Planning a Family Reunion Is Not For the Week

Planning a Family Reunion Is Not For the “Week” … yep, that’s right and I do mean “week”! 

As we embark upon the new year in the coming months we will soon be gearing up for a busy season of family reunions.   Most family reunions are held between June and September, so you can see that’s 6 months away or less for some families.

If you’re the family reunion coordinator or working on a family reunion committee for the upcoming 2015 family reunion season, you should be well on your way with your reunion planning by now.  In addition, if you would like to plan a family reunion for 2016 or even 2017, now’s a good time to get started.   Here’s why… you can’t plan a successful family reunion in a “WEEK”

… AND…. another thing…you can’t be “WEAK”.

Communication
In order to be successful in your family reunion planning, you must allow sufficient time to communicate with your loved ones. One of the most difficult tasks of reunion planning is getting everyone to respond. Of course this cannot be accomplished in a week. It may take months or years. We all lead busy lives and many prioritize family tasks near the bottom of their “to-do-list”. Planning a family reunion is similar to planning a wedding or a destination wedding. You have to allow ample time to make reservations for hotels and catering. These require deadlines and money. You have to make sure that whatever hotel you choose will have the allotted rooms available for your family. After making reservations, it is time to collect deposits. You must decide how you are going to collect the money. Will it be mailed? Will you take on the responsibility of paying upfront and then collecting from your family? This is very important and for you the reunion organizer, it is crucial that you communicate to the family that the event is not free.

Paying for the Reunion
As the organizer for the reunion, collecting all of the dues and making it convenient for your family is the biggest challenge because you risk losing money if you cannot pay for the venues by their deadlines. You can lose deposits and the space that you reserved. This can cause all kinds of stress for you and the family. The best way to remedy this would be to have everyone pay for their own hotel up front. You will save money by getting a group rate but make it everyone’s responsibility to reserve and pay for their own hotel rooms. None of this can be accomplished in a week unless your family is a family of four. You must be strategic, firm and a leader to get the family to comply with your requests. You could also ask the family to pay dues in advance to cover such expenses. However,  you should allow at least a year if the costs are substantial. It is not easy for everyone to come up with large sums of money at the drop of a hat. You also have to consider the size of families varies so some will be paying more than others. The role of reunion organizer is not a position for someone who cannot take charge. You have to be ready to deal with complaints and those who might try to get a free ride.  Trust me, there is one, two, or three in every family so beware. Stay tough!

Setting Deadlines
The most important way to have everyone on the same page is to set deadlines. If they have not responded or paid by the deadlines, they won’t be able to participate. Don’t be weak. Stick to your guns. If you allow one person to get away with it, believe the word will spread through the family and this will cause stress for you and dissension among family. Get everyone on the same page and this will make things run a little smoother.

I hope you got value and inspiration from this post. Your feedback is welcome. Please leave it in the comments below.