December-January Reunion Planning Bulletin

• Continue with committee development and reunion planning activities.
• Continue to consult the online Reunion Planning Guide.
• 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 the task of 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 your Class Activities liaison for your requests broken down by group. Lists typically take about one week to generate.

• Meal venues and rain locations have been tentatively scheduled. Contact your Class Activities liaison if you have questions.
• 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.
• Please use only the College-issued master draft schedule for updating your events and activities.
• Entertainment should be close to being finalized.
• Speakers and panels should be close to being finalized.
• Begin working on your class Memorial Services. Samples are included at the bottom of the memorial services page.
• Your basic reunion schedule should be near completion to start on logistical planning and final details.

• Utilize sample Budget Templates and refer to other budgets from previous reunions.
• Fees charged by the College are included on the College reunion invoice, which is paid 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.
  • i.e., What to do with classmates/guests who show up for meals they didn’t pay for?
  • i.e., How to price a la carte options, e.g. “non-drinking” pricing?
  • i.e., How to determine who gets souvenirs?
  • i.e., The Green Fee is charged in full even if a registrant only attends specific portions of the reunion.
• Consider establishing a contingency fund.
• Determine if you will offer scholarships and how they will be managed.
• Establish a local Hanover bank account.
• DRAFT reunion budgets are due to Class Activities in January at which time Class Activities will meet with each class to review budgets and determine final cost per attendee

• Begin researching caterers and work toward finalizing menus, beverage plans, and grids.
• Use Catering Tips for ideas and suggestions.
• 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.
• Notify Class Activities once you have chosen a caterer.
• Catering contracts should be near finalized by December while following a January completion deadline; Committees should communicate with Advancement Events before signing any contract.
• If you want to explore using the full-service breakfast buffet in the Class of 1953 Commons, contact Arliene Belock 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 (varies).
• Pricing: Please give special consideration to trash removal (caterer responsibility), dietary restrictions, gratuities/staff charges, caterer equipment charges, and linen requests (College does not provide 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.

Process

• The College will build and maintain the online registration page for each class and provide technical assistance.
• The College begins your online registration page build 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.

Content

• 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.
    • 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.