The Reunion Project - Are We There Yet? (11/9)
By Scott Ryan
When planning a reunion, there's a good reason for having a group of people work together: it's a lot of work. As it turns out, picking a date was the easy part. I was hoping to be passing along some details today, but our group back home is still working on details. But they are busy--with venues, food, a DJ, and other things. We hope to have it all finalized soon, as out-of-towners need time to make travel arrangements. I've already been getting some questions from classmates about when, where, etc. I wish we had an answer--but it's going to take a little bit longer.
We're competing with weddings, tourists, and other events by having a reunion in the summer. Traditionally, homecomings are in the fall--but we felt that a summer event would mean better attendance. And, we will have reached out to about twice as many classmates this time compared to our 20-year reunion. No promises, but maybe someone will put together a second-chance event later on for those who won't be at the main event.
We'll have to find some hotels, too. From the numbers I've put together so far, two-thirds of our class still lives in town or within a few hours' drive. And just one-fourth of the classmates who were invited to the last get-together wound up going, with only about 20 of them needing a hotel room. I can already tell that we won't be getting huge blocks of rooms all in one place.
I'm also approaching a point that I was hoping not to reach until next year. Back when I began locating classmates, I had set a goal of finding one classmate per day on average. So far, I've stayed ahead of that pace, but if I don't get in touch with anyone else in the next few days, I'll fall behind schedule.
I can't lie - the lack of phone calls and emails being returned is frustrating. We're trying to accommodate as many people as possible. And, we still have people moving, changing phone numbers, etc., which is another fire I keep trying to put out, with only modest success.
*About this blog: Scott is a 1988 graduate of Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, Va. and is blogging about his experience ahead of his 25th high school reunion in 2013. You can contact Scott at 248-945-9950 or via email at sryan@cbs.com. Please put "The Reunion Project" in the subject line.
