Day 1, Tuesday, Jan. 10

7:00-8:00 AM

Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:00-9:45
Welcome and Introductions

Get ready to kick things off in high gear with spirited introductions of your esteemed faculty. There is no time like the present to get to know the faculty. You will break out into groups, each group paired with a faculty member. You will be given a hypothetical situation and have one half hour to devise a plan (we know you work in alumni relations; most of you will think 30 minutes of planning time is a luxury.) Each group will then present its situation and its plan.

10:00-10:50
Compare and Contrast Homecomings and Reunions

The faculty will put under the microscope the similarities of homecomings and reunions from planning to execution. What are the commonalities? Once we establish the same elements these two possess, we will then dissect them for the differences. What sets them apart from each other? This overview will get some of the formalities out of the way before Wednesday programming, where the morning sessions will focus on reunions and afternoon sessions will focus on homecomings.

10:50-11:45
Money Matters

It's a subject that needs to be addressed early in the process. Who is paying for this? During this session we'll analyze the budgeting process from grandiose events with deep pockets to small scale events where funding is practically nonexistent. Focus on other potential revenue streams such as sponsorships and in-kind gifts to support alumni endeavors. Of course, if you have great ideas for raising money to pay for events - please be prepared to share. Your audience will be all ears.

11:45 AM-1:30 PM
Lunch on your own

People are the key component for any successful homecoming and reunion. You can plan the biggest and best event with wonderful decorations, music, food and more, but without volunteers and participants, you have nothing. In this afternoon's sessions, we will discuss the people factor in terms of leadership for your events, planers and producers, volunteers on the ground to make things happen and those who can help achieve a great participation rate.

1:45-2:45
Volunteers: Rethinking and Reconstructing Your Volunteer Army

How can we use our human resources to the fullest? Take a look at the roles we need to establish and fill to make our events successful and explore how they are changing for the future. Brainstorm ideas for recruiting, training, nurturing and retaining our volunteers all while maintaining our need to manage and facilitate our events along with all the other daily duties in a busy alumni association. Plan to share some of your best recruitment and training ideas.

3:00-4:00
Benefit from Your Board

How can some of your most significant volunteers be your biggest assets when it comes to homecomings and reunions? What are some of the pitfalls associated with using major alumni players in these key annual events? Explore both the good and bad of an alumni board of directors and see where we can affect changes and plant seeds for the future that could give a boost to your homecoming and reunion celebrations. We will plan to answer some specific board challenges in different ways, so please bring some unique scenarios to share.

4:15-5:15
Partners: We're All in this Together!

Community and campus relationships can be some of your biggest assets when it comes to annual major events. How do you establish and sustain these relationships? What rewards are available to both entice new partnerships and strengthen old ones? Innovation and thinking outside the box are the keys to success, so please bring us some of your most original relationships to consider and discuss.

5:15-6:00
Hall of Fame/Hall of Shame

Share some of your best volunteer and alumni board related war stories.

6:00
Conference Adjourns for the Day
Dinner on your own

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Day 2, Wednesday, Jan. 11

8:00-8:45 AM
Continental Breakfast/Roundtables

8:45-9:45
Rethinking Reunions: A Piece of Cake! The Recipe

While everyone has their own version of a successful reunion, we'll explore key ingredients such as the planning schedule, program components, campus traditions, appropriate fundraising and sponsorships, and overall event timing. We'll revisit budget implications explored yesterday as well as volunteer recruitment and management as necessary.

10:00-11:00
Rethinking Reunions: A Piece of Cake! Mixing and Baking

How we incorporate all key ingredients with a careful eye on proper amounts of each will produce the optimal reunion experience for everyone. But what happens when alumni have varied preferences for the flavor of their reunion? Affinity and special interest reunions are attracting more participation for many institutions as alumni are expressing a preference for returning to campus to reminisce with those classmates who have a shared interest, campus experience or activity, ethnicity, gender, etc. Explore how supporting these group reconnections can only broaden the overall reunion experience and how they can easily be integrated into what could be a predetermined traditional reunion schedule.

11:15 AM-12:15 PM
Rethinking Reunions: A Piece of Cake! The Icing on the Cake

Just like the frosting on a cake, how we package and present a reunion ultimately determines the level of participation. Explore effective communication and marketing strategies to be deployed as well as how to successfully integrate varied social media tools. Innovative techniques such as pre-reunion regional events and other advance event activity will be introduced as we explore innovative promotion plans.

12:15-1:45

Lunch on your own

1:45-2:45
Homecomings Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Although they may have similarities, no two homecomings are alike. Explore a range of homecoming models from a traditional fall weekend celebration to an intense week-long array of festivities. Come prepared to share examples from your own institution.

3:00-4:00
Involving Campus Partners and Students in Your Homecoming

At many colleges and universities, homecoming is about bringing alumni back to campus. So how do you encourage current students and faculty to become involved? Explore ways to engage campus partners in making homecoming a university-wide celebration.

4:15-5:15
Rethinking Homecoming, Using Technology and Social Media

How do you effectively use technology and social media to maximize homecoming, which can be one of your university's largest marketing opportunities? Gather ideas and techniques for creating a virtual homecoming experience and for incorporating technology into your marketing strategy.

5:15-6:00

Hall of Fame/Shame

6:00
Conference Adjourns for the Day
Dinner on your own

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Day 3, Thursday, Jan. 12

Desperately seeking sanity: "Planning unanticipated events when your cup runneth over, and your saucer too!"

Your to-do list is a mile long and your schedule is already busting at the seams planning your regular lineup of events. The phone rings and it is a campus affiliated unit calling to seek your expertise in planning or assisting with an event. The icing on the proverbial cake is that you have a short window of time to do it. Great...fantastic...awesome! In today's sessions, our faculty will share with you how you can manage these interruptions with ease and add value to your individual programs and your university.

8:00-8:45 AM
Continental Breakfast/Milestone Roundtable

Participants are encouraged to share stories on how they have effectively facilitated milestone events.

8:45-9:45
Pop, Goes the Weasel!

This well-known nursery rhyme references a determined monkey chasing after the weasel, but never successful in actually catching it. This session will focus on how you can avoid the frenzy that comes along with chasing the "weasel" of an unplanned event and emerge successful, accomplished and asking for more.

10:00-11:00
Go Team, Go! Well, Kind of...

You're cheering for the home team, growing more and more excited as they inch up in the rankings and move closer to the championship game. While victory is certainly a cause for celebration, it does create more work for you. You are responsible for planning the grand occasion and you only have a few weeks to prepare. Join us as we walk through the components of organizing and maximizing athletic events that are not included on your original roster.

11:15 AM-12:15 PM
Special Event, Special Focus, Special Headache!

These are the events that are so specific in nature; you wonder how you'll ever meet the long list of demands. Maybe it is a group determined to recreate a campus experience of old that you are fairly certain would be illegal present day; or perhaps a unit on campus with details so lengthy and finite, you'll need to hire a small army to execute them. Our faculty will show you how to manage these expectations without emptying an aspirin bottle in the process.

12:15-1:30

Lunch on your own

1:30-3:00
Career Transitioning

Moving from university to university, from small to big to medium, from private to public, Brad Crews will share some of the lessons he has learned along the way (example: don't rearrange your office furniture without checking with facilities.) While Crews will offer insight moving from university to university, David Horton will offer guidance on switching positions within the same university. Other points to be addressed are increased responsibilities, title changes and compensation.

3:00
Conference Adjourns

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