Greetings from West Covina, California, USA!
Bulldog Decoration on Gate at West Covina High School on Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Bulldog Decoration on Gate at West Covina High School on Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Class reunions are a long-standing tradition in American culture. Previously I recounted my experience at my 10-year reunion and now am looking forward to my 20-year one. In fact I joined the committee to plan the event. Last weekend we committed to a location, which is a huge relief but the overall experience to date has had several twists and turns.
First money is a big issue. With the global economic recession, we wanted to keep costs low and pass the savings to our classmates through lower prices on event tickets. To cut cost we did not use a reunion company but the committee would be on its own on researching and paying deposits for venue, musical entertainment, photographer, etc.
I have attended literally dozens of weddings but never planned one. Yet I boldly say that a class reunion can be very similar – hotel rooms, guest list, food, music, etc. An important rule: Find a location and then choose from its available dates. Before our committee had its first meeting in May, one member announced a date in June and then rescheduled it for October. To avoid confusing our classmates further, we stayed with the revised date but still needed a venue.
We set a deadline of 7/18 to commit on a location. In early June we had a frontrunner, the Embassy Suites in Brea. The hotel has an Egyptian theme and a central atrium capped by skylights seven stories up. I was impressed the moment that I entered but the final decision was made on our deadline day over a month later.
To give our classmates at least three months to plan ahead for the reunion, we had to launch our website by 7/25, just a week later. We also had a calendar of events – picnic, homecoming football game, post-game social and a hotel brunch in addition to the reunion party. One committee member and I made minor decisions non-stop – picnic at this park, post-game social at that restaurant bar – while creating the website, something that neither of us had done previously.
We used Yahoo Sitebuilder, a web building for dummies application. My past experience laying out a newsletter for a group also helped. While our four-page website won’t win any awards, I am proud of it. Plus we went live a day ahead of schedule. Whew!
Instead of looking for a job, I spent the week working – unpaid – on the reunion plans. I also went back to my school, West Covina High, to take photos of the campus. We would post them online to get classmates nostalgic and interested in the reunion events. My weekly photo is one of those shots. Incorporated into the framework of the campus’ front gate is the school mascot. GO BULLDOGS!
Angelo
