What did you like about your highschool reunion?
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Meemo | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 06:53 am     my highschool reunion is coming up next year and i just wanted some ideas. what kind of games were played. what kind of souvenirs were handed out. or even if there was something that you did not like. we are thinking about having a dance and i don't think that would get people to mingle and some people just don't dance. any ideas would be appreciated! |
Cinder | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 07:21 am     My 10 year was lame. They started the dancing by having the couple who had been married the longest(my husband and I) start the first dance. (Ok that part wasn't lame- but the rest of it was)There weren't any games- just constests such as who traveled the furtherst- who changed the most. The prizes were donated (free mouse pads, a CD by one of my classmates, donated shirts) One game they tried to play- but did not give instructions ahead of time- was Human Bingo. The object is to find the people who can sign off on something (who graduated from____, who was born in ______, who did this _____) I actually think that was a great idea- but again- no one knew that we were supposed to complete it BEFORE we ate dinner. I admire you for putting it together, I would not want to do it. |
Meemo | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 08:02 am     that's why i think maybe a casino night where everyone would mingle might be better |
Cinder | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 08:32 am     That would be cool Meemo. We had a casino night for our post graduation party. Because we were underage it was not for money obviously- but for prizes. You could still have the contests for who ____ the most- and door prizes- and then a prize for the casino thing. Our reunion spanned over a day and a half. Friday night was a get together at a local bar (they reserved the patio for us) I enjoyed that the most- even thought I don't drink- because it was not dinner- where you feel somewhat obligted to stay at the table. Some complained however that is was at a bar. Saturday afternoon was a picnic in which kids were invited. I did not go and I heard there were not many there- but I think it was good to have something to show off the kids. Satruday night was the big event with the prizes, dinner, and dance. One mistake was that they booked the most expensive place in town so alot of money went for just the venue. It was more than $80 a ticket I think- another thing that kept many away. Also- they used a Reunion Service(can't think of the name- but if you need it I know where to find it). That also cost money- but I think one benefit was that they invested the time and money to find people. I think they used direct marketing lists based on the way my address was listed. |
Spygirl | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 09:27 am     I just planned and had our 10 year reunion last month. There are a lot of things we will be doing differently at the 15 year, but most of what we did this year went very well. EVERYONE had a great time and not one single person left before the scheduled time and more than half took up money and paid the DJ to stay an hour and a half longer than we scheduled. No one wanted to leave!! What we did: 1) bar social on friday night 2) family picnic saturday 11-2 3) big social on friday night - 6:30 - midnight The biggest thing that I credit to why it was a success is that it was NOT formal and it was cheap. Saturday night was casual dress, catered Olive Garden, with a DJ, at our local KOC hall. It was a very nice, large facility where we could bring in our own alcohol and not have to have a cash bar with all the security stuff necessary. The overall cost of the entire event was $45 per person, which included the food, soda/tea/water drinks, nametags, prizes, DJ, hall rental, printing fees (invitations, reminder postcards), and a printed directory of classmates' pictures and contact information, and pictures from the event and from high school. Things to do differently: 1). We will definitely have a casino night next time in addition to the DJ. The hall is large enough that we'll set up the casino stuff on one end and the DJ on the other, putting the tables in between. Many people at this event setup a poker table and played all night. We'll include that as part of the function next time because so many loved it. Not many danced, but everyone enjoyed the music, so we'll do the DJ again for sure. 2). We will have the Friday night social at a different place. We've already got it picked out. A classmate's friend owns a great bar that is indoors that we'll use next time. We were outdside this year and it was uncomfortable until about 10pm. It is just too hot in Texas in July. Also, we won't have a live band there. It was difficult to talk over the band, so we're requesting there be no live music. 3). We've already got the date scheduled for the 15 year reunion. We made the announcement at this reunion. 3rd weekend in July in 2008. Makes it easy We had located every single classmate, but only had about 1/3 of our class attended. Not many come to the 10 year and with each reunion, it is typical that more people will attend. Even still, we'll talk up the event for the next 5 years as a group. I feel confident that more people will attend the next one after they hear about this one ;-) 4). I will either pay someone to clean up after the event, or recruit some parents to do it. We spent almost an hour and a half that night cleaning up the hall - it was a mess. While that means everyone had a great time, it means the cleanup crew got stuck cleaning up everyone's fun. We must have hauled 20 HUGE trash bags out of that place to the dumpster - most of them full of bottles! The other alternative is to have a group come back the next morning to do it, but you have to have a really reliable bunch who can be counted on to come back even if they are hungover ;-) 5). We will play more silly games like the Human Bingo. Also, we will definitely have some sort of souvenir to take home. Most likely it'll be a mug or a t-shirt, but that could change in the next 5 years. Anyway, I had a great time and I know everyone else did given the feedback I've gotten. I already can't wait for the next one! |
Juju2bigdog | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 04:48 pm     Have some parents clean up? Whose parents? Surely not YOUR parents? On your mother's behalf, Spygirl, I protest. I have not met your mother, but I am sure she will thank me for this. |
Twiggyish | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 05:08 pm     We had a slide show of pictures during the dinner. The pictures were of the past and the present. The reunion company had each of us send in a current picture. They used the current ones and then showed pictures from the past. It was a lot of fun. We all laughed at our hairstyles back then. ('78..disco!!) |
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