September-October Reunion Planning Bulletin

• Catering contracts near finalized – early December
• Draft budgets due – mid-December
• Online registration requirements form due – January 25
• Formal budget review/prices set – mid/late January
• Online registration form walkthrough – February

• Continue with committee development and Reunion planning activities.
• Continue to consult the Reunion Planning Guide (note recent updates to pricing, communication timeline, and other areas).
• Gather costs from committees as needed to be submitted to Reunion chairs and treasurers.

• Continue to build a communications, marketing and participation plan.
• Refer to College communications plan and class mailings timeline.
• Over the next month, consider forming regional and affiliation (fraternities/sororities, teams, clubs, organizations, etc.) attendance committees. Each committee will have thetask of collectively reaching every member of your class in person, by phone, e-mail or letter. Classes that have done this have found that while the dual approach takes extra effort, it pays off in greater attendance.
• Let Alumni Relations help! We can run contact lists by region or affiliation so you have preferred phone numbers, addresses and emails for your classmates. Email Laurel Appleton in Class Activities your requests broken down by group. Lists typically take about one week to generate.

• Meal venues and rain locations will be set in the month ahead.  Your Class Activities Liaison will communicate these locations once finalized.
• While the College makes every effort to honor event space requests, alternative spaces may be used when preferred spaces are unavailable or to properly accommodate attendees and/or equipment.
• As you think about and plan for off-campus pre-or post-Reunion events, note that the College cannot provide student workers for any events that take place in private homes.
• Please use only the College-issued master draft schedule for updating your events and activities. Your Class Activities liaison will coordinate these updates with you.
• Entertainment should be finalized by January.
• Speakers and panels should be finalized by January.
• Begin working on your class memorial services. Samples are included at the bottom of the memorial services page.

• Utilize sample budget templates. Your Class Activities liaison can provide other budgets from previous Reunions.
• Fees charged by the College are included on the College Reunion invoice, which is paid by the Reunion treasurer to the College upon arrival for your Reunion.
•  Utilize attendance archives to estimate attendance.
•  Gather cost estimates for meals, souvenirs, entertainment, and other activities.
• Refer to the College price list.
•  Refer to the student associate price list.
• Avoid a la carte pricing as it is difficult to manage as it causes problems such as:
  • What to do with classmates/guests who show up for meals they didn’t pay for?
  • How to price a la carte options, e.g. “non-drinking” pricing or just a single dinner?
  • How to determine who gets souvenirs?
  • The Green Fee is charged in full even if a registrant only attends specific portions of the Reunion.
• Consider building budget scenarios for different attendance estimates. Determine if a contingency fund is needed, in the event attendance goals are not met. Consider inviting classmates to be reunion “angels” to assist with financial aid. Talk to your Class Activities liaison for more ideas on this.
• Determine if you will offer scholarships and how they will be funded and managed.
•  Establish a local Hanover bank account for your Reunion Funds. We recommend Ledyard Bank as we have an excellent working relationship with the Hanover branch.
• Draft Reunion budgets are due to Class Activities in December with final review and cost per attendee set during a January phone conference.

• Continue researching caterers and work toward finalizing menus and beverage plans.
•  Catering contracts should be near finalized by December while following a January completion deadline.
• Keep your Class Activities liaison updated with respect to your catering plans. Some campus locations require the use of Dartmouth Dining Services. Committees should communicate with their Class Activities liaison before signing any contract.
• Food quality is important! This is the number one topic on which attendees comment on post-Reunion surveys.
• Utilize College-approved list of caterers for ideas.
• Caterers not on the College-approved list may still be used but committees will need to check with their College liaison to determine feasibility and approval by the College.
• If you want to explore using the full-service breakfast buffet in the Class of 1953 Commons, contact Kristen Post at Dartmouth Dining Services for more information.
• Classes work directly with caterers for billing and invoicing and make payment(s) directly to the caterers.
  • Please work directly with caterers to determine tax exemption eligibility.
• Pricing: Please give special consideration to trash removal (caterer responsibility), dietary restrictions, gratuities/staff charges, caterer equipment charges, glassware and linen requests (the College does not provide glassware and linens).

• Try to avoid souvenirs that require different sizes. This makes the ordering and distribution process much simpler.
•  Remember the “travel factor.” Can they be transported home safely and easily?
• Who gets one? Classmate, spouse, guest?
• How many per person?
• Price? Do attendees need to purchase them? Can they buy additional souvenirs?
• Inform Advancement Events if souvenirs will have a cost to attendees, if they will be size-specific, or if there are multiple choices of souvenir items.
• Due to ongoing construction and renovations in Blunt, the Advancement Office no longer has the space to store souvenirs in advance of your Reunion.  Do you have a classmate who is local who has room to keep souvenirs until your registration day?  If working with a local vendor can they hold the items and deliver on your registration day?

• The College will build and maintain the online registration page for each class and provide technical assistance.
• The College begins your online registration page buildout in December and will finalize the page once attendee prices are determined.
• Advancement Events will set up calls with your committee to review your registration page and the registration process in February. More information on this will be included in the next Reunion Bulletin.
• Advancement Events will solicit the following information for your registration page:
  •  Welcome message (~125 words) for your registration landing page
  • Name and contact information of committee member who will field general registration questions including refund inquiries. Refunds approved by this person will be processed by the College
  • Reunion class logo, if desired
  • Registration pricing for regular rate, early rate, late/walk-in rate, and children
  • Refund policy
  •  Class dues option.
  • Meals and other activities requiring counts and/or additional fees.
  • Souvenir information.
  • Name and contact information for your Registration Chair, who will:
    - Receive a confirmation email each time someone registers for your Reunion (optional).
    - Receive a weekly registration report, which can be shared with your committee as needed.
  • Bank information for revenue checks to be deposited.
    - Revenue disbursement checks will be issued twice per month once registration goes live in early March.
  • Name and contact information of your committee member, who will receive revenue disbursement documentation back-up e-mail.

Reminder: Online Reunion registration goes live for all classes the first week of March!

• A total of five couples per class are eligible to arrive on campus one day early to organize and coordinate Reunion materials and logistics. Reunion Chair(s), Treasurer(s) and Registration Chair(s) are typically a part of this group.
• More information will come in January.