Organizing an Effective and Efficient Military-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,
military, 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.
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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."
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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 military 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. 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. The search for
military commrades can be a daunting task if it has been years since you all have
gathered (if at all), so the Record Keeper may need help from other committee members
or a Project Coordinator dedicated to the member search to help out.
If you are planning more than one event during the reunion, 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 of your
group. 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.
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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.
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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?
As many of our veterans have grown older, it is not unusual to find the children of
veterans taking the lead in planning military reunions for their parents. Before you ask
anyone 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.
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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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