Hi,

We will begin the planning on our next reunion soon and have questions about the reset process. We haven't archived our 50th yet and can do that. Where does the saved archive display? Can it then be copied and pasted into a word doc? I tried to copy and past today and got mostly code. Anything else I need to do? We had great success last time (4 years ago) providing the schedule, directions, using credit cards, setting up events, etc. but there may be new features I'm unaware that have been introduced since then. Such as icons appearing showing who plans to attend? And finally is there a way to ask classmates, and have them respond individually, if they prefer web site or paper notifications. We're trying to save $$!

Not a rush--thanks for any advice you can provide!

Donna

Our first reunion was 2010we used the reunion planner, which had many nice features. For our June 2015 reunion, we're using the new Event Planner. Love it!!

We surveyed classmates on the website to get feedback about the next one. Very helpful. Then organized a small committee to pick dates.

Usually we would send two sets of postcards. One for save-the-date, then a mailing with paper registrations. Since we started the online process, we only mailed one postcard. People can contact us for paper registration. So far only one person requested that.

In 2010, about 2/3 of classmates registered online. This year we added the donation option to the reunion registration and we've already received donations to cover about 2 years of website & domain name.

More features continue to roll out on the event planner, so I would say, Jump IN and Good luck!

Hi Donna,
We're planning our 2nd reunion too. Our 50 yr reunion was in 2013 and we're planning our 55th in 2018. As with you, no rush. Last time we had about 1/3 of our graduates and their guests attend. Part of the reason only 1/3 attended is that the school was a girls school which is now closed. Many graduates have changed their name over the years.
With us, about 44% of our classmates have joined our website. One of the reasons we attracted that percentage is that besides the regular online graduates sites, I 'googled' the school and made sure it posted. This time, I'm going to add an early postcard that they can put on their frig and keep looking at it. Although it's early, I'm forming a committee to find more classmates (That seems to be the longest and most tedious of all the jobs.).
As far as raising funds goes, I began this way: "Girls, I'm sending this note out to you to get a positive response. However, ALL responses will be gladly accepted. In or to keep this website open, active, informative, and fun to visit, I pay and have been paying $16 a month to CC which helps me 24/7 keep the site open, working, and updated. On a voluntary basis I'm asking you for $16 per year to help keep it open and 'well healed' for our next reunion." No one sent $16; they all sent more. I post a little note on the homepage every 3 months or so reminding those who haven't sent any donations at all explaining how generous others have been and how expensive the next reunion will be (having it in NYC).Having the donations go through PayPal is a great help. I applied for and received a PayPal debit/MC in the name of the school with me as authorized buyer. It's like having my own accountant for free.
That's all I have to contribute at the moment. Thank you for asking the question, Donna.
Barbara

Thanks Barbara and Kathy for your helpful responses! We were traveling and I missed the announcement about the new event planner. Looks like good news for us as we have a few more months before setting anything up like registrations. Still waiting on a response to the questions about the old event archives (printing? copying?) but I assume everyone is swamped with event planner questions/solutions for now.

Again, thanks!

I usually find CC to be pretty prompt, but on occasion nothing is written in stone. Also, this week full of holidays and holydays always undermines strict order of events. I don't know what time zone you're in, but I'd be surprised if your inbox doesn't have any info from CC by tomorrow morning. However, I am totally the same way. When I want a response or question answered, it's never fast enough. I think my personality gets on a train of thought and just NBEEDS to stay there.
After this is answered for you to your satisfaction, and if you have any more ideas, please don't hesitate to post. I really enjoy new thoughts about reunions, especially 'second reunions' since that's what I'm working on too.
Barbara