Class
reunion tips, ideas and advice- Technology
Online registration successful
Smartybird on our forum wrote about online reunion registration.
I used paypal for my high school reunion and it worked incredibly well. We were able to process last-minute registrations which was a BIG plus. We had an optional field for a donation to the class fund; much to my amazement we took in an additional $2,500. Initially I thought I had a software error so I had to audit the number and I was almost knocked over when I found it was indeed correct! Google Pay charges 30% less so I'm going to evaluate it for the next reunion.
One of the committee members suggested we add a line item called “Donation of Support” that included three levels named for school colors and mascot:
1) Maroon ($25-$49)
2) Gray ($50-$99)
3) Lion ($100+)
Class members were able to enter their donation amount as part of their registration and charge the balance to their credit card.
The vast majority of donations were for $100, most of the rest were $50. We even received donations from class members who were not able to attend.
We used the funds to have an even better reunion with lots of extras. Also, we banked some for use at our 35th reunion in 2010.
Reported by Fred Nelson, Fayetteville, New York (aka Smartybird at http://forums.reunionsmag.com).
Brandywine debuts new website
Brandywine High School (Wilmington, Delaware) Alumni Association (BHSAA) President Bonny Bagnatori Krause unveiled a new alumni website designed for all BHS graduates since 1960. The new site provides an internet portal for BHS graduates to learn more about reunion activities. Future BHSAA plans include alumni activities around homecoming. Visit www.brandywinealumni.com/.
Membership in the BHSAA is free. Contact alumni@brandywinealumni.com.
Blogging the class reunion
Posted by kheyboer November 30, 2007 05:28AM
Who married whom? Who got fat? Who went bald?
You used to have to wait for your high school reunion to catch up with classmates. Now a growing number of classes are using blogs to document their reunions and bring together far-flung classmates.
Prolific blogger Anthony Buccino is spearheading Belleville (New Jersey) High School Class of 72, a new blog that takes a then-and-now look at Essex County natives 35 years after their graduation. There are plenty of before-and-after photos from a recent class reunion. http://bellevillehighclassof1972.blogspot.com/
These classes are also blogging. TVHS 1993 Class Reunion in Ohio http://tvhstrojans.blogspot.com/, Libertyville (Illinois) High School Class of 1977 in http://lhsclassof1977.eyetopiadesign.com/ and the Mariner High School Class of 1976 in Washington http://mhs1976.scottbutner.com/.
How do you find out about class reunions?
Kathleen McGuinness, South Pasadena, California, asked how people find out whether their class is having a reunion. Check with the school?
We answered that unless things have changed recently, many schools have no idea what's happening with reunions. Lists online may be better, although some classes may not list their reunions anywhere. All reunion listings depend upon organizers reporting them. Reunionsmag.com features a list of upcoming class reunions and a class reunion archive to preserve contact information during years when there are no reunions. Classmates.com and reunions.com also list upcoming school reunions.
One of the best ways to know about class reunions is to stay in touch with classmates. Wise reunion organizers ask for contact information for someone (often parents or siblings) who will always know where you are.
In an article in the Pasadena Star News, Celebrations Section, McGuinness asked about class reunion numbers. Carol Riley, owner of Reunions Unlimited, offered her guesstimate of average attendance at 20% to 25% for 10-year reunions, 30% or better for 20-year through 40-year reunions and 35% to 40% for 50-year reunions.
A veteran professional reunion planner, Riley has interesting observations. “Ten-year reunions are more into ‘look at me, see what I’ve done.’ Or class members are still living at home, and haven’t reached any goals yet. Often they feel bad because they haven’t ‘made it.’
“At the 20-year reunion, many are married, more settled and entrenched in their communities. By 30 years they’ve experienced life, divorce, death, lost jobs, changed careers and all kinds of disasters. They’re more grounded.
“At the 40-year reunions they’re beginning to feel their age. Many have grandchildren, are retired or preparing for retirement. They’re empty nesters. They’ve become more mellow. They’re not the party people they once were.”
Sharing images
Judy Hunt Holland Davis, Davenport, Florida, wrote to her Eau Gallie High School Class of 1965 classmates: “When you have your photos or picture CD processed, please email us a set of pictures you took at the reunion. We'll compile all of the pictures on a CD and then send CDs to everyone we have current addresses for. We'll also post all the reunion pictures on an easily accessible free website.”
School CD for sale
Laird Evans, a 1964 graduate from C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana, found one of the high school's lost treasures, Sounds of Byrd, a record album of the sounds of the 1964-65 school year. He enhanced the sound and converted it to CDs to sell at the high school's “Decade of the ’60s” class reunion. The album contains sounds from football games, the marching band, choir, Student Council speeches and the high school's song, among other things.
Sounds of Byrd was originally recorded on a reel-to-reel tape recorder as a sound yearbook. The CD is available at www.goliathsalesandservices.com.
From a story by Ashley Northington in the Shreveport Times, Shreveport, Louisiana.
Something new for reunions
Reunions have been part of western culture for many generations. Until now, not much has changed with this popular ritual. Now reunions can be enhanced with easy-to-build websites that are your communications hub before and after the reunion.
Myevent.com allows anyone, even without technical skills, to create a reunion website. Fill in forms online and the information creates beautiful design templates.
Lauren Taylor was thrilled with her Springfield, Pennsylvania, high school's 20th reunion website on Myevent.com. “Incredible features share information and pictures, and lists people who are coming and those who cannot make it to the reunion. It was great to post event details and eliminated a lot of questions we had when we planned our reunion 10 years ago.
“Planning tools allowed us to send email invitations and plan and track all the reunion events. Everyone RSVP’d on the website and were able to pay for tickets with a credit card right on our website — much easier than collecting checks from everyone.”
Lauren's classmates enjoyed the website as much as she for many reasons. “There’s a great poll and quiz we changed every week because we knew people were coming back to see changes. Another thing people really liked was the flashback page with events in pop culture from 20 years ago,” she said.
Lauren said the “Then and Now” was the most popular page on the website. It showed each classmate’s graduation picture as well as one today, along with a blurb about where they are now. Everyone was able to send information and pictures right through the website, so it was easy to get pictures and comments. It encouraged everyone to catch up before the reunion.
“The guest book was extremely popular and signed by almost everyone whether or not they were coming to the reunion. Many could not make the trip and on the website they could feel part of the event. Everyone appreciated seeing pictures and a video clip posted immediately after the reunion.
“When I thought about creating a reunion website I was a nervous because I had no technical skills. But Myevent.com was easy and needed no special computer skills. I just filled in our information, clicked on submit buttons and the system handled the rest. I was able to try the website free for seven days before paying, but after five minutes I knew this was exactly what we needed.”
Lauren’s website is www.springfield.myevent.com. There is a seven-day free trial to see if it is right for you. The cost is a very affordable $9.95 per month with everything included. Go to www.reunions.myevent.com.
Classmates.com Launches Reunion Center 2.0
Classmates Online, Inc. (www.classmates.com), has launched Classmates.com Reunion Center 2.0, and its convenient online ticket sales and payment capability. More than 100,000 high school reunions were expected to draw a total of more than eight million attendees in 2004 in the US.
“Classmates.com Reunion Center saved me months of work because it immediately provided me a large list of my alumni class members, let me add others and email all of them news about our reunion. Class members purchased reunion tickets online -- a convenience which saves stamps, trips to the bank and hours tracking RSVPs,” said Trista Vucetich, volunteer reunion planner for Hibbing High School Class of 1994 Reunion in Hibbing, Minnesota.
Classmates.com Reunion Center 2.0 enables planners to:
- Sell tickets and collect payment online.
- Post reunion information and photos.
- Increase reunion awareness.
- Send email invitations, updates and reminders.
- Show current RSVP list.
- Find lost alumni and enable class members to stay in touch.
- Create class message boards to share ideas and memories.
“More than 90% of reunion planners are volunteers. The Classmates.com Reunion Center is a one-stop resource that helps planners save time, increase attendance and make their reunion a success,” said Sally McKenzie, vice president of reunions and events for Classmates Online, Inc. “Now reunion planners can directly access and locate alumni, communicate, send invitations, sell tickets, collect payment and track registrations for all events in one place.”
Alumni web site unites former students
Highland Springs (Virginia) High School's boys basketball team captured the AAA State Championship title this year and that's not all the school has captured. It has captured the attention of more than 1,000 HSHS alumni who stay in touch with all things “Springer” via an alumni-designed website at www.springerconnection.com. Barely one year old, this free site captivates an active community who return day after day to read the message board and continually scan membership for childhood friends.
This site is different from classmates.com and reunion.com which charge fees to email and post to message boards. “The reason people like this site is its interesting content, message board and ability to email other members, all without a fee,” says Dan Zodun, Creative Engineer and Administrator of springerconnection.com.
Additional member benefits at springerconnection.com include photo file sharing, a reunion center (with pictures, updates, and other reunion notes), nostalgic trivia, cafeteria recipes, alumni editorials and local history. School sports coverage is updated weekly and incorporates scores, coaches' interviews, news, articles, photos and video. Chat room features will be added shortly.
Other schools and groups interested in duplicating the success of springerconnection.com can have the template customized. Contact Denise Reynolds, 866-my-click; clickbyclick@quixnet.com.
Internet keeps Class of ‘82 connected
by Chris Carrel
For most people high school reunions occur every ten years. Participants travel to re-connect for an evening, then return home and lose contact with classmates for another decade. Thanks to the Internet, the high school reunion is being redefined; at least for 1982 graduates of Decatur High School in Federal Way, Washington.
Through a web site created by Decatur alumnus Kim (Giskin) Sedlacek, old classmates are re-connecting daily, reaching out from their homes to meet in cyberspace.
The Class of 1982 web site (www.geocities.com/timjon.geo/) covers many area high schools. It features lists of classmates' e-mail addresses, photos of high school days, current photos, their families and a message board. Decatur grads can search for old friends, send e-mail, leave bulletin board messages, announce babies, new businesses and important life events.
"It’s fun to just look through it," says Decatur grad Jay Anonson. "The page makes me think about faces, names and places I’ve not thought about in a long time." Ironically, the web site grew from Sedlacek's frustration using the Internet to locate classmates. Six years after the Class of 1982's first reunion, Sedlacek was wondering what happened to high school friends. On the Internet she found web sites for locating classmates but only a few Decatur alumni were listed and the sites charged for listings. Sedlacek knew she could do better. The Boeing administrative assistant had already designed several award-winning web sites, including one for her three-year-old daughter Alli. [Alli's Busy World www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/1006, is listed in Internet Family Fun as one of the top children's web sites.] A modest version of the Decatur web site premiered in November 1998. Sedlacek found 10 alumni at Boeing and got permission to list their e-mail addresses. The list grew quickly as word spread. Everyone shared e-mails with Sedlacek. She tracked down others on the Internet and by phone gathering nearly 80 e-mail addresses by June.
E-mail allows easy communication between grads, says Sedlacek. "With our busy schedules, phone calls aren't always convenient," she says. Most of us have young kids and both parents are working. There's very little time. We can't always visit friends like when we were younger." Classmates no longer living in the area can stay in touch, like 1981 Decatur grad Keith Bragg who communicates with classmates from his Tasmanian home — on the other side of the planet.
Although the web site began with a Decatur focus, 1982 graduates of Federal Way and Thomas Jefferson High Schools are also welcome. A smattering of e-mail addresses from other high schools are on the web site, and Sedlacek hopes to add more. Cyber-connections have spurred personal relationships. Fifty web site patrons recently held a "mini-reunion" at Federal Way's Scoreboard Tavern. Other small reunions are being planned.
"There are a bunch of little things planned," says Sedlacek, thanks to the web site. She reports that cyber- and mini-reunions led to romance for a few single alumni. As the web site's popularity grows, more content is added. The site now includes links to classmates’ personal web sites, business and personal announcements and an extensive photo gallery. Adding pictures was the brainchild of 1982 Federal Way grad Terri (Sabotka) Latta, who discovered the web site browsing the Internet. She added photos from a collection of pictures she'd taken during high school. Soon, Latta and Sedlacek began adding current photos of alumni, their families and a mini-reunion. "We get so pumped when we get a new address to add to the list, or a new photo," says Latta. "It's becoming an obsession."
With this healthy obsession and the interest it’s generating, the Class of 1982 web site seems destined to continue growing. That's good news for 1982 grads who wonder whatever happened to old high school pals. Now they don't have to wait for the 2002 class reunion to find out. "So many of us have lost touch," says Federal Way High School grad Sheri (Moreira) Vogt. "This is such a simple way to say hello."
About the author
Chris Carrel is a lifelong Federal Way, Washington, resident and graduate of Decatur's Class of 1982. He found out about the web site when Kim Sedlacek tracked him down.
Reunion book and software revision
3rd Edition of The Reunion Planner Book and Software Version 4.1
Since 1992, Linda Johnson Hoffman and Neal Barnett, authors of The Reunion Planner book and software, have helped planners with their class, family and military reunions. A revised 3rd edition of the book is available with newly enhanced PC-compatible software, now available on CD.
New features include biography entry section, biography reports, enhanced search capability, enhanced data import and export features, better statistics reporting, new report sort-by capability, completely updated documentation, and more. There is also the ability to include up to eight guests per member; up to eight items can be purchased and up to six meal choices per guest can be ordered. Many new name tag formats are also included.
Continued conveniences include data entry information for each guest, including space for three phone numbers and an email address and calculation for estimated and actual budgets. You can generate to-do lists for committee members and choose from many report options. Book and software, standard edition is $49.95; professional edition is $149.95; compatible with Windows 95/98/NT™/2000/XP. Click here to purchase.
New web site aids planning
Planet Alumni's new, free web site can make planning and attending a class reunion easier.
Greg Rohrbacher, Olive Branch, Mississippi, turned to the web to locate more than 300 former Lake Park High (IL) School Class of 1968 classmates who had scattered from Florida to Alaska from their suburban Chicago. One of the tools he used was Planet Alumni, www.planetalumni.com. "There's one section to post reunions, dates and location," Rohrbacher said. "That was a big help."
Reunion planners can search for classmates on Planet Alumni, send online invitations, RSVP, post photo albums and see who is confirmed to attend.
Many reunion coordinators report that one of the hardest parts about planning a reunion is collecting money. An e-commerce section is being added to provide a safe, quck way to pay for tickets. Reunion planners will be able to to sell event tickets and class merchandise.
Web sites like Planet Alumni provide tips for planning a successful reunion and detailed information about reunion committee responsibilities. Information includes a two year timetable right up to Reunion Day; how to get seed money; how to determine expenses and build them into a ticket price; cash saving tips; and a sample biography questionnaire.
The success of Planet Alumni led to creation of two sister sites, www.militaryconnections.com and www.greekalumni.com. These sites also offer reunion planning services.
In the past, about 20% of graduates never learned about reunions because no one could find them. Today the Internet and sites like Planet Alumni bring together classmates faster than ever. Check www.planetalumni.com.
Bright ideas!
Anita (Capron) Dehghani e-mailed a suggestion that alumni groups contact the local high school district offices to be added to their web sites. Dehghani says this should be a beneficial arrangement and would make a cooperative alumni Internet environment for graduates. Dehghani2000@Worldnet.att.net
Sheila Skaggs Hale reports that the Brazosport High School, Freeport, Texas, Class of '62 sponsored a "60s Party," rather than the traditional class reunion. Many Class of '62 classmates married folks from classes ahead or behind their own. A 60s party seemed like a way to get more people interested and involved and they hope to make it an annual event.
A second party at the beach included people representing classes from 1957 to 1972 from as far away as California and England! Technology has enhanced their ability to reconnect with classmates, Hale reported. They maintain an on-line directory and several other web pages which can be viewed from links on http://members.aol.com/sheilahale/yearbook/index.htm.
High reunion thoughts
Howard Bresnik, Buffalo Grove, Illinois, shared some of his 35th reunion organizing thoughts which we decided deserved passing along. Bresnik organizes a multi-class reunion of Niles (IL) East, West, and North High Schools. They have separate functions then co-mingle for the last two hours.
Bresnik laments that tracking down some of his multi-married female classmates is a challenge. To start he tried Switchboard and BigYellow which he says, "is often useful." If someone has an AOL account, "I can sometimes find them there."
Bresnik fronts deposits until money comes in and keeps on planning. One of his classmates set up www.WebReunions.com to use for their database. Their reunion booklet will be downloadable from the site, so they won’t have to publish it.
At the reunion, they introduce all the graduates who stand and are acknowledged. They sing school songs, have a trivia quiz with prizes and entertainment from talented classmates.
Finally, Bresnik describes his elevation to reunion organizer as a "divine right!" He says he’ll plan reunions "every five years until my wife leaves me."
Alumknights on the web
Alumni of Bishop Kelly High School, Boise, Idaho, have established a web site (www.alumknights.org) featuring alumni activities, information about the annual golf tournament and 3 on 3 basketball hoop. The histories of these events are chronicled, as is the BKAA tradition of annual scholarships for incoming freshmen.
The heart of the web site is the message board for "alumknights." Some classes have used the message board extensively. Each class has a separate section including a list of "missing" classmates. Additional features are sections for each graduating class and hyperlinks to web pages featuring BK grads. There are links to famous alumni like actor William Petersen‚ '72, Pulitzer-Prize winning cartoonist Mike Luckovich‚ '78, and Jim Potter‚ '91, who is playing professional basketball in Belgium and to those less than famous.
Sherilyn Orr‚ Class of '87, masterminded development of the site through her company Infofuel Productions in Boise.
Internet tool makes reunion registration painless
Most Senior Class Presidents enjoy planning their 10-year reunion. For St. Francis High School, Mountain View, California, alumna Kelly Lang, it was becoming a nightmare. The phone calls and e-mails to monitor, registering those who respond by mail and sorting through information to compile daily reports was overbearing. Working full-time, Lang realized the reunion was going to take much more time than she planned. Until she found the online registration tool, Register4.com (SM).
Working with Internet data-based registration software, Lang eliminated much of the manual work associated with managing reunions.
Lang's first step was to create a web site where alumni could register. "Creating my Reunion web site was easy! I just followed the simple interview on the site creation engine and it was done. I sent invitations by mail, included the web site on the invitation and forwarded the reunion web site link in all of my e-mails," said Lang.
The result is a very complete registration web site providing pertinent information about the reunion, hotel accommodations, parking, city information, travel information, survey questions and much more. One can include any information on their web site.
"Having a reunion web site to register attendees was wonderful," Lang said. "I was able to contact people I had incorrect addresses for. Others forwarded e-mail to people they knew had not received an invitation."
Register4.com uses a live database, allowing Lang to create and view live reports at any time. "I didn't have to compile reports and update daily. By eliminating data entry and manual reporting, I saved so much time," said Lang. Register4.com requires no installation and hosts the web site for you. The only requirement is Internet access.
Register4.com buries the assumption that managing a reunion takes time creating daily reports, data entry and a lot of money. It is designed for novice computer users, saves time and is cost-effective. For more information on Register4.com, the Ultimate Registration Tool, call Kelly Casey, 877-734-4266 (877-REG4COM) or visit the web site at http://www.register4.com.
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