What to Do When -- Establishing a Timeline for Your Class Reunion
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One of the biggest challenges in planning a reunion is getting the timing right. Where
to begin is a lot like baking a cake; you have to gather the right ingredients before you
can get started. The biggest jumpstart you can give yourselves is a good review of the
big picture -- to get a handle on the major tasks so you can break them down into
smaller steps. Once you identify the steps, you can set deadlines so that all the pieces
come together on time.
Much of reunion planning is interdependent, so some tasks can't begin until others are
completed. The major milestones typical to most reunions are:
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the date the first communication goes out inviting people to join the
committee (from 12 to 18 months before the reunion)
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choosing a date for the reunion (as early as you need to secure a facility)
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the date a 'teaser' goes out letting members know that a reunion is coming
up and to watch for further details (from 8 to 12 months before the reunion)
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the date the actual invitation to the reunion goes out (from 4 to 5 months
before the reunion)
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the deadline you give your members to pay for the reunion (about 8 weeks
prior to the reunion)
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the date of the reunion itself
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The hardest thing for most reunion committees to recognize early on is the importance
of the date that the invitation goes out. Most of the decision_making and member
search must occur before you can send an invitation. You need prices, vendors and a
budget before you can determine a ticket price, and you need to put a ticket price in the
invitation.
The invitation should go out at least four (4) months prior to the reunion, so you can't
establish a date for the invitation to go out until you have chosen a date for the reunion.
For some groups, the date may be entirely dependent upon what facilities are available.
The larger your group, the earlier you'll have to choose a facility, because as group size
increases, the number of facilities equipped to host large groups decreases. See how
interconnected some of these reunion-planning decisions can be?
The biggest milestone for all reunions is the date that the invitation goes out and there's
a lot to do before that time. The following is a list of some of the things that need to be
done before you can send an invitation.
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Design an extraordinary reunion |
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Hold a budget meeting and determine ticket prices |
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Determine deadlines for reservation and payment |
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Finish the bulk of the member search (if you need to conduct one) |
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Determine plans for memorials and any special guests |
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Send a compelling invitation with a personal request to attend |
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The larger your class, the more time you'll need to find everyone, so the sooner you get
started the better. It's common for class members to start thinking about their reunions
when they hear about the reunions of the class immediately before them, so it's not
unusual to have less than a year to plan. That's fine, but you'll need an efficient
committee to get everything done if you get started late. We've also seen a number of
class reunions wait so long to get started, assuming that someone else must be planning
something, that the whole process becomes difficult. If possible, get started early.
Be aware of just how many other events you may be competing with for space.
June is the wedding month and many brides book their facilities a year or more in
advance. Corporate holiday parties have the edge on the big facilities during the
months of November and December. And, school schedules will affect whether or not
your group members can attend if they have children or grandchildren who will be attending important events such as graduation. If you need a large facility in which to gather or if you'll be traveling together, you may want to start making reservations a year or more in advance. Fall is a common time to hold school reunions if they take place around Homecoming, but again, your guests may have to juggle school schedules to make fall dates work.
The bigger the class, the more time you'll need to search for missing classmates and the
longer it's been since you were in school, the harder it may be to locate some of your
classmates. The sooner you can get started, the better.
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By Dina C. Carson
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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