Suggestions for activites
From HAA Best Practices Wiki
Suggestions for Class Activities[1][edit]
Kinds of events[edit]
A number of different types of events were suggested:
- “Underground” tour;
- Harvard groups touring events (Glee Club, Pudding);
- Pot luck at a classmates home;
- Centered around book signings or other events related to classmates achievements
- Drinks after sports/music events on campus
- Raffle of books by classmates (free tickets for attendees)
- Mini reunion in Puerto Rico
- Piggy back on other events
- Harvard/Yale game
- Pudding
- Pops (with 25th class)
- Return to Harvard Day
- Arts First
- Sports events- hockey, basketball, etc
- Alumni spread (bagged lunch, near Dudley House) preceding the Afternoon Exercises
- Sources for information about events
Locations[edit]
- HAA Lounge/conference rooms
- Restaurants (private room, or public area)
- Harvard clubs
- Faculty club
- Theatre room at the Faculty club (cheaper than private room)
- Hilles penthouse
- Queens Head Pub
- Information about Harvard locations
Location difficulties[edit]
- Many locations require a room charge, including Harvard locations
- Many require advance deposits
- Harvard clubs not open to non-members
Communication[edit]
- Set up a committee that meets at the reunion and plans for events for the coming years;
- HAA Events
- Postcards
- Add Yo Yo Ma to your class
- Send out one attention-getting mailing to inspire classmates and get email addresses, for example, enclose a CD, book or umbrella
- System to call classmates
- Web-sites
- Wiki
Communication difficulties[edit]
- High cost of mailings
- Classes who do not use email widely
- Classes don’t have direct access of email lists, and HAA staff time restrictions at reunion times
- Most sites now have Web sites but, in general, they don't get much traffic except around reunion time.
Finance[edit]
- Plan Free events
- Get a class budget established at your reunion (’78 does this and allocates $ for start-up costs). This is also a good time to get a list of volunteers. Enthusiasm is high at that point.
- Informal lunches
- Find a classmate with deep pockets
- Establish a class bank account which can be used for up-front deposits. This fund can be generated by a sponsoring classmate, raffle, classmate art or books, silent auction, or surplus from events.
Finance Difficulties[edit]
- Private rooms at restaurants require a deposit or a credit card;
- Some events require upfront dollars;
- Setting up a class bank account- what tax id number? Legal costs.
- Gaining non-profit status for the bank account.
- Who has access? Class government issues.
Tools[edit]
- Access to email lists
- Info on how to send a questionnaire
- HAA lists sorted by geographical locations; also by occupation
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Generated at the Fall'08 Classes and Reunions Committee meeting.