Alumni, themselves, spend hours planning for Reunion Weekend 1998

By Darryl Geddes

By the time alumni arrive on campus this week for Cornell's annual Reunion, hundreds of alumni volunteers will have spent thousands of hours planning every facet of the four-day gala (today through Sunday) -- from what the class schedule of events will be to what souvenirs to offer classmates.

"A major difference between reunion at Cornell and those at other schools is that our Reunion is really an event planned and coordinated by the alumni," said Margaret Gallo '81, director of reunion and alumni programs. "The alumni make every arrangement for their class events as well as coordinate mailings, lead successful class reunion campaigns and recruit their classmates to return to campus."

Planning for Reunion 1998 actually began in January 1996 when alumni volunteers from each of the reunion classes met in New York with Gallo and her staff for a two-day session of what Gallo calls "reunion training."

"This is the beginning of the planning stage," she said. "This is where we offer alumni input on thinking about mailings and begin the budget process."

Gallo meets with alumni volunteer planners twice more -- the last time, in January before reunion -- to discuss implementation of class events.

"I think this is what makes the Cornell Reunion such a special time for many alumni, because reunion activities for a given class all have been planned and coordinated by their classmates," Gallo said.

Some classes have reunion planning committees of two dozen members, others leave the planning up to their reunion chairs. But no matter who's making the decisions, the questions and concerns are all the same: How can we attract the most classmates? Can the caterer set up a hot oven in Barton Hall? Is there a large enough tent in town to rent for our event? Can the Cornell president speak to our class at this time?

"It is a huge undertaking for these reunion chairs and committees," Gallo said, "but each year, when all is said and done, the volunteers feel that their time and energy is wisely invested."

One element that has made marketing the reunion a bit easier, Gallo said, is the World Wide Web and electronic mail. Most of the reunion classes have their own web pages and alumni can receive updates on the events simply by surfing the web. Class pages are located at http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/orgs/Classes.html.

But the Reunion Weekend needs more than alumni to make it click. "We get support, cooperation and even volunteers from departments all across campus that help make the weekend a successful event," Gallo said. "This is not just an alumni event by any means -- it's a university event, and it's gratifying to have everyone's help."