Marketing & Promotion

Reunion PromotionMaking the reunion date and location decision and mailing the invitation is a big part of getting the reunion underway. But generating excitement and enthusiasm about the reunion plays an even bigger role. You may have a fantastic event planned but that alone does not guarantee your classmates will sign up. To inspire your classmates to attend the reunion, you not only want to provide the ‘What’, ‘When’, ‘Where’ and ‘How Much’ but you also need to promote and talk up the ‘Why’ of the reunion.

By planting in their minds an image or emotion of what they will do, who they will see, and what kinds of memories and other benefits they’ll receive, you will be connecting people to the true value of the event, not the cost.

Think of it this way: if you were in a massive auditorium, standing in front of your class, and had 10 seconds to convince people to attend your reunion, we doubt you would say, “Hello people, our big reunion is just $85, plus tax of course. So would you please sign-up today?! It should be lots of fun and, if you register right now, we’ll give you the early-bird free drink special package.” Instead you would speak to what makes the reunion special and why your classmates should want to be there; you probably wouldn’t even bring up the price.

Tips for Committees in promoting the reunion:1. Use testimonials. Promote positive comments from classmates. The comment can be about the hope to see a particular classmate at the event or a general level of excitement for this upcoming reunion. Be specific—anonymous quotes are not very effective. Hearing that someone is looking forward to seeing YOU at the reunion is a huge compliment!

2. Feature fun. Use images from previous reunions or school days showing your classmates having a lot of fun and post these on your reunion page on the RWC website, Facebook or in a broadcast email.

3. Meaningful call to action. Primetime marketing space shouldn’t be gobbled up with the details about dollars and deadlines. Instead, put the effort into creating personal and creative messages. Dial down the registration hype and beef up the “why” hype.

4. Consider your committee members ambassadors to the class. Each committee member should reach a varied segment of your class promoting the reunion to their circle of influence. Your classmates will feel represented and are more likely to feel a part of the celebration.

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RWC - what we do Getting the word out is one of the important components to a successful, well attended reunion. In addition to locating 70-85% of your classmates, Reunions With Class also promotes and publicizes your reunion through a variety of sources.

ReunionsWithClass.comYour reunion will be listed on our website soon after the preliminary agreement has been signed. Once the committee contract has been signed, classmates will be able to view the reunion details and make their reservation for the reunion online. See the Website Navigation Guide for details on how to use our website.

Social Media/FacebookSocial media is a terrific tool for engaging with your classmates that is best used by both Reunions With Class andthe committee members. RWC will post to your Facebook group regularly throughout the planning process,starting with classmate location and up until the night of the reunion. Our posts are more information basedwhile the committee’s post are generally more fun, nostalgic and personal.

Mail PiecesFor most reunions, an initial Invitation is mailed to classmates approximately 5-8 months prior to the reunion. In addition, a Follow-Up Postcard is mailed approximately 9 weeks prior to the reunionto those who have not signed reminding them the price will increase soon.

Broadcast EmailReunions With Class communicates with your classmates via ‘Broadcast Email’ to remind them of important deadlines such as the earlybird price increase date, memory book classmate catch-up deadline, last minute reminder to sign up, etc. We also send pre-registered classmates a confirmation notice just prior to the reunion.

Recorded Phone MessageFor some reunions, we ask the committee to record a special message to alumni. We send this message out to classmate’s phone numbers as a voicemail. The response has been very good,especially with a fun and engaging message from a recognizable voice. This is most often used at the beginning ofthe planning process and/or closer to the actual reunion date. RWC will notify the committee if the ‘recordedphone message’ tool will be utilized and provide instructions.

Your High SchoolAn announcement is sent to the contact person at your alma mater. Some schools are very good about referringclassmates to us for further information. In addition, we send an announcement to the school’s webmaster ifapplicable.

Alumni AssociationAn announcement is sent to the contact person for your school’s alumni association. We have a good relationshipwith the alumni associations and work together to create an accurate, up-to-date database of classmates.

Reunions.comWe list your reunion on www.Reunions.com. This is the website of the National Association of Reunion Managers (N.A.R.M.). You can link to this site directly from ours. 3

Committee - what you can doIt is very important to continue building excitement in the months leading up to the reunion. The committee holds the key to making a reunion truly great. Here are ways you as a committee can use some simple tools to reach out to classmates and have a real impact on the number of people who will attend your reunion.

Call your classmatesWe have found that with a little effort on behalf of the committee, attendance will increase dramatically. A personal call is the #1 method reported for making a decision to attend the reunion. Sometimes in our busy lives, people procrastinate or even misplace the invitation. Often people just need a little friendly nudge or bit of encouragement. So start making calls and boost your attendance!

Connect on Facebook.com Many of you are already active on Facebook and if you are, great! This site has become a great place to reconnect with classmates and can be especially useful in generating the warm, fuzzy environment that draws alumni to the reunion. One of the best ways to use Facebook is to create a group for your class reunion and use this group to communicate with classmates throughout the process.

Personalize your reunion homepageAs soon as possible, you should customize your reunion homepage on the RWC website with a personal message to classmates. This message can be updated as often as you like. You can also select your own photos to replace the standard pictures that appear on your page. Remember, classmates will be visiting this page often so it is a good idea to keep it fresh and interesting.

Send Broadcast Email This website feature offers committee members an opportunity to communicate to all classmates or a specific segment all at once. For example, send a shout-out of new alumni sign-ups each week. It can be particularly useful when reaching out to classmates who are “on the fence” and have not yet signed up. A link to sample broadcast emails can be found on the Broadcast Email page under ‘helpful ideas’ in the Committee Resource Center on our website. Keep in mind RWC also sends broadcast emails about the reunion so as a committee, create emails that have a personal touch to stand out from the other emails sent to your classmates. Details on how to use the Broadcast Email feature can be found in the Website Navigation booklet.

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Use Classmate ConnectionThis feature allows you to communicate with individuals in your class. Use it to personally invite or reconnect with a particular classmate.

Notify your community paperIf the local community paper near your high school has a bulletin board/announcements section, send them a request to publish information about your reunion. It’s a great way to get the word out to locals still in the area. There are many online community publications that are willing to publish a full article with photos about the reunion as well.

School ReaderboardMany high schools have readerboards and will post your reunion announcement if you ask them. Early spring is a good time to make the request for summer reunions and right before school lets out for fall reunions (you may get it posted over summer break). This could be an item you delegate to someone on your committee. Keep the message brief, they don’t have much room. We suggest something like:

BHS Class of ‘86 Reunion 8/20/16 Call 425-644-1044 for info

Follow other websitesBy keeping tabs on other sites your classmates may likely be registered, you can help locate and communicate with lost alum and make sure they land on our website to be included in the reunion activities. Examples of other sites to periodically check: Your high school and alumni association site, Facebook.com, AlumniArchive.net, ClassReport.org, Classmates.com.

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Tips for Calling Your Classmates: 1. Have the attending list in front of you while making calls. Name-drop attending classmates you think will be of interest to the person you are calling, i.e. “Beverly Smith will be coming, when I talked with her she asked if you were on the list yet, she said she’d love to see you.”

2. Try to get at least one person from each group or social circle to attend. From there that person may recruit others from their circle of influence to also participate (or you can then use their

name as a draw for others).

3. Have a few memories ready to share and remember to talk up the ‘Why’ of the reunion.

4. Spread the excitement of all the plans the committee has put together to make the reunion a ton of fun, i.e. showing the Senior Slide Show.

5. Make one (or more) of your committee meetings “Calling Fests”. Get your committee together around a dining table, bring out your cell phones and make the calls all together. These are often

the best committee meetings with lots of laughs, alumni updates and everyone getting excited about the reunion.

6. Make the “Calling Fest” a competition. Have everyone put $5 or $10 into a kitty. The person with the most reservations taken over the phone at the end of the night gets the kitty. A little friendly competition can make the calling so much more interesting and successful. We had a committee come up with this idea and they surpassed their attendance goals by over 50%! This works! (We will be glad to provide reservation forms to you).

7. Divide up the Calling List by those you know or have a connection with to make the calls personal. 8. Mention the alumni coming from out of state. Knowing someone is coming all the way from

Germany for the reunion can inspire someone else to participate.

Reunions With Class will email you a Calling List periodically starting two weeks after the invitation has been published. Anytime you want a fresh Calling List, just ask.

This extra touch will definitely increase your classmate attendance and it will be fun for you to get a glimpse into the lives of your classmates before the reunion. Your enthusiasm is contagious. Start spreading it around!

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More On Calling Your ClassmatesWe encourage the committee to divide up the Calling List and make personal phone calls to fellow classmates. After all, the more classmates attend, the more successful, fun, memorable and rewarding the reunion will be! (Not to mention getting your committee deposit returned.)

Most committees make at least three rounds of calls, one early, one before the price increases, and one 2-3 weeks prior to the reunion. Many classmates change their mind after initially saying they are not attending – once they find out some of their friends are going, they want to be a part of the fun.

More On Using FacebookHaving an active Facebook group is a key component to driving interest in the reunion. For the committee, this is a great way to engage with your classmates in advance of the reunion. Survey results show that an active Facebook group leads to higher reunion attendance. People have more reasons to attend the reunion if they have reconnected first on Facebook.

Make your group more effective:

1. Make Reunions With Class (Jane Baker) an administrator of your group. https://www.facebook.com/ReunionsWithClassInc

2. Invite every FB friend that is a classmate to join the group. Ask others to do the same.

3. Introduce RWC to your class and include a link to www.reunionswithclass.com, then ‘like’ us at https://www.facebook.com/ReunionsWithClass

4. Announce reunion details early and often.

5. Reach out to those ‘lost’ or unconfirmed classmates encouraging them to update/register with RWC.

6. Keep your content fresh and interesting throughout the process.

Note: Reunions With Class can create a Facebook group for you. Please let us know if you prefer this.

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Tips for Using Facebook: 1. Post often. Divide this up so each committee member contributes posts. Aim for at least a 1x/week posting and more often as you approach the reunion date.

2. Keep it positive. If the comments take a negative turn, work to give it a positive spin. i.e. if someone comments about their negative high school experience, consider responding with the following: understanding and sympathy, we’ve all hopefully changed, problem people were a small percentage of our class, opportunity for new beginnings, etc.

3. Encourage participation on the site. Post for feedback.

4. Make it easy for your classmates to get reunion information. Each time you post, include at least one link to our site for reservations, classmate catch-up, address update, music requests, hotel accommodations, etc.

5. Use visual images as much as possible; photos, graphics, videos, memes.

Remember, if Jane Baker/Reunions With Class is a member of your Facebook group, we will also beposting throughout the reunion planning process. Multiple postings about your reunion are a good thing!

30 Facebook Post Ideas1. Announce the Reunion is in the works. Include date and time AFTER it has been firmly established and the date is posted on our site. Include a link to RWC to Update Your Address.

2. Post for help on the lost list. Include a link to your class’ lost list on our site.

3. Registration is now open. Include a link to the Make a Reservation form.

4. Announce the invitation has been mailed. Include a link on our site to a pdf of the invitation.

5. List the first person to register to attend the reunion. Include a link to our Make a Reservation page.

6. Ask who was their favorite faculty member and why?

7. Encourage participation in the Memory Book. Include a link to the Classmate Catch-Up form on our site. The Memory Book is best if EVERYONE participates, regardless of reunion attendance.

8. Request favorite songs from high school days. Include a link to the Music Request page for your reunion.

9. Post the names of alumni as they register to attend the reunion. It is great to list those that are coming from out of town or those on the FB group attending. Consider a weekly shout out to those that registered to attend. Include a link to the Make a Reservation form or a link to the See Who’s Coming list (available closer to the reunion date).

10. Ask for feedback on who your classmates would like to see at the reunion. Encourage people to email those individuals via FB or our Classmate Connection feature (include the link to the Classmate Connection form).

11. Remind classmates that if price is an issue, there is a scholarship fund available to provide ticket assistance. Include a link to this page on our site.

12. Encourage classmates to donate to the scholarship fund. Include a link to the Make a Reservation form.

13. Throw Back Thursday is a great opportunity to post old photos. Don’t just limit yourselves to high school days either. Consider posting Elementary Class Photos, Girl Scout pics, sports, candids, summer fun, band concerts, school plays, Halloween, parties, etc.

14. Remind alumni that there is a FlexPay option. Spread your payment out over several months. Pay 50% now and 50% one month before the reunion. Include a link to the Make a Reservation form and/or the FlexPay link.

15. Post some photos of fashion items from your high school days. Ask how many people remember the trend?

16. Post photos from previous reunion(s). Include a link to your Reunion Page.

17. Put out a request for door prizes. Include a link to your Reunion Page.

18. Remind your classmates of the Early-Bird Payment deadline. Include a link to the Make a Reservation form.

19. Request posts for favorite high school memories. Give them some suggestions to include friends, pranks, football games, dances or classroom experiences.

20. Post the attending list found on our site (this list will be made public on your reunion page about 1 month prior to the reunion). Include a link to your Reunion Page.

21. Request memorabilia and/or photos for the reunion night. Let your classmates know some of the fun things happening at the reunion and how they can contribute. Include a link to your Reunion Page.

22. Name the teachers/faculty attending the reunion. Include a link to your Reunion Page.

23. Include some fun trivia/historical facts that relate to your high school experience. I.e. The fact that you can now get a double-tall latte in your school cafeteria, but the best lunch offered back in the day was a corn dog. Or, that a gallon of gas was $.36 back in 1972. Include a link to your Reunion Page.

24. Do a countdown for the reunion – Letterman style. Take a few days to list the top 10 reasons to attend your reunion (a sample list is available on our site in the Committee Resource Center, Ideas and Fun Things link.)

25. Closer to the reunion, remind your classmates about the last day for pre-registration (see your Timeline for the date). Include a link to your Reunion Page.

26. The week of the reunion, let your classmates know they can register at the door for the reunion. Include a link to the Make a Reservation form.

27. Post photos from a committee meeting. Include a link to your Reunion Page.

28. Post a fun/positive comment you’ve received during the planning process. Include a link to your Reunion Page.

29. Post a photo from the reunion during set up.

30. Post-Reunion posts: include photos from the event, favorite comments, people that attended, fun things that occurred. Remind your classmates they can still get the Class Photo and/or the Memory Book. Include a link to the Memento order or info pages of our site.

FB sample posts:

Sample Facebook Posts

1. “I don’t think we can afford it” – Suggest using the FlexPay option - pay 50% now and be charged the balance a month before the reunion. If they would like to make more installment payments, we are happy to accommodate - just have them contact our office. Suggest the classmate come solo. This immediately cuts the cost by 50%. Half of all classmates at the reunion will be there “alone” so there is no reason to feel awkward about coming without a spouse or guest. Also, the ticket assistance fund is available for those facing financial hardship. Call RWC for details.

2. “I think it costs too much” - Remind them that this is a once-every-decade event that will be a memory for years. Compare the cost to what they may spend taking the family to the movies, attending a concert, a nice dinner out – or other more mundane things like visiting the dentist or getting their hair done.

3. “I’ll feel awkward coming alone” - Many singles think they will be the only person unattached at the reunion. This is not the case; again, half of all alumni at your reunion will be there solo. This is definitely not a couples’ event. Many people choose this option for the freedom to spend their time visiting with fellow classmates rather than entertaining a spouse or guest.

4. “I’ll get to the next reunion” - Remind them there will never be another ___ year reunion again. It is a once-in-a-lifetime event. Why wait another 10 years? Who knows what the future holds?

5. “I already see everyone I want to see” - Let them know that there are classmates coming that want to see them. Their participation in the reunion will make someone else’s reunion experience memorable. Don’t miss out on making someone else’s day truly memorable. Plus, many classmates will be traveling long distances to attend this reunion. These are people you don’t get to see any other time.

6. “I didn’t know very many people, or I don’t remember anyone” - You can pretty much guarantee them that they will know more people than they think they do once they arrive. It’s likely someone else is hoping to see them! Also, we’ve had feedback from classmates that some of the best conversations at a reunion have been with someone they didn’t know that well in high school.

7. “Why should I reserve ahead of time?” - Reserving in advance will save them money! The price goes up 6 weeks prior to the reunion and again at the door, so pre-registration is definitely the way to go. Plus, getting them on the attending list now will encourage others to join in the party. The more early reservations you have, the more people will want to attend. Reunion attendance has a snowball effect. People will jump on-board once they see others doing the same.

8. “How do I sign up to come?” - Classmates can make their reservation online at our website, www.ReunionsWithClass.com (or take their reservation while you have them on the phone). Visa

and MasterCard are accepted.

Here are some common questions/comments you might receive and some tips on how to respond:

PO Box 40527Bellevue, WA 98015

425-644-1044800-954-1044

Fax 425-644-0691www.ReunionsWithClass.com