High School Reunion Planning
MoveCloseDeleteAdmin

TV ClubHouse: Archives: 2003 January: High School Reunion Planning

Spygirl

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 09:32 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Just because I don't have near enough things to do in my life, I am in charge of planning my 10 year high school reunion this summer and could use your help.

Have you been to any of your reunions? Why or why not? Were they fun? What did you do? What did you like and hate the most? What is your funniest story or horror story from a reunion? How much did you pay to attend? What advice would you give to a planner of such an event to ensure more people come?

Thanks in advance!!

Halfunit

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 09:41 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Spy - how many in your graduating class?

I ask because DH and I both attended our respective 10 year reunions in 1998. His class had 61 graduates. Mine had 330.

Our reunions were very different, and the size of your class has a lot to do with planning.

Grooch

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 09:41 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Spy! This is the show for you to watch. What perfect timing.

'Reality' TV finds its niche: high school
Class of '92

By Mark Sachs , Times Staff Writer


With "reality" TV casting its net over ever-wider areas of human interaction in quest of the next big ratings score, it was only a matter of time before producers hit on revisiting the high school experience.

Unlike other shows in the genre that have to pump up the reality by forcing people to compete in manufactured scenarios for the big-money payoffs, the drama in the high school environment is a natural by-product of raging adolescent hormones. Romance, betrayal, excitement, envy: It's all there. The only question is how to harness it for mass consumption by TV audiences.

Well, leave it to the creators of "The Bachelor" to come up with a guilty pleasure of a series that does the job quite nicely: "High School Reunion," premiering Sunday at 9 p.m. on the WB. The network will repeat the hourlong episodes on Thursdays at 9 p.m.

The setup couldn't be simpler: Seventeen members from a Chicago-area high school's class of '92 are flown to Hawaii for a reunion they are told will last two weeks. They don't know who will be attending until they arrive at the beachfront mansion that will serve as their dorm, and the air is thick with anticipation and dread as the ex-classmates arrive one by one, conveniently labeled with on-screen graphics. There's Natasha, the popular girl; Dave, the bully; Chris, the misfit; Maurice, the loner.

Most arrive with agendas. Nicole, the tall girl, wants to hook up with the guy who never knew she was alive in high school, Dan B., the player. Ben wants to prove to people that he's no longer a nerd. Summer, the flirt, wants to get to the bottom of why Tim, the artist, ducked her for the prom.

Just when you think you're out of high school, they pull you back in.

Kaili

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 09:42 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I haven't had a reunion...but classmates.com might have some ideas for you...

I would probably go to one, but only if the few people I still talk to were going. Make that the ONE person I still talk to. Otherwise, I didn't hang out with too many people in my school or my grade. My class was only about 30 though...

Spygirl

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 09:51 am EditMoveDeleteIP
My class has about 110 people.

Wow, Grooch -- that sounds hilarious!!

Yankee_In_Ca

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 09:56 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Spygirl -- I JUST planned my 15-year reunion, which was held in August 02. And, I planned it from over 3,000 miles away! It was a great success -- I'd be happy to share anything with you.

Keep in mind when you're getting feedback on ticket price, that the ticket price will differ from reunion to reunion because of geography (in-city reunions cost more, etc.), so don't go strictly by what others charged. I've heard people who said that $25.00/person was too expensive, and others who think $100.00/person is acceptable.

I need to run out for a while, but I'll try to get to some of your specific questions later today.

The most important thing is reaching as many of your classmates as possible. I found the internet and e-mail to be very very useful, though not the only source for you.

Are you still in touch with classmates? Are you still living in the general area in which you graduated? If you say yes to either of these, you're already ahead of the game.

Will write more later.

Yankee

Spygirl

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 10:06 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Cool Yankee!! I am still in touch with a great many of my classmates and many of those are in touch with others, so we do have a jump start. Unfortunately, I am planning from 500 miles away, but have help from local classmates as well.

Halfunit

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 10:07 am EditMoveDeleteIP
One thing that the organizers of my reunion did was to include a list of questions with the reunion announcement.

Name (Maiden & Married for women)
Address
Phone #
Spouse & Child(s) name
Occupation

They made a booklet of all the responses, arranged alphabetically by last name at time of commencement. You had the option of omitting any information you didn't want listed. (This also helped with obtaining addresses for future reunions.) Each graduate got a copy of the booklet.

I noticed the main thing people wanted to do was mingle. People just went from table to table and talked. We had our meal served early on, so this helped. There was a DJ and a small dance floor, but most people weren't interested in dancing - just catching up.

My reunion was held at a party center due to the size of my class. DH's was held in the private rental room in the basement of the local Mexican restaurant/bar. Mine was formal, his was casual (jeans), and both were fun.

Cost - mine $60/couple---DH $40/couple

The absolute most important thing: NAMETAGS! I could not believe how much people can change in 10 years. Were it not for the nametags, I would have missed people!

Ed to add: The prices above are with a cash bar.

Spygirl

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 10:11 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Good call on the nametags! I ran into a group of people over Thanksgiving who graduated the year ahead of me. There was this guy who came up and hugged me and I smiled and said hi, then turned back to the girls. I figured he was one of their husbands who was just overly friendly. Turns out, he was one of their classmates and I was absolutely shocked at how much he had changed. I didn't even remotely recognize him and never ever would have if I had talked to him for 1/2 hour :)

I think we are going to do nametags with our annual pictures on them in the corner. That just occured to me as a good idea -- that way you see the old and the new face!

Halfunit

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 10:13 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I just thought of another thing. If you are mailing out the announcements to "last known addresses", put something on the outside of the envelope indicating it's for a high school reunion. Mine went to my mom's house, and were it not for an indication, my mom would have tossed it thinking it was junk mail.

Ed (again, lol)

Nametags: My reunion had our senior picture on the graduates' tag (funny to see the old pics of 'big hair').

If there was a spouse, they had their name on the tag, and the graduate's name on the tag underneath their name.

Yankee_In_Ca

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 10:29 am EditMoveDeleteIP
NAMETAGS:

Yes, for nametags. We did the yearbook photo and their name (for married women, their maiden name in parenthesis). For guests, they had no photo, but under their name, we put "guest of...Classmate Jones." You can buy all the stuff you need for the nametags at Staples or another supply store and make them yourself on your laser or ink jet printer.

Yankee_In_Ca

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 10:47 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Spy, here are some of my tips for FINDING CLASSMATES:

CLASS WEB SITE: If you, or one of your classmates, can design web pages, design your own class website. We did this, and were able to post the latest info about the reunion, but also a list of "missing" and "found" classmates. Many of the "found" classmates were able to find the "missing" classmates for us -- if they hadn't known they were missing, they wouldn't necessarily have helped us find them.

INTERNET ADVERTISING: Advertise your website or info about your reuion on the internet. A lot of people sign up for Classmates.com. If you sign up as a reunion contact, you can advertise your info. You have to pay, but I found it to be helpful (though not the only place i searched for classmates).

CLASSMATE OUTREACH: Keep a database of all your classmate info, including e-mails. Send out periodic e-mails to those "found" classmates to ask them to remind them to help you find "missing" classmates -- they can either pass your e-mail on, OR, if they see any classmates around town who don't have e-mail, ask them to gather their mailing info and forward it to you (or whomever is keeping the database). We found the majority of our classmates through other classmates.

ADVERTISEMENTS: I had one local classmate who placed ads in all of the local papers announcing that we were looking for classmates for our reunion. These ads are often free in community papers, or carry a very minimal cost. What happened is that either classmates saw the ad and contacted us, or their parents saw the ad (if they had moved away), and sent their son/daughter our contact info. The ad should include a web/e-mail address and phone number.

CONTACT THE SCHOOL: Don't rely on your annual/yearbook for a complete list of graduates -- we found that many of our classmates weren't in the yearbook. Contact the school to get a complete list of graduates for your year. The list that we got also included last known address. After we tried a lot of the above ways to reach people, we mailed a flyer to the last address of those still "missing" -- in the hopes that their parents still lived at this address. It can be a bit of a $$ waster, because you'll get a lot of bounced-back mail, so I'd wait until you tried other avenues before doing this mass mailing.

SCAN THE LOCAL PHONE BOOK: This is harder for finding women because many have changed their names, but get 3-4 local classmates to divvy up the "missing" classmate list at some point and check the local phone book. If they find a name, they can call and ask if that person is a graduate of your class. Don't assume they are and just mail stuff -- many people have the same name, and it would be a waste of $$. Call first and ask. We found LOTS of last-minute classmates this way.

One other thing -- when finding local people to help you with this, rely on your old friends, but also send out the request for help to others that might not have been in your "circle." It's important that people don't think your reunion is another "clique" thing. I worked with people on our reunion that I never really even talked to while in high school, and we had a blast together. They had different friends than me, and we were able to get more people to commit to coming that way. Also, just another note on this topic -- thank your reunion committee -- often -- no matter how big or small their contribution is. You'll have happier people and a more successful event if everyone feels like they were appreciated.

I'm sure we did other stuff, but that's the main stuff for finding classmates off the top of my head. Sorry for rambling. I'll pick a new topic and ramble about that later, if you'd like!

Yankee

Spygirl

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 10:51 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Dang -- that's all I can say -- Dang. Okay, I'm copying and pasting your post and sending it to my committee right now. Thank you!!! :)

Wargod

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 11:03 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Spy, I think you just like to keep busy, LOL.

All I can tell you about our reunions, Darren and I graduated from the same high school two years apart, was that tickets cost 80 bucks apiece. We did not go because, well, we still hang out and see on a regular basis most the people we hung out with in high school. Nice thing about small-medium towns, I graduated high school with people I went to kindergartn with and most are still friends. For us, paying 80 bucks apiece to see the same people we see on a regular basis was just silly.

Oh, but I can tell you, that our reunion was done over the course of a weekend. They did a family picnic one day where people brought their kids, played games, that kind of thing, then had the formal dance/party that night. The next day was a family brekfast, then somekind of just mingling type thing the next day. There was also in the pamplet of info we recieved, a spot to put classmates who were deceased. I was told afterwards that a memorial page had been done.

Sorry I can't be more help.

Draheid

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 11:05 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Spy: Television! :O

Cable: Contact the local cable company(ies) in the town where you graduated and ask if they have a 'Photo Advertising Channel' on their cable lineup and if so, who to contact about placing an ad. Also, if they have a local 'Community Calendar' to post information about the event. Also, if they have a local news channel that carries community events.

Broadcast: Check all the stations that are broadcasting in the area for their community calendar/community events department to see how to go about getting the message out that you are having a reunion.

Most of these venues are usually free of charge since it's usually considered a public service and they are all looking for ways to 'be a part of the community'. If they suggest a fee for the service, ask about 'Public Service Announcements'. (Talk to me about this sometime!)

Hope this helps! Good luck!!

Wargod

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 11:22 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh, local newspapers to sometimes run reunions, all you have to do is call up and place the add with a contact number.

Dahli

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 11:40 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Our reunion did the name tag thing with the senior year book picture as well which was so fun, but the format was a little different. It was laminated and put on a cord to be worn around the neck, it seemed to be an easier way to wear them and you could pull them up and hold it beside faces - what a hoot that was! It looked good with any outfit and didn't interfere with corsages LOL!!

Myjohnhenry

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 11:45 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I was not able to attend either of my class reunions so far, so can't remember the cost. But I do know from friends that went that by far their favorite part of the weekends were the family picnics because it was so much more relaxed and easy to mingle. Although I will add that a close second was at the 20th reunion with an update booklet and a slide show they put together. They also learned from the first reunion and kept the formal dinner more simple and less costly at the 2nd as well as set up so it was easier to move around and talk to a variety of people.
I also think it is important to think about the dates you pick...but it is also a hard one because of our lives being so different. One of the things that kept a lot of out of state people from the 20th (myself included) was that it was held at the end of August which was back to school time for those of us living in different parts of the country. (They had only thought about when school started in the local area, partially because most of the planners had never lived any where else)
(I missed my 10th because it was mid-term week of summer session at grad school...not to mention that I couldn't afford it)

Yankee_In_Ca

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 11:47 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Here are some more things I thought were important at our reunion:

**GET HELP AT YOUR CHECK-IN DESK: Don't waste your or your committee's time checking people in at the check-in desk. A month or so before your reunion, put the call out to parents, sisters, brothers, friends from other graduating years -- and ask for volunteers to manage the check-in desk. If you get volunteers (we had three so we could ensure that two people were always there while someone else was taking a break), PAY for their meals. Believe me, the cost will be worth it. We had three parents who were very happy to help, because they had been active in their child's schooling and were also anxious to see how everyone had changed, etc. This was one of the MOST important things we did -- this way, we could mingle and, while I was always checking in at the front desk, I wasn't working for hours on end.

** MINGLING IS #1 PRIORITY: As Halfunit said, most people just want to mingle -- talk, catch up, give hugs. With that in mind, we didn't plan a ton of "activities." Our night went as such:

1) 6-7:30 PM -- First hour and a half -- "cocktail/mingling" -- we had an open bar during this time. People ran around, talked, hugged, etc. It might seem like a long time, but believe me, the hour and a half went by like a blink.

2) 7:30-7:35 PM -- People were asked to be seated at round tables -- NO seat assignments. Class president and class sponsor gave a very brief speech -- limited it to thank you's for committee from class president, and a short, funny speech from the class sponsor. Combined, this lasted about 5-6 minutes max.

3) 7:35-7:50 PM -- One of our classmates made an amazing slide show of photos from high school -- both from the yearbook, school archives, and photos people submitted. This wasn't your traditional slide show, but she did a complete multi-media PowerPoint thingy which was amazing. She made sure every classmate was included, and there was a very nice memorial at the end for our deceased classmates (I'll tell you more about how we handled deceased classmates if you'd like). This was NOT a necessity, but served to get everyone laughing about the old hairstyles, clothing, etc., and was a good icebreaker.

[--> Note about awards: We opted NOT to give awards like "traveled the furthest," "most changed," "most children," "married the longest," etc., because as a group, the committee decided that we didn't want to make our reunion seem "clique-ish," and didn't want to single people out and possible unknowingly hurt anyone's feelings or embarrass them. Other reunions have had awards, and they've been a lot of fun, so it's up to you whether you have them or not. We just chose not to.]

4) Dinner was served from approximately 8-9PM. We offered three meals -- beef, chicken and vegetarian. To be honest, I would go with a buffet next time. It can be a bit more expensive, but they wasted a lot of time serving the meals, when people really wanted to be mingling. During this time, it was a cash bar.

5) 9-midnight -- Mingling, dancing. We had a DJ -- this way, we could choose what type of music to play, and when. He played soft jazz during dinner, and took requests for those who liked to play. We could also adjust the volume, which you can't do with a band. Also, we had another hour of open bar between 9-10. We had a little money left over and opted to open the bar for one more hour as a "special treat."

Is this too much info???

Yankee_In_Ca

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 11:50 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Also, we had a formal dinner on Saturday night (no children because of the bar), and a family picnic on the Sunday, where children were welcomed. It would have been a great idea, except the day we had the picnic was 110 degrees, so many people didn't come. But it was still worth it. To keep costs down, we got donations from local companies to supply chips, soft drinks and water. Classmates brought balls and toys for the kids, and because of the heat, we had lots of hoses and sprinklers set up!

I also recommend doing two different events so people can meet classmates' entire families. Just know that those without kids (or those who partied hard the night before) might not opt to come to the picnic.

(Also, just so you know, even though this was our 15-year reunion, it was our very first reunion. We didn't have a 5- or 10-year, so in many ways, we started from scratch.)

Halfunit

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 11:57 am EditMoveDeleteIP
<..sounding like Mary Lou Retton..>

And another thing -- we didn't have them at my reunion, but how about putting disposable cameras at the tables so classmates can take pics that can be used at the 20 year reunion??

Yankee_In_Ca

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 11:58 am EditMoveDeleteIP
OK, I'm sorry, but I wanted to give you some other advice that I think is important.

When we were planning, we did have some initial disagreement amongst our committee about how "fancy" our reunion should be. Some of us wanted it to be more fancy, and thus make the costs rise.

We ultimately decided that it was MORE important to make sure that as many classmates as possible could attend. This meant planning something nice, but taking special care to keep the costs down as reasonably as possible.

In the end, you could plan something fancy (and thus expensive) and have 40 classmates come. Or you could have something still nice but not as expensive, and have 85 classmates come. We decided the latter was the most important thing.

In the end, you walk away remembering all of the people you saw and talked with, NOT the linens on the table.

Just my 2 cents.

Pamy

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 12:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Our class used a company to do most of it, I think it was Reunions are magical, they are online, check out their site. It was handy to be able to correspond thru emails and the site. You could also post messages to people that were invited on the site, such as "you better be there!" etc...
Make sure the company includes with the fees a reunion book(we all sent in pics before hand and then they took our pic at the reunion and the books were sent to us a few months later) also make sure they have a videographer there, we had one at our 10 yr but not the 20 yr, and we all missed it. Have different people go around with the videographer and interview people, I did that on ours and it made it more fun, otherwise people just look at the camera, I would walk up to people and say things like 'are you married, is this your husband or your lover?' 'What have you been doing since your Playboy days?' etc...something to get them to loosen up and talk to the camera

Zed

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 12:58 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Spy,my graduating class was rather large (980 students) so these suggestions may not apply.

Our reunion was held over a weekend with Saurday afternoon picnic for families and cocktails/heavy appetizer party that evening.

Cocktail venue was in a lovely old historic mansion and grounds used for these type of events. Rooms were empty except for tables set up for food and bars and a couple of small round tables & chairs for those that chose to sit and visit. DJ was hired to play music during the entire event & some folks danced late into the evening.

The thing I liked best about this arrangement was that the entire time could be spent mingling and talking with old friends. Dinner would require choosing tablemates & spending most of the time talking with just a few people.

Our committee chose large blown up photos from the yearbook ,mounted on foamcore as the only decor. Simple and not extremely expensive. No speeches, no awards..just a nice welcome from old Class President.

All in all, it was a fun evening of catching up with long lost friends. Hope yours will be the same.

Kady

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 01:23 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I never received an invitation to my 10 or 20 year reunion. Even though my Mom still lives at the same address that I had in high school. I also work and have a business in my hometown. I spoke to several people before the 20 year one and they asked if I was going. I told them no...I didn't receive an invitation. I think whomever was in charge sent the invites to the people that they wanted there.

Also, even if I was invited I would refuse to go because the reunions are segragated. I don't think that is right. Our prom was also segragated. :(

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 02:43 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I'll try to think about some things, Spygirl, as I have been to my 10, 20, and 35!

First thing I would say is do not under any cirumstances make it a formal affair. You will automatically eliminate far too many people right there, too much trauma over what to wear, too expensive, etc. The last one I went to they had an informal cash bar cocktail party on Friday night, and then various folks split off to go in groups to restaurants in various parts of town. The group I ended up with included TWO former girlfriends of a fellow who now runs a restaurant. We went to his restaurant, and he cooked dinner for all of us. I don't think he knew we were coming.

The next night was a buffet dinner at a steak house with a private meeting room. Food sucked but hardly anybody noticed. We had karaoke. Dress at both events was casual. I don't remember the cost, probably around $30. Class of 250. About 100 including spouses attended.

At the 10 and 20, there were probably family picnics on the Sunday. I did not attend those.

Pamy

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 02:45 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I found the site, it's www.greatreunions.com, I think this is for CA only, but you can still ck it out, also I did a search 'high school reuinion services' and a bunch of sites came up.

Spygirl

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 03:02 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
You guys are terrific! I'm so glad I started this thread. This morning before all of these posts, I was shooting for an event that would have been too stuffy and formal. You guys are all absolutely right -- casual and inexpensive so more can go because that is what matters. I had a meal priced at $25 per person, but I'm thinking a good ole' fashioned Texas BBQ may be more in line with our style!!

Yankee, thank you for the suggestions. You mentioned several things I would have never thought of! I have formulated a long email to the committee and we'll start the process of locating people.

Additional thoughts are welcome and much appreciated!

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 07:48 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I forgot to mention, Yankee is doing a fabulous job of passing along knowledge. Almost makes me wish I were planning one of these. Well, not, but her tips are great! Nothing like the voice of experience.

Twiggyish

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 08:06 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Yankee, excellent advice. The award part is awkward. The longest married couple made a few people grumble at our table, as they were on their second or so marriages. They also mentioned the most successful in our group. (ugggh) Who cares if so and so is a lawyer or is a millionaire somewhere?!!!
I didn't have a good reunion.(20th) Our class was over 600 students. Yes, some of us knew each other, but the rest were unknown. I think a less formal affair would have relaxed people more. The only highlight was the dancing. This did help in a way. I think the idea of a BBQ is MUCH more appealing. I hope they do something like that in the future.

Denecee

Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 08:47 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
My 20 yr reunion is this coming June and I plan on attending even if I don't get an invite. I have gotten invites to all the others but was never able to make it. Spy, I hope yours turns out great. I graduated with a class of about 230 and grew up with most of them so I can't wait to see them all.

Yankee_In_Ca

Sunday, January 05, 2003 - 10:37 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Spygirl -- If there's any aspect of the planning you want more details on, let me know. I'd be happy to share (off of this board) some of the letters, forms, etc. that I used.

I wanted to mention one more important thing that continues our above conversations:

Harden your armor. You will always have people who will complain about the choices made. Accept this early on, and you'll be better off for it. If you plan a formal affair, some people will complain about it. If you plan a casual affair, some people will complain about it. You will always have some people who think the reunion is a stupid idea, and will tell you so. But you'll also have people who will appreciate you and your committee's work, and will have a blast at your event. It's just human nature.

I accepted early on that I couldn't please everyone, and that I'd just do the best I could to be as inclusive as possible. It can be hard, but hang in there. In the end, it will be worth it.