vibes are are turned all the way up, no one should be going home unhappy.
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