- Facebook Group: I started with a Facebook group to get a headcount for who would be interested.
- Committee: I formed a committee of people willing to do a little more work than the norm, as well as who could take on responsibilities.
- Date: I surveyed both groups for a date for the event. Asking the group for input is important for stage one of event marketing, which is the beginning: life online.
- Activities: The committee met to discuss what activities would be included in the evening, as well as a budget. We picked people to be in charge of things. Whether they were or not didn’t actually matter- I was depending on them for hype.
- Location: Next I picked out five locations that would be suitable for the budget and the activities. I calendared visits and did a Live stream for each location. This allowed the group to provide feedback.
- Tickets: I ran one ticket promo a month, and limited the number of tickets available. Howdy hop was early bird tickets, we ran a promo to reward people for posting pictures, we ran a promo to raise money for a memorial fund in honor of our classmates who passed, we ran a promo for people to share their stories, and we ran a promo for real reunions. Each promo ticket price went up, and each time, the people who bought tickets marketed the event for us.
- Meetups: Each time we met up in person leading up to the event, we posted about it. We did a taco night, we bowled as a group, and we met at Denny’s.
- Stakeholders: Delegating small tasks to people is the key in large-scale events. The more people involved, the more responsible they feel, the more inclined they are to be invested in the success of the event. Our stakeholders were our classmates, younger classmates, our parents, and our teachers. All stakeholders participated in a promo at some point.
- Photo & Video: I recommend hiring a photographer and videographer for the event.
- Gratitude Posts: After the event, lots of people will post expressing their gratitude for the planners, the hosts, to each other. This is called social proof and it was used to build momentum for the next event.
Our reunion was a lot of fun. I worked with a committee of about 15 people who were kind, energetic, creative, and hard-working. Pretty awesome. I hope your reunion is a success and if you want help planning it, let us know!
