Planning a Family Reunion: Enlisting Help

If your family reunion is going to have a rather large guest list, as many do, planning a family reunion is going to be too much work for one person to handle alone. Plan to enlist the help of your willing family members, and recruit those who are semi-willing. We'll even show you how to convert semi-willing into enthusiastic assistants.

Divide into committees
With you as the chairperson, divide responsibilities into categories and appoint one family member in charge of each. Choose carefully: different people's strengths can be an asset to the committee they are heading. For instance, Cousin Jon the accountant could be great as the Finance Committee chair and handle the money and expenses. So don't randomly assign him to the Entertainment Committee. Being the chairperson means you will have the responsibility of making sure each chairperson knows what to do and is getting the job done.

Here are some suggestions for committees and the roles of each chair:

• Finance: handles the money in (family contributions) and money out (expenses). There may or may not be a treasurer working with the Finance chair. It's smart to set up a separate checking account for the reunion and only allow these two people to sign off on checks or withdrawals.
• Food: making reservations, organizing potlucks, and just planning meals that will be part of the celebration. The Food chair will contact those who will help with food, and have that aspect organized.
• Activities: this involves planning games, entertainment, awards, family trivia, karaoke, family talent show, etc. This includes having necessary equipment and printing out anything necessary to the fun. Because this is a major part of the festivities, there can be people on the committee working under the Activity chair.
• Communication: the source of the guest list, invitations, RSVP results and any surveys that will be part of the planning. This also includes having nametags for all who attend, and party favors if applicable.
• Family History: this is a nice committee to have, especially if the person can organize a slide show or video production which includes pictures of the family, family trivia, family tree, research and getting people to bring in special family heirlooms to share.
• Photography/video: enlist the help of talented people with cameras to take pictures during the event, and document important moments on video if possible. If you don't have a specific person, disposable cameras given to select individuals can help ensure the event receives at least some documentation.
• Out of Town Guests: this committee chair makes sure everyone coming in town for the event has lodgings and a welcome gift bag in their room when they arrive, containing details of the events and suggestions of how to get to each. They may also negotiate group rates at nearby hotels, and prepare sightseeing suggestions for free time for these attendees.
• Setup/Cleanup: this chair should recruit a few committee helpers to help make sure each event is set up properly before it starts, and the cleanup is handled correctly.