Chapter Reunions

[sigmagrrl]

Has anyone's chapter held a reunion weekend to celebrate their chapter anniversary? My chapter is planning our 10 year anniversary, which is next April, and are hoping to have a weekend that starts Friday night with an informal outing, a Saturday night formal event, and a Sunday morning ritual/brunch. We are having trouble planning it and would love some guidelines. Tri Sigma HQ publishes a guide that talks about reunions, but it's more of a guide for a one day event....

Any ideas??

[nyrdrms]

We just had our 15 year reunion, but it only consisted of the formal. When we had our 10 year, there was a whole weekend of events planned, but I don't know what they did. One thing that we did at formal was have a movie, one of the sisters got a whole bunch of pictures together and put them onto a cd with music to it. The pictures were of sisters throughout our 15 year history, and the alumnae that came to formal loved that they were included in the movie.

[ladyj39]

Our chapter is actually having a luncheon on May 4th for our 15 year anniversary. I'm so excited because there are girls going that I haven't seen in a long time! We're going to have lunch, songs, and our seniors will be giving their senior wills. I can't wait! :D

[Tom Earp]

A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum!:cool:

While we do not observe the month of when we got Chartered, we do it to cooincincide with Founders Day of LXA, some what!

2 things to bring Alums Back: Founders Day and Home Coming!

Brother Jono talked about this on the ma bell!

We are from 2 diff. chapters, I-Ks, He Fl.!

Anyway, I told Him what we did for FD. We hold an honor Assoc. back for FD! Dont tell Internatioaal, please!


They had never done it before! They will be doing it all of the time now!

This is a weekend event, so , if a Soro/Fraternity, you need plans for the Spouse/Bos or what ever to kick around to do something while you may be at Ritual Initiating a New Member!


If this is a new Idea to you, what the heck, try it ASAP!

It really worked for BN as they found one of the Founders of the local who came back and was AI into the Fraternity!

Need more Info, you got my PM Address!


Oh, by the way, when we do this at My Chapter we always fo to the 3-11 and sit and BS till it is time for the Dinner and Dance!

Oh, for those that have Houses and House Corps. we meet 2 times a year----Homecoming and Founders Day.

[AOX81]

My chapter celebrated our 10th anniversary in 1999. I pretty much planned the entire event so if you have any questions send them my way. :)

[sailboatgirl]

My collegiate chapter is having our 75th anniversary next fall, and we are just now starting to talk about what to do. I'd love to hear what activities you do have planned, though, and what everyone likes afterwards!

I would definitely include a campus tour since there are always new additions to campuses as the years pass. Also, are there any existing activites on your campus that you could incorporate into your weekend? Such as greek week, sporting events, etc. You mentioned (I think) that your event is in April, were you planning to combine Founders Day plans with it? What about having the collegians do their recruitment skit as entertainment? Could you have your formal on the Saturday night?

Okay...enough rambling for now...

[AOIIalum]

Give your alumnae plenty of time to RSVP! Whatever you do, don't send invites out a week or two before the event. Alumnae appreciate having advance notice for such events so they can attend!

Can you tell one of my pet peeves? Although there are many things I've wanted to do as an alumna, if I don't get enough notice to make arrangements with my family or whatever, I can't go. Once you set the date, start to publicize it through your chapter's website, mailing list, alumnae chapter and even your International Fraternity website or magazine.

Alums expect to make a donation to a chapter project and/or the National organization at this type of event. Trust me, it won't offend us! We also like to hear how we can help--just don't overkill it. You could set up your RSVP sheet to ask for family info (is there a future legacy in the family?), her email address (great way to stay in touch without newsletter and mailing expenses), and anything else your chapter would want to know. If there's a specific area you want help with put that on your RSVP form. I just received an invitation to a chapter's 10th anniversary weekend, and they had a separate line where an alum could make an additional donation on behalf of the chapter. I just thought that was a brilliant idea! Make sure to share any info gathered with your local alumnae chapter, too!

Alumnae members love to hear about what's going on with the current chapter, things you've won and what you've done (alums always like trophies and plaques :)), and what you've got planned for the future. We also like to have time to sit down and talk with the current members in an informal setting.

Good luck!
Christin

[pinkyphimu]

i was a part of a reunion planning, but unfortunatly, it was a flop. there were some things that could have been avoided, but it is much too long of story to retell.
here are a few things i learned from our mistakes.
1. send out a survey to your alums before you start making definate plans. the person in charge of the planning basically, planned everything by herself. then as people started complaining, she sent out a survey about what people would like to do. i think people felt really put off bc they already knew that she had made plans and didn't feel like thier opinions were going to make a difference.

2. get a committe together. try to involve alums from as many different classes as possible. what appeals to someone who graduted within the past 2 years is very different from someone who graduated 10 years ago.

3. get the collegiates involved, too!! the most disappointing thing for me was the lack of collegiate involvement. some of the girls who lived in the house didn't even bother to show up.

4. let people know what they are paying for. honestly, this is the thing that annoyed me the most from my reunion. people whinned and complained that they had to pay $15 to go to a reunion. from the survey we found that people didn't want to spend a lot of money and that they were willing to bring something food wise. basically, the money that people spent went to the main food items (hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.), postage for all of the invites, the favors (that everyone voted to have), a gift for the chapter and some miscellaneous expenses. each attendee had to bring a dessert or an appetizer or drink. no big deal. anyway, i still got emails from people complaining that they shouldn't have to pay to attend a reunion. honestly, there was one girl who was a founding member who said she had worked too hard for the chapter to have to pay to attend. she also said that she was going to be on campus that weekend but wouldn't be stopping by the house. my initial reaction was to reply back that our chapter hadn't heard hide nor hair from her since she graduated and that truthfully, with an attitude like that, i was glad. i, however, was much more lady-like and responded with what the money was going to be used for.

5. understand that everyone will not be happy. one of my very good friends said afterwards, this was so stupid. i would have paid more money to have something in a hotel. i could have slapped her. i know she got the survey bc i am the one who emailed it to her when i noticed she hadn't gotten the initial email. plus, she also sent a letter to the person heading up the reunion to tell her to never email her again. lol, i had no problem reminding her that it was really her own fault and that maybe next time she could get more involved!

6. delegate, delegate, delegate

7. make sure your collegiate chapter is working on alum relations.


sorry for the long rant.

[AOIIalum]

Oooh, pinkyphimu's reply reminds me of something:

Make sure you're sending out as many invites as you have names & addresses. I can remember a really bad situation once where a collegiate chapter somehow missed a couple of pages of addresses during the assembly and mailing process. The alumnae who didn't get invited included many from the early years of the chapter. A lot of feelings were hurt due to this utterly innocent mistake (a mistake that the chapter admitted to and sincerely apologized for.) It was a really lousy experience for everyone involved. Last I heard there were alums who were still holding a grudge about it. It's sad, but it happened.

So, if you have 1000 addresses, make sure you have 1000 invitations going in the mail. It's not worth it to mess up!

Christin

[Tom Earp]

No Matter How Hard you try, there are going to be some PISSED People!

As the Active Chapter works at many things, a lot falls on the Shoulders of Alums, much like myself who is the keeper of the Address Book for e-m's.

Nothing is more Frustrating than to have some ones Postal addres and e-m address and they move and give not forwarding of either! It cost us money when they dont do that!! SOOOO you move on to the next topic. If they complain, throw the Ball back into there court! You did not get any info, Da, did you send a update notice?:confused: :rolleyes: :p

[BSUPhiSig'92]

Our chapter put together a celebration for our 65th anniversary (12 years ago), and had a nice dinner dance at a hotel. We publicized the event WAY in advance, but we made the mistake of saying that the actives were planning on going black tie for the event (one of the brother's parents owned a bridal shop and we got tuxes for $30). This scared off a lot of our alumni who didn't want to go to a black tie event (but did anyone tell us this until afterwards? nooo). So we had two alumni show up and it wound up being a really nice brother-date function.

Since then we have operated under the KISS (keep it simple stupid) system. Casual events and spouse/family friendly works much better for us.

[33girl]

Originally posted by BSUPhiSig'92
We publicized the event WAY in advance, but we made the mistake of saying that the actives were planning on going black tie for the event (one of the brother's parents owned a bridal shop and we got tuxes for $30). This scared off a lot of our alumni who didn't want to go to a black tie event (but did anyone tell us this until afterwards? nooo).

If you do want to do a formal type event, make it "fun formal" - tell the ladies to get out their old bridesmaids dresses, their outfit from the office Christmas party, whatever. We did this and one of the sisters actually wore her wedding gown - everyone had fun with it. And make sure the guys know they don't have to wear full suits/ties if they don't want to (when they have to do it every day at work, it gets real old).

There are ALWAYS going to be people who stress over what to wear, no matter how much you tell them not to fuss, and you cannot please them no matter what you do.

[Little E]

Wow this is way helpful!
I'm planning our 5 year reunion. I know it is short but it is a big deal to make it to our first reunion. Many of our Alpha Class live so far away we've never met them. This is our big chance!

I really like the survey idea! We've had sketchy relations w/our alumnae, not alot of emphasis on it. It is impacted because they are all in school so few have the time and money to approach us. We are hoping that this will help turn our relations around, not that they are bad, but we could/should be doing better.

How have you guys done invites? What company? Suggestions on this? Our reunion is in April, letters are going out at the end of the summer talking about what is possibly going to happen, we'll send surveys then too :) And start letting them know about what we want to do. Formal invites are going out to the chapter alumnae probably nov/dec is that too early? some women live abroad so... Then we'll follow up with regular letters over the next few months leading up. Chapters and nat'l will get stuff in Jan. i'm not sure on our timeline for all this...eek!

ARe there some etiquette things that we should watch for? ie, who we invite? Should we plan a philanthropy event for the weekend? We are gonna do a whole weekend thing it is gonna be a long weekend and we are working on having initiation that weekend.

We are planning on combining our formal with our founders. We've always had our formal that weekend so we are going to combine, also to help us with our dues (eek!) All of our alumnae are young...i dunno you all have me worried at this point about a formal affair...most aren't married so that will help, only two will have babies!!!!!! (our first chapter legacies!!!!!!)

blah so much to think about!

I'd appreciate any help anyone will give!!!!
Tau Love
Lil E

[bruinaphi]

We had our 75th in 1999 and instead of doing a whole weekend we did one big event at the chapter house and raised money to endow two scholarships through the Alpha Phi Foundation for our chapter. Our event was an afternoon tea where alums had a chance to have a house tour, watch the chapter's current rush slideshow, and listen to some chapter members perform their preference songs. We had about 200 alumnae turn out, and raised well over the $40,000 we needed for our two scholarships. I have posted in other threads about how cool it was to meet some of our founding chapter sisters and hear their stories about becoming Alpha Phis. It was a wonderful event.

Laura

[sailboatgirl]

Someone asked about a company to use for invitations, so here's an idea...

I do PR for a non-profit and we're always looking for ways to save $$. For smaller events (of the 200-500 guests range), I've used Paper Direct http://www.paperdirect.com. If you use the "jumbo postcards" (the size of half a sheet of paper), they can make nice invitations. You just feed them through your printer, and voila! They're set up 2 per sheet, with a perforation. They come in a box of (I think) 50 sheets which yields 100 invites at about $25 per box (cheaper if you order multiple boxes). If you go this route, you can either mail them with a label on back...OR to make it nicer, put them in an envelope. (When I've done this, I put directions on the back or sponsor information!) Also, another $$ saving tip for this route...buy envelopes at your office supply store, they're much cheaper than the ones in the catalog!

(Edited for spelling mistakes & typos!)

[DGMarie]

You could also go the post card route. A box of 4 per sheet x 200 sheet post cards at office max is $19. They are 5.5" x 4.25" in size. You can also run these through your printer.

Marie

[CutiePie2000]

Don't forget the "evite.com" route. It's cheap and fast.

[D-Rho]

My sorority is also interested in starting a yearly Founder's Day event.

My question is once you get all the sisters to a lucheon or dinner gathering, What activities do you do.

Do you just eat your meal. Do you have someone talk. And about what?? Do you give out awards?

We are really in the beginnning stages. Thanks for the Help.

Milissa
Delta Rho Delta
"Girlfriend" Fall 97

[Tom Earp]

D-Rho,

We usually meet at the house Fri. night for Just Bonding. Next day meet at the House and then proceed to Initiation. From there we go to local Pub and just hang a little catching up on what is happening with each other and reminisce.

Then go like hell to get cleaned up and go to Banquet. Catered at a local place with dance floor. Found a band to exppensive so had a tape with one of the Brothers DJay or just play long tunes in a row!!

Oh for the ones in the know "Magic Carpet Ride is Played"!!!!!

But before that had one of the Brothers emcee and had everyone stand up give their Zeta # and where they were from.

A key note speaker who gives anything wishes to talk about, but hopefully not to long!

Introduce the Alum of the Year. One time I was given the Alum of the Decade and given a nice Trophy, but not thank goodness a Cup!! One of the Proudest moments of My life. Was Speechless. Yes for those that know me!!!!

Once did a slide show of OLD PHOTOS. Was Great.:)

Hoped this helped. Not knowing how old your Chapter is!!

[sigmagrrl]

My chapter is starting to annoy me a tiny little bit....NO ONE WANTS TO DO ANYTHING, but they want the event! Or they are cynical about it even happening...

I really want this too, but C'MON!

Anyway, I just emailed a sister who is as gung ho as me and we'll get this going...I SWEAR WE WILL!!!

[Tom Earp]

sigmagirl.

Dont know if you have a House or not? If you do, I am sure you would have a House Corporation. If so, we have our meetings 2 times a year:

Homecoming and Founders Day,

Reason being, most of the Alums will be back for those events.

Had one Brother who would fly in from Denver twice a year for it.

But it always seems that Founders Day is a big one for us!!! 2 years ago, I wourk my rear off to get Alums back, and had 80+. Largest ever had.

What many do not realize, is that when they get back and see some of the oldies, they find they really missed them and enjoy seeing them!!:cool:

They then plan a year in advance to be there next year. You need a planning calendar so Alums know when Major events are. An e-m address book to keep in touch and a 2 time yearly mailing for what is happening with Chapter and Alums.

I have found that Alums dont give a damn if they feel left out!!!!!

It will take 1,2, or 3 who are really dedicated for the long hall to make this work!!!


Goodest of Luck!!!!!!:)

[Kevin]

You can count on it every year, our formal is the weekend closest to March 9th, the day our chapter recieved its charter.

Therefore, every formal is also our founders day celebration.

It's tough to have a national founders' day celebration for Sigma Nu since we were founded on January 1st.

[D-Rho]

Tom, Thanks for the Info. My sorority was founded in 1932. And it makes me kindof sad that no one before me (that I know of) has tried to celebrate our founders.

You said you meet at the House the second day and then proceed to Initiation. Who is this for. New members from the 2 semesters prior?. We have an initiation of new members 2 weeks after pledgeweek is over. Are you talking about the same thing?

Thanks Again,
Milissa
Delta Rho Delta

[Little E]

Ok i have a question

We have out 5 year coming up, and the alumnae for the most part haven't seen eachother in about 5 years. they are spread out. the ones we've talked to talk like they are ready to come and relive their party days at school. any suggestions of how we make sure they are having fun, w/staying inside nat'l guidelines. we are small 30 actives and so having a bar would be hard. any suggestions so we dont have some dumb feud w/the alumae? or is a lisenced bar the only way to go??

[33girl]

Have it at the Ramada or someplace and have the actual room you are having the reunion in be dry, but with a bar nearby. If there aren't that many of you, that should be fine.

[PsychTau]

Little E,
Don't overprogram. Leave some time for everyone to hang out and do whatever they want. Have chapter sisters be available at the house if people want to hang out there...don't forget your National Staff escorts (you can't drink with them though!). I would suggest that the chapter sisters be on their best behavior....the alums can go crazy and do their own thing if they want.

As far as National Policies...I would have to look that up. Check the Policies and Positions Handbook or contact the Milestone Anniversary Chair (I think that's what the position is...look on the National Directory.)

Let me know if you need help!
PsychTau

[Little E]

We are (finally) getting our ducks in a row. We are sending out survey's and such in the next two weeks!!! They should be back in by the time school starts!
Has anyone hired a professional photographer for their reunions? Are there ways to get good photos and a variety w/out spending THAT much $$?
I'm so excited this is all going great so far!
Thanks!
Lil E

[sailboatgirl]

As far as a photographer, who do you normally use for functions or date parties for party pics?

As an alternative, what about contact a student in your college's art dept. who is majoring in photography? Most should have a portfolio to look at before choosing one...

[Tom Earp]

No, we hold a New Assoc. back, kind of teh Honor Assoc. for Initiation.

Pics, heck how many have digital camera who can take Pics. Get some body to Do Dj with CDs, better and cheaper than a band!

If a small Chapter, Gourmet via the local Deli Shop or Pizza Place!:)

If enuff Alums, make up things to bring and ask the Active Chapter to do something!!!:cool:

[roqueemae]

I am bumping this because of my collegiate chapter's 50th anniversary. I need new ideas--especially any for a gift to campus or the lodge. The alumnae got a survey last week and I want to answer with some new ideas!

[phimu_za]

We have "Stag" at our college every year, the Saturday of Graduation weekend (Graduation is on Sunday). Each of the greek houses has an afternoon event and dinner for collegiates and alums (planned and hosted by the chapter members).

This past May was the first time I'd been back in several years (busy having babies for awhile), and it was the most fun I'd had at Stag. Why? It was structured, but casually so. The best part of the afternoon was when we sat in the living room and shared stories - our house had burned in the 60s, so alums who were there that night shared what they remembered. Some of us talked about how/why we chose Phi Mu (I was COB'd, for example, and my mom wasn't too keen on the idea of me spending the $ to be in a house, so one of my potential sisters spent an hour on the phone w/ my mom talking about all the benefits of being Greek and specifically of being Phi Mu). Others talked about memorable moments with their sisters. I think this turned out to be the best part because it gave us a sense of history and of connectedness - we all share similar experiences and that's what strengthens our bond as sisters.

And after that, we sang songs - an old-fashioned sing-along - with older alums teaching the new collegiates some of the old favorites, and the collegiates singing some new songs.

[slayerzbt]

My fraternity is actually having a reunion today! Unfortunately I couldn't go. One of our more active alumni's organized the whole thing. He reserved the club, scheduled dinner, etc. He also sent out invitations through "Evite" which I know was mentioned here. A lot of people responded but there were still a lot that didnt. I think an important thing is to plan it far enough in advance and send out reminders every once in a while.

There are about 42 people listed as coming(that includes guests) so the turnout I dont think will be that good. It probably has to do alot with the fact that he scheduled it on 4th of July weekend. The reunion, from what I understand, will basically be run like a formal. There will be dinner and everything and then people will go off and play beer pong the rest of the night.

One alumni did email me with a suggestion that I will pass on to you guys. I think it is a really good idea.

A lot of the older alumni have moved on since college. Their idea of a good time no longer consists of getting smashed with the actives, not to mention some cant drink like they used to. Instead, try having a "family friendly" reunion. You could charge admission, and have fundraisers like raffles as well. Women and children would be welcome, but the brothers could still catch up with each other and have a good time too. My idea would be hots and hamburgers and what not, stuff like that


Just my 2 cents.

[Little E]

The reunion I was planning when I posted before happened and went off great. We had young almnae so they all stayed at the same hotel and I think they went out Friday night after our cookout at the house. Saturday was good, we did a rededication service, then a brunch at the art museum on campus and did a all chapter photo. then we sent them to an almunae meeting where they started the process for an official support group. Formal was that night

For a gift, because it was our 5 year, we redid our founders composite. They had done it pretty low budget and the photos were coming undone from the mounting and whatnot. we had the photos all digitally touched up, we kept the same style with a dark green background( the rest since have been a cream) and then we got a new frame and uv glass to protect it. The original was given to the college archives so it will be stored in a temp controlled enviorment and it will be around down the road. They were thrilled. First because they didn't look jaundice anymore and second because a trinket is easy but there was some thought put to this, It is now hung in the living room w/the current composite, the old ones are in a back hall.

If you're looking for a gift, find one that will mean something to your founders and will last for a while, not necessarily the most expensive.

[BLUTANG]

Our TBSigma and KKPsi chapters have a joint founding date / anniversary. I helped plan our 30th celebration, and it was somewhat of a success. We charged a flat fee per person that included a t-shirt, 2 meals, and 3 "activities." There was a reduced price for spouses or children, as they would not be receiving a chapter t-shirt. Here was our schedule:

Friday (fun and fellowship): check in, "meet and greet" dinner, bowling tournament. All activities were for TBS, KKY, alumni as well as active (undergrad).

Saturday (history and activities): Separate meetings for TBS and KKPsi. This was a time for the chapters members and alumni to exchange ideas and share information specific to the Sorority or Fraternity. We then met back up for a joint luncheon (on campus) and "open mic" forum. That evening we all attended the basketball game on campus; we wore the anniversary shirts and sat together in a section. It was a really nice showing of unity to the rest of campus.

Sunday (reflection and rest): We attended service at a local church and had the official send off. The alumni secretaries for each chapter made sure the contact information was up-to-date, and they began piecing together information to locate our missing alumni (example: married names; I saw so-and-so in the wal-mart, here's her number; you know such-a-such is in grad school at XYZ state, here's his new email address).

Overall things went pretty well, but the planning committee was just 4 people. This year we're doing more to involve the actives during the initial planning phase; we're sending REAL invitations in addition to e-vites; and we're also looking into absorbing some costs so the undergrad members can participate without going broke. I think the format worked pretty well, so we're using to the EAT-play-communicate model again this year (with some modifications).

We'll probably continue the anniversary celebration on every 5th year after this one, as it stands it's every other year. I hope in the future we can incorporate a service activity and a formal (dinner or ball). We realize we're lucky to share the anniversary date with our Brothers, so we basically have double the resources in planning and executing the events.

[KSigkid]

My chapter has one every year, with the bigger anniversaries (10th, 15th, 20th, etc.) being bigger events. Our one for this year is coming up in a couple of weeks; the 15th, which was in 2002, was a formal dance and dinner, and I'm imagining the 20th will be much the same.

I live in the area, so it's easy for me to get to the events, but I do enjoy seeing the guys all together again for a weekend.

[Boodleboy322]

Here are some ideas that you can incorporate into your methodologies for stronger chapter reunions and alumni involvement.

1. Work with your national headquarters and get as many addresses and contact info. from brothers/sisters from your chapter. This may need to be channeled through an official alumni coordinator who can provide the resources.

2. Work with an Area Alumni Association or chapter if one is available to help coordinate and plan.

3. Establish a Forward Momentum contingency plan by working with actives and getting them in on the event. If the event is successful and becomes a standard order of business then you have created the genesis of a tradition. As soon as traditions get rolling they tend to be hard to break up.

4. Encourage actives and continually offer advice, networking, assistance, and support. The actives should be taken care of and nurtured just as pledges are when they first join the brother/sisterhood. The actives will be more prone to becoming active alumni if they have the confidence to keep the fire burning. Remember that actives are the future of a healthy alumni organization.

5. As an active getting ready to go alumni start a turnover tradition to keep a link back into the doorstep. This could be as simple as handing down your old beer keg that you used to use as the base of a poker table or your old Playboy collection that gave you the reputation and earned you your fraternity nickname. This will allow you to return back to events, with a common thread, to visit the chapter.

6. Don't procrastinate. Contact your chapter today and ask when their events are scheduled.

Regards,

Boodleboy322

[Optimist Prime]

Oh hell yeah this our fourth anniversy. I pledged in fall, and Have a special connection with this years pledgehs. Huuzzzaahhhh