High School Reunions - What to Expect?

[PeaceBaby]

My high school is turning 50 this year and is having a big reunion weekend to commemorate the milestone. I would be inclined to attend except that the decisions I see posted on the Facebook reunion page are confusing, the reunion website is ugly and stark on details and when I post questions on the FB page it takes literally weeks for anyone to reply.

I'm not on the organizing committee and I get that these folks are volunteers. I have no template to know what's usually done for these types of events though so am looking to see if I'm being reasonable given the situation. It's still 6 months to the date.

Here we go:

1.) Registration - I get that registration is requested, but is it generally compulsory? Is it usually free or paid? Ours is $25 to register for one alumni, and $35 to bring your spouse with you. To me that seems steep. Swag (t-shirts etc) is on top of this.

2.) Open House - it seems there are no open house times. Like, I am imagining if you showed up at the school, they would tell you to take a hike. There are no times listed whatsoever where the school is simply open for the public. You have to register. No registration, no attendance. At my husband's reunion, there was an afternoon where anyone could walk through the "Decade Rooms". We bought a pamphlet that was a guide for $10 or something, seemed like a better way to cash grab than expecting online payment. What about just people in the neighborhood or parents?

3.) What spurred this post was seeing today that there is a registration deadline too - just to show up. It's a WHOLE MONTH prior to the reunion weekend. Is that typical? To my way of thinking, a lot of people will only find out closer to the date. So they are just locked out?

4.) Dinner and dance - our reunion is having the obligatory dinner/dance and costs $150 for a couple, not including the registration fees for the weekend. Does that seem cheap or expensive to you? It's a buffet, not a sit-down dinner and is in an arena, not a high-end venue.

5.) And finally: How many of you have gone to a reunion and did many other people go? Did you enjoy going? What advice do you have for attending in general?

I'm inclined to set up a reunion website template for them and transfer the info they have there and at least make it look like the weekend might be a good time. But it's looking bad ...

 

[kyuuei]

I went to mine... I happened to be in town during it, so I couldn't skip it. Timing was too good.

I got a cool plastic cup? .. Really, I ran into a high school acquaintance for a short time.. I saw people that I forgot existed but knew me, and everyone seemed much more chatty and knowledgable about who was there than I was.. I realized that I wasn't really friends with anyone from my own class. I knew people a year after my class, in the 2006 one. Soo... there was no one to really reconnect with there for me. I guess I did have a small conversation with a guy I helped him cheat on his history exams for because he blew at history and was never going to pass it, and some girl that was strangely into him but at the same time they weren't together anymore.. but I remember not sticking around very long.

If you knew people in high school, I'd say it's worth it. If you were like me and just blew it off and got good grades but treated it like a shitty job, probably not going to be as fun to see people.