Organizing an Effective and Efficient Family-Reunion Committee
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| One way to ensure an especially memorable experience during your reunion is to be involved in the planning. As a member of the committee you will have a say in the choice of events, get a sneak preview of pictures, letters, news, gossip and other intriguing bits of information ahead of everyone else! Sound like fun? Who would not want to be on the planning committee, you say? Well, organizing a spectacular reunion, even a small one, takes time and commitment. Based upon my experience with all types of volunteer committees family, civic, fund raising and reunion I have found that establishing an 'effective' committee from the beginning can go a long way toward making the planning process easier. The reality is, the less organized your committee, the harder you will work to get everything done. How many committee members will you need? Even if you are planning a small reunion, you will probably need an Executive Committee to take care of the basics event organizing, managing committee meetings, accounting, invitations, communications and record keeping. I use the title "Chairman" for each of the Executive Committee positions. Larger reunions may need additional committee members to handle specific duties such as a Reunion Book, entertainment, videography, photography, memorabilia or memorials. I use the title "Project Coordinator" for these jobs. You will also probably have people who will not want to be members of the Executive Committee or Project Coordinators, but may want to offer advice or help with tasks as needed. I refer to these members as the "Committee-at-Large" or "Volunteers." |
The Executive Committee
Effective committees depend on good leadership at the top. Ideally, the Chairman of the Executive Committee should have a sense of humor, work well with others, be able to take advice or constructive criticism, maintain a good working relationship with others on the committee, recruit and maintain committee membership, motivate committee members and boost morale, coordinate the efforts of the committee, ensure that there is no uncertainty about who is responsible for what, delegate tasks, remain impartial when debating issues, maintain credibility as a mediator within the committee, be the facilitator in difficult situations and make those decisions that may come up unexpectedly requiring action to keep the plans moving along. The most important skill for the Chairman of the Executive Committee is the ability to delegate tasks. Another important skill is the ability to keep committee members who are helping from afar on track and on time. It is not unusual for large family reunions to be planned in parts by people spread out all over the country. The larger the reunion, the more important it is for the head of the committee to manage the big picture and not get lost in taking care of all of the little details him or herself. The Accountant should be someone who enjoys dealing with finances because this job can make or break your reunion. A good Accountant can help determine whether you end up with money left over ... or dead broke and need to pass the hat. The Accountant should be able to manage limited funds wisely because reunion committees typically begin the planning with no money in the coffers and have to make do creatively until the reservations start rolling in. Sloppy record keeping wastes both time and money so the Record Keeper should be a detail-oriented person who wants to keep track of current contact information for each member of your family as well as keeping a copy of all agreements your committee may make with facilities or businesses that will help you with your reunion. If you are planning more than one event during the reunion where the whole family will gather, consider appointing more than one Event Chairman. The Event Chairman is the 'go-to' person for their event. He or she will coordinate the event from start to stop ... the facility, food, beverages, decorations, music, photographer, videographer, printer, souvenirs, the presentation and all of the logistics. Even though the you may have a Project Coordinator who is responsible for finding and hiring some of these vendors, the Event Chairman will be in charge of coordinating everything and everyone during the event. Getting the word out is half the battle in getting people to the reunion. The Communications Chairman's responsibility is to boost attendance through effective publicity, enticing invitations and personal communication with each member or branch of your family. The Communications Chairman also can be instrumental in encouraging members unable to attend, to participate in the reunion by buying souvenirs, contributing memorabilia or taking part in fund-raisers. |
Project Coordinators
Project Coordinators will take on more specific tasks for the reunion. How many Project Coordinators you will need depends upon the extent of your plans. You might consider a Project Coordinator for any of the following: Amenities, CD-ROM, Decorations, Fund Raising, Member Search, Memorabilia, Memorial, Music, Photography, Presentation, Reunion Book, Souvenirs, Travel, Videography, Volunteers, and a Website. |
The Committee-at-Large
In addition to the Executive Committee and Project Coordinators, there may be people who are not interested in assuming specific responsibilities, but who might be interested in helping with the overall decision-making or dabbling in a host of different planning areas. Committee members-at-large could help with committee meeting organization, souvenir orders, interviewing vendors, envelope stuffing, the member search, training volunteers, staffing the check-in table, communications or publicity, locating memorabilia or acting as a liaison with other organizations. These committee members-at-large should attend committee meetings so they can take part in discussions and making decisions. |
The Volunteers
The largest group of people helping you with the reunion may be the volunteers. These people might not actually join the committee, but will volunteer their time on an intermittent basis. Most reunion committees need volunteers to help with long-term tasks such as the member search or gathering memorabilia. You may also need volunteers around the time of mailings to help collate and stuff envelopes. In the last months before the reunion you may need help to finalize details and put together check-in packets. And, almost all reunions need volunteers during the reunion to help decorate, set up or clean up or staff check-in and sales tables. Some reunions also need help after the reunion to send out remaining souvenirs. Volunteers ... what would your reunion committee without them? Before you ask a family member to commit to a committee position, it is a good idea to give him or her an indication of what kind of time and experience is involved. You will find a time commitment calendar and a job description for each committee position mentioned here in Reunion Solutions: Everything You Need to Plan an Extraordinary Family, Class, Military, Association or Corporate Reunion. If you establish your committee very early on, you will spend less time organizing your committee and have more time to organize your reunion. |
| Dina C. Carson is the author of Reunion Solutions: Everything You Need to Plan an Extraordinary Family, School, Military, Corporate or Association Reunion, available at your local bookstore or at
www.ReunionSolutions.com |
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