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Reunion Committee
The following classmates are part of the reunion committee. This is the class council as well as others interested in helping. If you would like to work with this group, please email everyone at wildelake98@gmail.com. Thanks!
Andrea Nylund
Beth Wade
Bethany Hitzelberger
Charles Anthony Mitchell
Chris Barkley
Diana Hufford
Emily Isler
Emily Tan Brophy
Julie Goodwin
Katie Troutman
Kelly Broderick
Kristyn Peck Williams
Kurt Mueller
Matt Klingler
Matt Shapiro
Natalia Policelli
Nina Weiss
Sarvin Ghavam-Rastin
Reunion Committee Meeting December 29, 2007
Attendance:
Kurt Mueller
Sarvin Ghavam-Rastin
Julie Goodwin*
Kristyn Peck Williams*
Bethany Hitzelberger*
Nina Weiss
Chris Barkley
Beth Wade*
*denotes local sub-committee designated to make quicker decisions.
Dates:
Homecoming 9.27.08 *our first choice
Thanksgiving Weekend Saturday
Labor Day Weekend Saturday
Kristyn is designing an online survey to help narrow down some choices.
Ideal Cost:
$35-$50
Reunion Planning Company:
Beth is meeting with A+ Reunions in the next to weeks to determine their services and if we should go with them. We are leaning against it since we have so many interested in helping and we already have found contact information for so many.
Locations:
Greene Turtle Columbia
That's Amore Columbia
Other bars\restaurants in the Columbia area (we named a bunch)
Hotels (less ideal space)
Bethany is heading this up (with lots of help from Kristyn, Julie and Beth)
Food and Drink:
Heavy Hors d'oeuvres rather than sit down dinner
Open bar for at least 2 hours of the night
DJ or Band:
The group seemed to really favor a DJ over a band due to cost and range of music options.
Bethany is researching a friend who could DJ for a discount.
Time:
8-12 ideally (unless the venue ends at 11pm)
Publications:
We would like a reunion directory with pictures, bios, contact information (if provided).
Nina is heading this up
Invitations and announcements:
Primary communication to be done by email\evite to limit cost.
1 mailing of a post card. (designed by our graphic designer, Bethany)
Announcements to be printed in the Columbia Flyer and Baltimore Sun (cost permitting)
Money:
Bank account will be opened with signing authority given to Beth, Kristyn, Bethany and Julie.
Using Paypal and Evite, classmates can buy tickets with credit cards.
Any profit from the event will be donated to a charity to be determined.
Finding everyone:
About 95 classmate's active emails have been found via the Google doc.
We added teachers we would like to invite to the Google doc.
We discovered there were students not in the yearbook, so they aren't listed on the Google doc. Bethany is adding names from the t-shirt and we are looking for a graduation program to add more names. (If you have a graduation program, please contact me)
Website:
Beth is organizing the website and providing links on social networking sites such as Friendster, Myspace, and Facebook.
The website will be used to have one place to point people for announcements, could help with the reunion directory since it allows for a 'profile'
Reunion Committee To Do (next 2 months):
1. Stalk Classmates
Kurt will be divvying up names from the Google spreadsheet of classmates we have yet to find. Reunion Committee members will be responsible for tracking these people down as best they can (Google, social networking sites, parent's last known addresses\phone numbers). We want to have all contacts found by March 1st.
2. Raise Money
One of the primary reasons to go with a company for planning is that we do not need to pay the upfront costs as a committee. If we do it on our own, we will need a significant amount of people to buy their tickets early so we can put down the deposit on the venue. We expect to need money by March 1st.
3. Find Venue
Reunion Sub-Committee Meeting January 21, 2008
Attendance:
Beth Wade
Bethany Hitzelberger
Julie Goodwin
Kristyn Peck Williams
Laura Cannon
A+ Reunions:
Beth spoke with the rep at A+, who informed her of 2 possible packages:
1. $35/person: full service, including registration, mailings, button name tags, and address research
2. $24/person: online registration\money handling, 1 mailing and address research.
The general consensus was that while we could benefit from the registration management, we do not need the address research and this would put our ticket price outside of our target.
Bank Account:
Laura spoke with her husband who works for Bank of America. It will be relatively simple to set up a business bank account. The account should be non-interest-bearing and all fees can be waived. Beth and Kristyn will be our signers on the account. Bethany will go to a Bank of America to check on what paperwork is needed to open the account. If one of us needs to apply online for a tax ID number, Julie will do so.
Survey results:
Kristyn reported the survey results. 86 people responded, all notifying that they would attend the reunion. The top 3 choices for dates were as follows (in order):
1. Saturday after Thanksgiving
2. Friday after Thanksgiving
3. Homecoming (9/27/08)
We will plan for the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving. Kristyn will send out a new survey to the full reunion committee re: location of the event (see below under Venues).
DJ:
Kristyn has a contact with a DJ who would charge $400 (not including tip) for the night. Laura's contact would charge $500 (including tip). We decided to go with Laura's DJ because he comes with an excellent recommendation (website is marylanddj.com).
Venues:
There were 2 principal categories:
1. large, sterile, expensive atmospheres ( i.e. Gathering Place, Ten Oaks Ballroom or the Great Room)
2. smaller, cozy restaurant/bar
The first category would provide (varying per location): an open bar for about $31/person, full food stations (carving stations, appetizers, etc.), and require a $1,000-$1,700 rental fee (with $500 deposit).
As for the second category, we narrowed the choices down to 2 restaurants:
1. Kiss Cafe in Baltimore (Canton):
a. $40/person
b. open bar 8 pm - 12 am (incl. wine, beer, liquor)
c. cash bar after 12 am
d. heavy appetizers
e. only available to rent out on Friday after Thanksgiving
f. no rental fee
g. deposit of $500 due to secure date; remainder of money due 48 hours prior to event
h. free garage parking on weekends
2. Coho Grill in Columbia (Hobbit's Glen):
a. $20/person for food
b. $100 rental fee ($50 deposit)
c. consumption or "reservation" bar:
i. consumption: let attendees order what they want; we pay at end (we can restrict to
certain amount of $, when it runs out, go to cash bar)
ii. reservation method: we order a certain amount of beer, wine, etc. to have available,
when it runs out, go to cash bar ($22/1.5 L bottle of wine, $195/keg beer)
d. heavy appetizers
e. fits 150 people
f. available either day after Thanksgiving
As stated above, Kristyn will send a survey to the full reunion committee to vote on one of the 2 above choices.
Plan moving forward:
1. Kristyn to send out survey
2. Subcommittee will look into opening bank account and filing for TIN
3. Laura will speak with DJ
4. Full committee will continue researching missing classmates
5. Depending on the results of the survey, our next meeting will be on an evening or weekend at either Kiss Cafe or Coho Grill
6. After nailing down a location and date, we will send out a new survey to the full class to determine whether we need to block off hotel rooms, and if so, how many.
7. Once we have location and date, we will begin advertising in Columbia Flyer.
Coho Grill Meeting Minutes
Attendance: Laura Cannon, Julie Goodwin, Kristyn Peck Williams, Beth Wade
Date\Venue:
Karen from Coho met with us and we booked Nov. 29th 7pm-10pm (Saturday after Thanksgiving).
The money will be due the day of the party and we will have all costs calculated before the event, so there will be no surprise costs.
Ticket Price:
The ticket price includes: site rental, a variety of appetizers, beer and wine open bar for approximately 2 hours, DJ, yearbook photo buttons and a printed contact book.
The ticket price will be $40 paid by check in advance, ~$43 (depending on what pay pal charges) for credit cards online, and $50 at the door. We decided on no discounts for couples, since the price is now lower for everyone.
Contact List:
We reviewed the list of students we still do not have contact information for and each took the ones we thought we could find. The goal is to track down 80% by the end of March.
To Do:
1. We encourage the reunion committee to take a good look at the list and try to find anyone you think you can (even if they haven't been assigned to you)
2. Nina is tracking down the last contact list from the PTSA president.
3. Beth and Kristyn will open the bank account with Bank of America on Saturday. Beth will handle pay pal (credit card) transactions, Kristyn will get the mailed checks and deposit them.
4. Bethany is designing an "E-Ticket", which will be distributed when someone buys a ticket. We will also have a list at the door if someone does no have their ticket.
5. We need people to volunteer for shifts of 30 minutes at the check-in table. (Well probably have 1 constant person to do the money such as a parent or something)
6. We need a volunteer to scan in the yearbook photos for the website and email them to Beth Wade
7. We need a volunteer to make the yearbook photo nametag buttons.
Meeting Minutes 6/11/2008
Location: Panera Bread
Members Present: Bethany Hitzelberger, Julie Goodwin, Kristyn Williams, Beth Wade
Status
Beth and Kristyn set up the no-fee account with Bank of America. Bethany put together a mock up for the ticket and the invitation to the event.
Advertising
Advertising will be done in as many free places as we can find and as soon as possible.
- Kristyn will be contacting Patuxent Publishing for ads in Columbia Flier, HC Times.
- Kristyn will also look into ads in the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post although we believe we'd have to pay for this.
- Bethany is looking into notices in the Village Center newsletters for Dorsey Hall, Wilde Lake, Harper's Choice, and Hawthorne.
- Bethany will also look into getting word out at the Interfaith Center in Wilde Lake with St. John's Catholic Church. Either in their printed bulletin or a bulletin board.
Invitations/Tickets
-Invitations will be sent around the end of August via an email to the entire class and will include information about the function, ticket prices and where to purchase tickets. (Snail mail is too expensive, and there would be no new people reached by a mailing as we have already collected emails.)
- Tickets will be emailed once someone has purchased a ticket.
How you can help! (tasks listed in order of importance)
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TASK
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Volunteers Needed?
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Name of Volunteer
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1. Greeter. (Stands at the entrance table for short shifts to sign people in and sell tickets.)
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As many as possible! The more who volunteer, the shorter the shift!
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Diana, Emily
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2. Decorator. (Minimal needed, but a sign, balloons, and maybe even a balloon arch would be nice).
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1-2
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3. Slideshow creator. (from pictures emailed by classmates).
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1
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4. A/V person (to locate equipment for slideshow, to set up and break down slide show).
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1-2
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5. Icebreaker maker. (to create “Reunion Bingo” game. Boxes will have things like, "Lived in another country" "Joined the Armed Services" "Completed Post-graduate school. There will be a "mystery prize" for the first person to fill in all the boxes with signatures.
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1
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6. Name tag creator. (to create”button” name tags with the person’s senior picture).
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1-3 (to scan yearbook pics of students attending, to create and print name tags with pictures, to use/borrow a button making machine and create the buttons).
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Beth - Scanned Pictures
Need Button maker
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7. Memory book maker. (to create a book with classmates yearbook photo, current photo, and email).
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1+ (only if it’s possible to make for $2 book or less).
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