Reunion planning often involves many deadlines from the time you set the date up until the day of the event. It is important to make sure you don’t miss key deadlines for venue or caterer deposits and payments, hotel room reservations, and RSVPs, etc.
A simple traditional monthly/daily planner can work well if you are the reunion organizer and responsible for most or all required tasks. However, if you work with others on a Reunion Planning Committee, you may wish to use a shared calendar so everyone can see what is due when. You can use Google https://workspace.google.com/products/calenda or Outlook https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/outlook/calendar-app and follow the instructions for sharing. You can also find a variety of calendar templates available on Canva https://www.canva.com.
If you need to share more than just a calendar, online workspaces such as Trello https://trello.com or Notion https://www.notion.com work well, especially if you wish to collaborate on menu planning, organizing set-up and clean-up crews or activities. Both tools have free and paid versions and allow for uploading attachments such as word or PDF documents, spreadsheets, photos, and more.
Some key dates to keep track of include:
- Venue Booking/Deposit date
- Planning committee meeting dates (in-person or virtual)
- Hotel Cutoff Date for Group Discounts
- Catering Deadlines
- Invitation Sending Date
- RSVP and Payment (if collecting money for the event)
- Check-in and Check-out times for hotels, venue, etc.
- Post Reunion wrap-up meetings
- Survey deadlines
- Other as needed
Whatever you choose to use a traditional planner, online calendar, or a dedicated organizational tool, keeping on top of your reunion dates and deadlines will ensure you don’t miss any important details while planning for the big event.
