Class reunions can either be nerve-wracking or something you can look forward to attending. Some may find meeting an ex-girlfriend/boyfriend awkward or seeing past friendships that turned sour uncomfortable. But overall, class reunions can be quite fun and beneficial for you.
Reunions are a great way to reconnect and mend old friendships. They are great avenues to be updated with your classmates’ lives and they create the perfect setting to just comfortably talk about life, career, and family. It is also a good opportunity to build connections and business networks.
Reunions can be enjoyable and memorable if planned right. And it doesn’t matter if you are not a professional event planner. You can organize and plan the reunion well enough with the help of your high school reunion planning checklist.
10 Essential Steps to Include in Your High School Reunion Planning Checklist
1. Appoint committees and assign tasks
Committees will make the event planning and execution so much easier. Identify major roles and responsibilities and assign them to volunteers according to their qualifications and areas of expertise. It is also important to consider the number of expected participants. The number of committees depends on how big the event will be.
Some of the committees you want to consider include:
- Reunion Chairpersons [leaders in charge of managing each committee]
- Finance Committee
- Program Committee
- Communication and Advertising Committee
- Welcome and Decoration Committee
- Food Committee
- Registration Committee
Once committees are established with the needed members, decide on dates for necessary meetings. Exchange contact information with the team and decide on possible venues for the meet-ups.
2. Set the budget
Create and propose an initial budget plan according to the expected number of participants and event costs. Collaborate with the finance committee. To raise funds, you can rally up sponsors aside from selling tickets. Start contacting prospect sponsors to lower down registration fees. And also set up features on your site to accommodate digital donations.
A lower registration fee will encourage more people to join. Some may be coming from other cities and will be paying for accommodation, food, and transportation among others. Cutting down registration costs will definitely be appreciated.
3. Research and brainstorm
This is a crucial item for your high school reunion planning checklist. Do initial research on the possible theme, date, venue, event activities, and event program. Brainstorm with the whole team. Ask for preferences and trends you can use in deciding the theme, program, and activities.
For example, you can have prom night as the theme to re-enact the past. You can encourage participants to wear the same outfits they wore on their prom night if they still have them. This will make the reunion more memorable.
4. Pick a date
Class reunions are held all year round. Some of the popular choices include early summer and Thanksgiving since they don’t clash with any school classes and work commitments. But the most important thing to consider is the availability of everyone.
Select a shortlist of possible dates. And after that, create a poll to identify the availability of the majority.
5. Choose the venue
In choosing the venue, take into account the number of attendees and the nature of activities. Some may choose their school grounds. This is a more practical choice especially if you don’t want to spend too much on the venue.
School grounds are not only cheaper options but they create a more intimate setting. What brings back nostalgia from school memories better than walking through your school campus.
6. Finalize the program
With the help of the program committee, create and finalize the program and the activities or performances that will be showcased. Start to send invitations to potential speakers and performers to get their availability.
Create activities that are engaging and fun. Think of creative ways to engage attendees. One activity that we did in our high school reunion was a “bring me” game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. As the name suggests, you will be bringing whatever item the emcee will be asking for. Some of the funniest asked items were our high school IDs or an embarrassing picture with classmates.
7. Decide on the staff you’ll hire
Though there are volunteers, some professional help will be needed during the event. Some of the services you might want to hire include catering services, music and lights, photography and videography, or a professional DJ.
Ask for recommendations from your team. They might have connections with one of the services above.
8. Set up your reunion website to sell tickets
Your high school reunion planning checklist will not be complete without adding the advertising step. Promoting your class reunion is easier when you set up a website. People are now more engaged in virtual platforms especially in this time of pandemic. You can advertise and promote your class reunion directly on your website. You can even utilize it to post announcements.
Make sure to contact the participants as early as possible and direct them to the reunion website. Having a website will also help answer the attendees’ inquiries and help you receive suggestions from them if they have one.
You can create a manageable and easy-to-navigate class reunion event using Event Smart. Make an event page where participants can stay updated.
How to set up a class reunion event with Event Smart
9. Develop registration procedures
Selling the tickets and setting up the registration are some of the final steps you need to include in the pre-event stage. Set up your ticketing and registration process. An easy and smooth registration process can make your upcoming reunion a success.
Use Event Smart to quickly create your class reunion registration website. With Event Smart, you can customize registration forms, and collect payments online through credit cards or PayPal. Registration becomes easier and faster for your reunion attendees with just a few clicks.
We recently helped a customer in setting up registration for their upcoming high school reunion with the following requirements:
“I’m setting up a reunion website for my high school with two paid events -Friday cocktails and Saturday dinner. Will Event Smart be able to present both choices so people can select Friday only, Saturday only, or both days? We’ll use simple PayPal to get payments.”
Through Event Smart, you are able to sell tickets from events with specific dates. Once participants purchase the tickets, you’ll receive an email of confirmation to track sales.
10. Plan for a tribute presentation and tokens
Reunions are not complete without tribute presentations like videos showing highlights of your high school days. It can be a football win. Or recorded videos of random goofy moments.
You should also present tokens of appreciation to guest speakers. After the event, you can use your website to post some pictures of the class reunion. Create engagement. It’s nice to create a platform where the participants can continue to connect and engage with each other because for sure, this won’t be the last class reunion they will be attending. Encourage those who weren’t able to come to attend the next one.
Conclusion
Organizers and the planning committee should not be excluded from the fun. Planning and organizing a class reunion could be easier and more enjoyable when you follow a simple reunion planning checklist. Just follow these ten simple steps from the class reunion checklist and you’re good to go!
Are you ready to get started with your class reunion today? Start your free trial right now.
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