The evening of the alumni meeting, regardless of where it takes place and whom it collects, requires serious preparation and tangible costs. As a rule, it is quite difficult for one person to master the organization of such a holiday and prepare for it.
Now they often use the services of agencies, but the result of the work of professionals does not always meet expectations and may differ from the version of the holiday that I wanted to arrange. Therefore, it is better to take up the matter on your own, preferably by a company of two, three or four people.
Where to begin?
You need to start preparing the evening of the alumni meeting by determining the number of participants. That is, you should decide who to collect - the entire issue, one class or group. Whether to invite the teaching staff and which of the teachers to call. All other points depend on the number of potential participants and guests of the event.
Next, you need to find all the people whom you plan to collect. Whether it is planned to spend an evening of a meeting of graduates at school or is there a student party in a restaurant - the search for participants is the most important, long and difficult stage of preparation.
After all possible coordinates have been found, people should be contacted or phoned, and not just send them invitations. This must be done, because someone will not go, and someone will want to come more than one. You need to call or chat with teachers. Participants should not be excluded in advance, guided by their own ideas. That is, if, for example, the evening of the meeting of graduates will be held in Moscow, and some of the potential participants live in Vladivostok, it should not be decided independently that the person will not come.
It is necessary to clarify the preferred time and dates for each of those who visit the evening, including teachers. You should also carefully ask about financial opportunities, that is, ask what amount a person is willing to allocate to organize an event.
After these initial stages, the organizers will have a complete list of guests and participants of the event, containing information about their free time and financial opportunities.
What's next?
At the next stage, the place, time and an approximate scenario of the evening of the alumni meeting should be determined. This is not difficult to do, based on the approximate budget and number of participants. At this stage, the budget will need to “peek” twice, as well as in the number of participants.
The first thing you should start thinking through a scenario with is choosing a place. If more than a hundred people are expected at the event, but the budget amount is small, you should rent a cafe or a small club with a minimum order on conditions “for visitors”. That is, agree with the owners of the institution that people will order drinks and food on their own. This rental method will significantly reduce the cost of paying for institutions.
Another option is to spend an evening of alumni meeting at a school or institute. But not always this way of organizing an event is more economical than renting an institution. For a full celebration, you will need to set up buffet tables, that is, buy alcohol, food or ready-made snacks. When purchasing products you will need a person who will cook. You will need tablecloths, dishes, and much more. You will also need to clean everything after the end of the holiday. In addition to expenses and hassle, holding an event in the school building has a number of significant drawbacks, such as a time and date limitation, the need to move and move furniture, because the atmosphere is not intended for celebration.
The best option for how you can spend an evening of a graduate meeting is a combination of attending a school or institute with a party in a restaurant. A solemn part can take place in the school assembly hall or student audience, and transfer the fun to a restaurant or cafe. With this choice, you must first find out the dates and hours at which the institution will be able to host the event, combine this with the time frame preferred by most participants and, in fact, choose a date.
Do not immediately coordinate the selected number and time with the administration, but agree only in advance. This is necessary in order to find a suitable cafe for the selected time next to the educational institution, within walking distance. It is very inconvenient if the institute or school is at a great distance from the restaurant. In this situation, some will not go to the ceremonial part, while others will not go to the fun.
However, in the nearby cafeteria, the selected date or hours may be occupied, but another number is free, which is also convenient. Therefore, it is necessary to agree with the educational institution in advance and only after the restaurant is finally selected.
Now you can start developing the scenario, again using the guest list and data on their financial capabilities. This is necessary in order to determine the number of contests with prizes, the evening menu, which will be pre-ordered and other similar moments. The scenario of the evening of the alumni meeting, which will be attended by only ten people, even in the “+1” version, will be very different from the program of the event for twenty classmates and will turn out to be completely different from gathering hundreds of people.
However, they all have the same structure:
- official part;
- going to a restaurant or just a break before the start of the buffet;
- main time;
- official completion;
- "Cheating."
At the stage of choosing a scenario, in accordance with the budget and the number of guests, you should not go into the details of filling each item, but distribute the funds. It is easiest to do this, starting from the fact that the costs for which can be calculated with maximum accuracy, for example, from the solemn part. “Dogging” should not be included in the budget at all, but if there is free money left, then it’s quite possible for everyone to present a farewell cocktail party. The most obscure in terms of budget is always the main part of the evening, the one that goes according to the script and involves various contests, lotteries and prizes. Therefore, it should be left last and when choosing what to fill it with, proceed from how much money is left.
As a result, we get a fairly detailed financial estimate. It needs to be clearly painted so that when participants ask what they are raising money for, not try to tell the contents of the evening, but simply send a list of dry numbers in the messenger or by mail. This will save their own nerves, and the suspicious classmates will be discouraged by the desire to bargain with the collector.
After the funds are collected, you should begin to implement the plan. With a large number of guests, usually many different elements and attributes of the holiday are required. You should not do everything according to the “how it goes” principle, time and purchases or orders need to be planned, it is much more convenient and with a clear schedule nothing will be forgotten.
How to hold a solemn part?
The content of the solemn part depends on how many teachers will be on it, and who exactly plans to attend. For example, the rector of the institute or the head of the department, the school director at the evening of the meeting of graduates always deliver a speech opening the event. This is a tradition to follow. If there are no "high ranks", and there is only a class teacher or several subject teachers, then the right to open the evening and spend the whole solemn part goes to its organizer. It doesn’t matter which of the teachers comes to the event, to everyone who attended the evening of the graduate meeting, teachers are given flowers and commemorative letters of thanks.
The solemn part should not be delayed, but it should not be made too short. The optimal time is 30-40 minutes. The content may be as follows:
- opening speech or speech of the director;
- presentation of commemorative diplomas or certificates, but only with a small number of participants, if the people are more than twenty people, then certificates are issued after the solemn part at the exit from the hall;
- the words of teachers, and after the teachers have finished, they should give flowers and a beautifully designed “thank-you note”, this also applies to the director or representative of the administration;
- completion and invitation to proceed to the restaurant (you need to remind the address and say that it is in the invitation).
If one of the graduates has a desire to say something, then this is done after the speeches of the teachers and before the final part of the speech of the organizer of the holiday.
If there is an opportunity to rehearse the solemn part, then this should be done. There may always be some nuances that distinguish reality from the script written on paper. Duration of speeches, a malfunctioning microphone or lack of a stand under it and other trifles that cannot be taken into account during planning. They will become apparent at the rehearsal and can be corrected or eliminated.
You can complete the solemn part, not limited to speech. A good option would be to play a song. For the evening of the alumni meeting, in the absence of an anthem at the educational institution, you can prepare any song that is relevant in topic and not too long. Its text and explanation should be sent to each of the participants along with the invitation. However, if you wish, you can duplicate it by issuing a printout with words at the entrance to the hall. If you plan to use badges, then they are also given to everyone before the solemn part at the entrance.
What will be required for the solemn part?
There are obligatory attributes of the official stage of the event, which do not depend on the number of participants or on the size of the budget. These include:
- flowers to all educators;
- commemorative diplomas or "graduate certificates";
- letters of appreciation to teachers.
This is the foundation that cannot be dispensed with. You can order diplomas and certificates at any of the advertising agencies or directly at printing houses. However, direct ordering from printers, although cheaper, will require independent preparation of the layout. This is not just a drawing made in any program; there are a number of requirements for such models. In the absence of an understanding of exactly how the layout for printing is done, you should not do this, because the result will require rework and not through the fault of printing presses. That is, you have to pay twice.
In addition to the required attributes, expenses may require such event elements as:
- badges with name, class or other information;
- decoration of the assembly hall, foyer and other places that graduates will attend in the educational institution;
- listing the lyrics, if required.
In the event that it is cold, slippery on the street, and the restaurant is located far from the place where the evening of the alumni meeting began (February or March, for example, are not suitable for long walks), you can rent a transport. Bus rental should be warned in invitations, because when people find out about the availability of vehicles “from door to door”, people may abandon their intention to use their own car.
Transition to the restaurant: is it possible to fill it with something
Whether or not to fill out the time of transition from an educational institution to a place of celebration is an individual question. It depends on many nuances, such as:
- duration and congestion of the ceremonial part;
- weather and season;
- the availability of transport or walking;
- the time it takes to get to the restaurant;
- number of participants.
You can use clowns, life-size puppets, mimes with balls and other similar accompaniments in good weather and in the summer. This sets up guests for the festive evening. However, if the path is too short, for example, you just need to go to the opposite side of the street, then you do not need to fill it with anything.
When traveling on a bus that lasts at least 20 minutes, you can use a clown or any other artist who tells jokes “in the subject” or, even better, speaking in the stand-up genre. The same genre is optimal for the main part of the event.
However, if less than ten people gather, then such entertainment on the way is completely useless.
How to spend the bulk of the evening?
The structure of how graduation evening is held in the institution, a year later they gather or ten years after graduation, is the same. But the number of participants in the event affects the structure of the celebration. If more than 10-15 people are going, a leader will be required. If the participants are 5-7, then the services of the toastmaster are not needed.
All contests, lotteries or other entertainments must necessarily correspond to the theme of the evening, as well as table speeches. This is easy to achieve, you just need to use a few thematic elements in the script.
The structure of the event may be as follows:
- the organizer needs to make a short banquet speech, in other words, “open” the holiday again;
- the following toasts should be addressed to specific people and report on what they have achieved over the past time, of course, the graduates themselves can speak impromptu;
- Competitions are held between raising glasses, performances by artists or evening participants are held;
- Before completion, you should arrange a lottery with humorous prizes, for example, with a certificate of the right to hold and arrange the next meeting.
The last toast says the organizer. It is necessary to thank the visitors, to express confidence in the imminent meeting and explain that the restaurant is at the full disposal of all those who want to continue to have fun, indicating the time, of course. That is, the official part should be completed at least 2 hours before the lease expiration.
What to say in “targeted” toasts?
Congratulations on the evening of the alumni meeting are not much different from toasts on other holidays. That is, this is a short speech containing pleasant words about someone, telling about the achievements of this person and urging him to drink.
You can talk about anything, but, of course, you should prepare. Everyone has achievements. For example, if an excellent student and activist became a housewife, then one should recall family values and emphasize that the house is the most important thing that a person has. If a classmate works as a locksmith in a factory, you need to talk about the value of simple professions, without which all the conveniences of modern life are unthinkable. That is, targeted toasts should increase a person’s self-esteem and delight him.
After such speeches, you need to present a diploma “For Achievements”. But this should be done only if the toasts are ready for each of the guests. If a party is attended by a hundred people, diplomas do not need to be prepared. But the toasts themselves should be pronounced. They need to be thought out for about half of the participants. After each pair of such speeches, guests should be encouraged to make the same speeches regarding their classmates.
Thus, the eternal question of what to drink for is completely removed, and each of the guests feels necessary, and not superfluous, at the holiday.
What to include in the program?
The most optimal version of the program of such events is the participants themselves. But most people, as a rule, refuse the offer to speak, so the organizers should veil it with contests or lotteries.
That is, as prizes for winning a competition, the winner must, for example, read poetry. For the evening of the alumni meeting, conducted according to a program organized on this principle, texts printed in advance should be prepared. Not all people memorize any poems.
You can do without contests at all, and play performances in the form of a lottery or forfeits. You can arrange an auction. That is, the participant gets the opportunity to sell their right to speak to someone, and the money for this lot will be the beginning of the budget for the next evening of the alumni meeting, the date of which, of course, should be announced, for example, next year.
How to make a speech?
This question often baffles even the most pedantic and talented organizers. In fact, everything is simple. Words for the evening of the meeting of graduates should not be pathos, sincere and kind. It's enough.
Speech should not be delayed.The opening of the solemn part is quite within 5-7 minutes, of course, if the director or some of the “important” teachers do not speak. They should not be limited in time - it is impolite. The final part of the speech lasts 4-5 minutes, it can be started with the words: “The evening of the alumni meeting begins”, “Now we are going to the restaurant and will have fun” and other information, for example, about buses or the address of the institution.
The first toast is completely symbolic and should sound simple: “Guys! So we saw each other! Let’s celebrate it! ” Address toasts consist of several sentences and take 2-4 minutes.
Difficulties with banquet speeches can be avoided by hiring a presenter or by maximally involving the remaining participants.
What should not be forgotten?
When planning an evening, you need to remember about three nuances, such as:
- organization of photo or video shooting;
- search for a leader;
- sending out invitations.
Be sure to hire a photographer and / or videographer. This is a very important component of the meeting. Moreover, you should order services for the whole evening - from the official official part to "stoop". The results of his work then need to be sent electronically to all guests of the event.
You need to hire a host for the evenings, where more than 10 people gather. After all, the organizer himself is also a graduate and he should have fun, and not follow the program and the mood of the guests.
The invitation should be issued, including all the necessary information: the time and place of collection, the name and address of the restaurant, the availability of a bus if it is planned to be rented, the lyrics, of course, when this element is included in the script, and so on.
You do not need to print invitations, they are much easier to issue in electronic form and send out via instant messenger or email.