Reunion Planning in a Nutshell

  • Start planning up to two years in advance. Recruit a chair, treasurer, secretary and registrar. Others can be recruited later as you decide on what you need.
  • Create a generic email address (for example, vichigh1969@gmail.com). It’s better security and easy to forward to whomever you choose and change the forwarding in the future.
  • Set up a bank account in the name of your event, or something like Vic High Class of 1969. It’s more easily managed and easily transferred to new team members in the future by changing signing authority. If you’re a larger committee, the account should have two or three signatories.
  • Regular meetings are fun – like mini reunions! It’s always helpful to circulate agenda items before and notes/minutes after. Use Skype or Zoom if you can’t meet in person
  • The Alumni Reunion Co-ordinator can provide a spreadsheet of your year’s alumni with whatever contact info we have available. This can be saved in a Google Drive and by adding missing names from your Camosun, it becomes a Master List to share and update as you all find more alumni. Alumni are anyone who attended, whether or not they graduated. Teachers and staff may also appreciate being invited. Some classes invite alumni from years before and/or after theirs.
  • The Past Reunions page links you to other reunions. It’s always fun to see what others have done at their reunions.
  • Decide on date and venue early and send out a Save the Date email. It’s always good to book entertainment early as well.
  • Contact the Vic High Archives & Museum to see what can be loaned out, and what info and materials they may have on your year.
  • The Alumni Communications Team can send out mass emails on your behalf to your classmates whose email is on file. Contact Communications from the drop-down menu here. You provide information and photos if you have any from past reunions, or we can crop some from your Camosun. We’ll format a draft email for your approval, then send it out to all alumni on our email list who are tagged with your year.
  • If you want to arrange tours of the school, contact the school principal (February 2024 onwards, after renos are complete and the building is occupied again)
  • If you want to use the Vic High building or grounds for an event, contact School District 61’s Rentals Dept. to get your permit and a rental quote: email  rentals@sd61.bc.ca or phone Christine Bell  250-475-4178 or Gerda Boenbers 250-475-4174.
  • Create a budget, an estimate of projected costs. Carefully work out any fixed costs, based on a low number of potential attendees needed to make it a feasible event. You’ll need this  information to help decide what to charge people to attend various parts of your reunion. Sample Planning Budget
  • Incentives for early registration can be helpful – to start estimating attendance and provide funds for upfront expenses. Sample Registration Form 1, Sample Registration Form 2
  • Be sure to contact the Reunion Co-ordinator with key information and they will distribute the information to our Website Manager and Newsletter Editor for posting. Details can be added later.
  • Volunteers would love to attend your reunion to sell Vic High merchandise (raises funds for the Alumni’s support of Vic High) and may be able to donate a door prize. Some reunions build into their budget an amount to purchase some items as door prizes. Contact Alumni Store from the drop-down menu here.
  • Some teams create a simple website and/or Facebook page. It may help you reach more alumni and build excitement.
  • Silent auctions can help generate revenue to help cover costs. Many reunions end up with a profit and hold back a few hundred dollars as seed money for the next reunion and donate the rest to the VHS Alumni Association to help support current students and programs. Sample Silent Auction Bid Sheet
  • After the reunion, be sure to
    • send update contact information about your alumni to Alumni Membership from the drop-down menu here.
    • contact Communications from the drop-down menu here about forwarding photos from your event. These can be set up on a Past Reunions page on our website, used in an Alumni monthly e-newsletter, and storied in the Archives & Museum so we can all laugh at ourselves in a few years!

As soon as you can after the reunion, get in touch with all  your alumni – not just attendees – about what a great event it was.  Thank everyone. Collect photos from attendees they allow you to post, and post info and photos on your website/Facebook page.