8 Essential Reunion Tips

8 Essential Reunion Tips
by Heather Wood

With summer just around the corner, reunion season is about to bloom, meaning that perhaps you or your classmates are planning an event. No matter how casual you want reunions to be, they can still be a lot of work when you consider where it's going to be held, how much you're going to spend on the event, inviting people, food and music. So we've come up with some tips to help you pull off the perfect high school class reunion.

1. Get Help

Each class should form a committee to work on the reunion, otherwise it can either overwhelm one person or become an unorganized, muddled mess of communication with a bunch of people. Elect a committee and have them be the point of focus for putting on the reunion.

Start planning your reunion as far in advance as possible, so your information can be found on the internet since classmates will start searching up to 1 year before the reunion.

2. Establish a budget

Keep in mind that the reunion will cost money, so you'll need to figure out what everyone will be willing to chip in to organize your event. The committee might consider opening up a bank account where money raised for the event can be used, signed off and tracked by the reunion organizers.

3. Location, Location, Location

Where do you want to hold the reunion? One popular choice is the high school itself, but sometimes those places are not set up as a venue for an event such as a class reunion. Also keep in mind that adult beverages may not be allowed on school grounds. Therefore, you may want to look at other places, and definitely check out plenty of options so you can find the most cost-effective way to hold the reunion.

4. What kind of event?

This is something that is commonly overlooked and can sometimes lead to not only confusion among committee members, but ultimately a less-than-enjoyable reunion. Will it be a formal reunion? Relaxed? Are people's kids invited? Will there be dancing? How long will the event last? Are people coming into town and should the reunion last a couple days? These are things the committee must decide and make very apparent in the invitations.

Also, if there is going to be music, decide whether you want a DJ or a live band and keep in mind what experience each choice brings to the atmosphere of the reunion.

5. Find classmates
Use Google or Bing and ask friends to look through their e-mail and address books to find former classmates to invite to the reunion. Don't expect people to just come out of the woodwork, because if they don't know about it, how are they suppose to come? Make sure everyone on the committee works hard to track down classmates.

6. The early bird gets the worm

You should have a date set six months in advance, and you should publicize the event as early as possible so people can make travel plans and clear their schedule for it. The closer it gets to the reunion date, the harder it is for people to change their schedule.

7. Biographies

Ask classmates to give you some background on what they've done since high school and their contact information. Compile this and send it out early to everyone so old friends can catch up before the reunion, therefore creating a much more relaxed atmosphere at the event.

8. Use the Reunion Manager for online Registration.

We recommend using the free Reunion Registration service called Reunion Manager. http://reunionmanager.net

This site is absolutely free and you can accept ticket payments on line using your own pay pal account which is becoming the easiest way to increase ticket sales and help py for the reunion as fast as possible.

The Reunion Manager also gives you up to date information on your budget - how many tickets you have to sell - how much money has been collected - who still owes etc... The Reunion Manager even gives you a list to print out to use for check in at the reunion itself. Highly recommend their services.