Microsoft word - planning kit.doc

Dear DB Alum,
So you’re planning a reunion!

Planning a reunion can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a lot of work. There is no set formula for
planning a reunion. Every reunion is special and unique.
We put together the enclosed Reunion Planning Kit which includes a number of items to assist you
along the way. These are suggestions for you and your committee members. They are by no means
the only way to plan a reunion. The work of preparing a reunion should be divided among
committee members. Forming a committee will help to keep your life less hectic and help make the
planning process run smoothly.
Also remember that we, at Bishop DuBourg, are always available to help you in any way possible.
Feel free to contact me at (314) 783-4412 or [email protected]. You can make an
appointment to go through old pictures, newsletters, and yearbooks. We are here to aid you in
making your reunion a successful and memorable one!
Sincerely,
Angela Calloni ‘98
Director of Alumni Relations
Bishop DuBourg High School
Forming Your Reunion Committee
Forming a Committee

Planning a reunion requires commitment. You will want people on your committee who are willing
to work and who will be available to meet. The committee should also be diverse enough to reflect
the varied interests of your class. There are a number of ways you can form your reunion
committee.
1. You can contact some of your classmates and see if they would be interested. 2. You can contact the Advancement Office and get a list of your classmates who planned 3. You can contact the Advancement Office and get a list of classmates who were active in High School and might be interested in working on a reunion committee. 4. You can post a notice in the Cavalier with your intent of working on the committee and 5. You can post a notice on the Bishop DuBourg webpage with your intent of working on the committee and ask your classmates to volunteer. 6. You may also put information about setting up a committee on your Save the Date
Working as a Committee

Once you have your committee in place there are plenty of ways to organize it.
1. You can elect officers (some examples below) Secretary-Take notes and keep track of planning details Treasurer-Collects money and keeps track of budget 2. You can form sub-committees (some examples below) 3. You can have your classmates elect the reunion committee at each reunion As a committee you may want to sit down and create a timeline for all your reunion planning. This will help you by providing a checklist and deadlines of when things need to be done. We suggest you start planning 9-12 months in advance. When you form your committee, contact the Advancement Office. We would like to help in any way we can. Also, when you inform us about what is going on with your reunion plans, we can help to answer any questions that come our way from alumni looking for information. We will also post any information you would have at this point onto the website. Getting Started
Once you have formed a committee there are a few basic questions you will need to answer:
When are you going to have your reunion?
Where are you going to have your reunion?
What will you do at the reunion?
Who will you invite?
How many people do you plan on attending?
When?

Picking a date for the reunion can be difficult. You will want to make sure that you pick at least 3
possible dates. This way, you have options in case one date will not work for the place you want to
hold your reunion.
Things to think about—what the weather may be like during that time of year (do you want it inside
or outside), think about what holidays are near (if you pick a Saturday during Labor Day weekend
for example-people may be out of town), and school events (look to see when events are happening
at Bishop DuBourg and have your classmates attend a game, then have the reunion on a Saturday).
You can contact the Advancement Office for a schedule of events.
Since your reunion is a rare opportunity for your classmates to gather, (and many may have to
travel) you may want to think about planning more than one reunion event. You can celebrate the
weekend. This would work well especially if you are celebrating a milestone such as the 25th or
50th reunion. We have had many reunions plan a Friday night fun activity (such as attending a
football game at the school), plan a Saturday night dinner, and then a brunch or mass on Sunday.
There are many different activities that you can do throughout a weekend.
Where?

You may want to hold your reunion at Bishop DuBourg High School. Coming back to where it all
started, you can see your old classrooms, tour the school and see all the changes that have been
made since you were a student here, and most of all you can have a GREAT time!
Reunions may be held in
The Cafeteria- which holds approximately 400 people ****Recommended
The Cafeteria is air-conditioned and includes the kitchen The Gym is not air-conditioned (the gym is recommended for really large groups) The Theatre- which can hold around 150-200 people Availability depends on the time of year The following is available for us at the school- 26 8ft rectangular tables that can seat 8-10 people each and 16 5ft round tables that seat 8 people each. Chairs are available for use as well. There are also ice machines and coat racks available. A beer meister for your keg is available to you upon request. When planning a reunion at Bishop DuBourg, remember that the school’s schedule is set at least 6
months prior to the beginning of the school year, so you will want to book your date as soon as
possible.
There is no rental fee to hold your reunion at school! The only fee charged to the reunion
committee will be a cleaning fee of $100 in cash. This fee is due 2 days prior to the reunion. This
fee needs to be turned into the Advancement Office. It is the reunion committee’s responsibility to
collect and bag trash and decorations. Maintenance will clean the facility and dispose of trash after
the reunion. We require at least one maintenance person to be present during the reunion, along
with a representative from the Alumni Office. He/she will open the building up for your decorating
committee, workers, caterers, DJ, etc., and will be available throughout the event, in case questions
or concerns arise during the reunion. We do try to be good neighbors, so reunions that are held at
the school, must end by 11:00 pm.
For a list of caterers, please see the list included with the packet. Many of the caterers on the list
have worked at the school before and know their way around. If you use a caterer other than Food
Service Consultants, you must coordinate with the school, the use of our kitchen.
Or you may choose to hold your reunion off campus. There are a variety of places to hold your
reunion. For small reunions or 5 year reunions a common place to hold them is the park for a
picnic. This helps to lower the cost and make the reunion more casual and welcoming. There are
many other places to look into also—ballgame outing, nightclub outing, city/historical tour, Six
Flags, the Zoo, restaurants, banquet halls, and much more. You will want to call around and get
quotes from more than one venue. Remember that usually as your group gets bigger, your price per
person gets smaller. You may want to call the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission for
information on venues that hold large numbers of people. For more information call Renee M.
Eichelberger at (800) 640-4218 or (314) 992-0643 or send her an email at
[email protected]. And you may visit www.explorestlouis.com. For a list of
contacts please see the list included in the packet.
What?

What activities will you be planning for your reunion?
Things you will want to consider:
What attire do you wish for everyone to wear? Do you want a sit-down dinner, a buffet, or snacks? Will you need AV Equipment for slide show, etc?
Price?
One thing to keep in mind is that whatever you do and whatever you get, make sure you include it
in your price for attendees. A good rule of thumb is to add 10-15% on top of your total for any
unforeseen costs.
When looking at pricing for your reunion, think about your audience. If you are planning a 5 year
reunion, you may want a more low key and less expensive ticket price. If you are planning a 50
year, you may want it to be more special.
Who?

Do you want to invite former teachers from Bishop DuBourg that your class had while attending?
You can contact the Advancement Office for their contact information.
Do you want to invite the present administration at Bishop DuBourg? You can contact the
Advancement Office for their contact information.
Something to consider--do you want to have a family picnic and invite families or just have a
gathering of the class and their spouses?
You may even want to look into having a cluster reunion, where you invite a class or two below you
and a class or two above you. This option would interest classes who knew each other really well.
How Many?

The reunions that attract the most people are usually the milestone reunions such as the 10, 25, and
50. These will be the reunions that you will want to plan big things for. Usually the 5 year reunion
is small so something simple would work best for this one.
Mailings
Once you contact the office, you can receive a mailing list for your classmates. Bishop DuBourg will supply you with address labels; paper and envelopes or you can make your own labels and supply your own paper and envelopes. Be aware that the stuffing, typing, mailing, and copying is the responsibility of your committee. Bishop DuBourg High School does not provide postage for mailings. ***When requesting labels and mail lists, please notify the Advancement Office at least one week prior to the date needed. For reunions it is a good idea to send out the first mailer 9-12 months before the reunion. This mailer could simply be a save the date postcard with the reunion date on it and the rest of the information could be TBA (to be announced). The first mailer will create interest from your classmates, elicit suggestions, create ideas, and give names of other classmates who may wish to help. Bishop DuBourg will provide each reunion committee with one Save the Date Postcard mailing for their class. This first mailing will come from the school and be paid for by Bishop DuBourg. You will choose the contact information for the mailing. The second mailer should have more information such as where, when, time, who’s invited, and what the reunion will include. With this mailing you could ask for updated address information as well as ask your classmates to help you locate lost people. You could also include in your first mailer a questionnaire or survey. This questionnaire or survey is a fun way to gather information on your classmates. The third mailer can be a last minute reminder and catch any classmates who are waiting until the last day to RSVP. Before sending out any mailers, the committee should decide who will be taking RSVPs. RSVPs may be mailed back to committee members or accepted over the phone. We do ask that you not have people RSVP to the school. As stated earlier, you can include surveys and questionnaires in any of the mailings. Some reunions have used these to create memory books for classmates, or simply shared stories from the surveys at the reunion. Many classes are starting to use Evites. Evites is a website that allows you to send out email invitations to your class and track RSVPs and post reunion announcements. The website is www.evite.com. Some classes are also starting their websites to post reunion information, pictures, and keep in contact. For samples of mailings, please see attachments. Creating a Memory
There are many ways to make your reunion memorable. Some ideas that have been used include: You can use the information collected through mailers to create an alumni directory for your class. You can create a memory book filled with information from high school as well as current contact information. Create a running slideshow of old and new pictures of your classmates. You may also want to buy disposable cameras to place on the tables. Ask your classmates to take pictures and then create a website to post them on. You could create a reunion yearbook or a mock student newspaper-the Cavalier with information about the reunion and information about classmates in it. Good gift ideas include shirts, caps, mugs, key rings, glasses, group photos, or a souvenir booklet. You may want to include an event at your reunion such as an Awards Ceremony (most famous, longest traveled, least hair, etc), Slide Show (current and past photos), Songs or Cheers (have DJ play songs that were popular, or have cheerleaders do the fight song) You may want to set up a memorabilia table at the reunion. This table can include items such as Yearbooks Letters from classmates who could not attend List of those dearly departed from your class
Memory Mementos

Have school/reunion trivia printed on napkins, handouts, or posters that alumni can read.
Create nametags with high school pictures on them, along with the person’s name.
Look at history trivia, such as at this time, gas cost ___ and the oscar for best movie was ___.
Things to consider are:
Cost of these items and how it will affect ticket prices If item is a directory of some sort, do you want to give it out at the reunion or mail it (you may have people who do not attend the reunion or people who show up without sending their RSVP) How much time does your committee have to devote to an extra project? Recognition Award Ideas
PlayGirl, PlayBoy, Mini Sewing Kit, Blackbook Ear Plugs, Bottle of Aspirin, Planning Calendar

Source: http://www.bishopdubourg.org/db/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/PlanningKit.pdf