1
ALUMNI RELATIONS
Reunion Planning
Manual
2024 Version
2014 Reunion for Massey University graduates of 1956 to 1960
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Table of Contents
Alumni reunion background ...................................................................................................... 3
Types of reunions ....................................................................................................................... 3
The role of a class organiser .................................................................................................................... 4
Finding lost classmates ........................................................................................................................... 4
Reunion meline ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Planning a reunion .................................................................................................................................. 6
How Alumni Relaons can assist reunion organisers .............................................................................. 8
Reunion class giing to Massey University ........................................................................................... 10
Health and safety .................................................................................................................................. 11
Expression of interest leer template .................................................................................................. 12
Reunion invitaon email template ........................................................................................................ 13
Pre-registraon/registraon online form ............................................................................................. 14
Massey University venues ..................................................................................................................... 15
Sample budget ...................................................................................................................................... 16
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Alumni reunion background
Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University Alumni reunion programme was launched in
2023 by the Alumni Relaons team. The programme assists alumni who wish to volunteer to
get their class or anity groups back together to celebrate a milestone anniversary. We aim
to encourage alumni to get together, return to campus and reminisce about their me at
Massey University.
Alumni Relaons is here to assist you in making your reunion experience as enjoyable as
possible and help you maintain regular contact with your class or group in the coming years.
Types of reunions
Class reunions
Class reunions are gatherings of alumni based on their graduaon year and cohort. (i.e.,
1975 Diploma of Agriculture, 2010 Bachelor of Veterinary Science etc.).
Classes celebrang milestone anniversaries – 10 years, 20 years, 25 years, 50 years – are the
focus of the reunion programme. We also encourage ongoing parcipaon from classes
outside these milestone anniversaries.
Anity reunions
Anity reunions are gatherings of alumni based on common interests, idenes and
experiences shared during their me at Massey, such as living in a Hostel/Hall, playing on a
sports team, membership in a club, etc. Unlike class-based reunions, anity reunions can
encompass people of all ages and graduang classes. They may include individuals from all
areas of the broader Massey University community, including alumni, lecturers, sta,
students, and friends.
For any enquiries regarding reunions, please get in touch with Alumni Relaons at
alumni@massey.ac.nz.
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The role of a class organiser
Class organisers play a vital role in making the reunion a success. Without the knowledge
and enthusiasm of the class organiser geng in touch with classmates, most reunions will
not happen. The organiser is the point of contact for the Alumni Relaons Oce, the contact
for classmates, and the decision-maker on when, where and how the reunion will run.
Forming a commiee will help share the load of organising your reunion and make it a more
enjoyable experience, as you can call on others for assistance. The commiee members can
share tasks, such as:
• Share class lists to help you nd lost classmates.
• Prepare the programme for your reunion and the budget.
• Consider health and safety issues and risks associated with reunion events and follow
guidance from Massey University on the correct procedures.
• Promote your reunion on the Alumni Relaons webpage.
• Email or print and post invitaons, ‘save the date’ and conrmaons.
• Assist with venue opons.
• Arrange tours of the campus or talks by past/present academic sta.
• Assist with the collaon and prinng of reunion booklets.
• Organise gis for aendees or guest speakers.
• Source photos from the Massey University Archives.
Finding lost classmates
If you are nding it challenging to locate classmates, you might like to explore the following:
• Enlist a couple of classmates to speak to friends and colleagues to try to locate
“missing” contact details for classmates.
• Explore social media. For example, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twier can be very
helpful in tracking people down.
• Industry associates with members who may be able to assist in contacng members
on your behalf. For example, the Vet Council of New Zealand (vetcouncil.org.nz), the
Nursing Council of New Zealand (nursingcouncil.org.nz) etc.
• Library and industry publicaons are other courses of informaon.
Massey adheres to the Privacy Act 2020. Under the Act, the university is legally required to
ensure that the contact informaon for alumni is not shared with outside pares. Reunion
organisers will only receive the names of classmates and will not receive any contact
informaon. The university can forward informaon to alumni on behalf of class reunion
organisers. Alumni can opt out of receiving messages at any me.
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Reunion meline
Inial planning phase (6-12 months prior)
• Form a reunion commiee.
• Obtain your graduang class list from the Alumni Relaons Oce and search for lost
classmates.
o You will receive a list of names. Alumni Relaons can send messages on your
behalf but cannot share the address/email/phone details.
• Send the Expression of Interest leer (p.12) to your classmates and collect responses
on their preferred reunion date and type of event they would like to have.
• Encourage classmates to help you track down contact details for lost classmates.
o Send updated lists to Alumni Relaons.
o NOTE: Please highlight changes/addions to lists that you send back to
Alumni Relaons.
• Start invesgang possible reunion venues and packages.
o Begin a dra inerary/schedule.
o Book venue – check if it can be cancelled if the reunion doesn’t proceed.
o Create a budget (sample budget on p.16).
o Idenfy potenal health and safety issues (p.11).
• Prepare a dra programme of reunion acvies and calculate the cost per person.
• Idenfy potenal guest speakers.
Three months before the reunion
• Finalise your reunion date and email your classmates the Reunion Invitaon (p.13).
• Collect RSVPs and payments and pay a deposit for your venue if necessary.
• Ask classmates for a brief biography to include in the reunion booklet (if applicable)
and any photos or memorabilia to share with the class.
• Finalise RSVPs and other reunion details.
Two weeks before the reunion
• Finalise numbers with caterers, including any special meal requirements.
• Check all health and safety requirements are in place.
• Send reminders to registrants 7-10 days before the reunion.
Aer the reunion
• Ensure all payments are made.
• Seek feedback from aendees, parcularly if another reunion will likely occur.
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Planning a reunion
What?
Consider your classmates and their interests when planning what your reunion might
involve. Also, consider what would be aordable for your classmates. Remember that there
will be travel and accommodaon costs on top of reunion fees. Some funcon opons
include:
• Dinner and recepon.
• Tour followed by a cocktail recepon.
• Lunch.
• High Tea.
• BBQ at the park with families.
• Wine or coee appreciaon.
• Speaker and cocktail Recepon.
• Lunch followed by an event (e.g. sports match).
When?
Give your classmates a couple of date opons in your inial correspondence to nd the
preferred date that suits them most. Decide a date to give those outside the region or
country enough noce to travel. Be careful not to schedule events around school or public
holidays. Pick a me to maximise your aendance and avoid weekdays if most of your
classmates are sll working.
Who?
Will guests and partners be invited to join in the celebraon? Will children be invited? Can
you tailor your reunion to include partners and children, for example, a family BBQ? Will you
organise an alternave programme for partners or families or will everyone do the same
acvies? Organising a separate partner programme will double the logiscs you must
manage, so it is best included if you have a large organising commiee that can help.
Cost
Prepare a budget that includes all costs and adds some money for unexpected expenses.
Consider having a cash bar rather than beverage packages to manage costs and to allow for
classmates who do not drink.
Please note the Alumni Relaons Oce can only take online payments on your behalf and
pay Massey venues/service providers directly. The Alumni Oce cannot pay external service
providers.
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RSVPs, minimum spends, and cancellaons
If there is a minimum spending requirement for your chosen venue, it is essenal to monitor
RSVPs. If the Alumni Relaons Oce collects RSVPs on your behalf, we will regularly provide
you with an updated RSVP list.
Also, consider cancellaon costs if the event does not proceed (e.g. the reunion is cancelled
due to COVID, but you must sll pay for the venue if you cancel too close to the reunion
date). Consider the inclusion of a refund clause on your reunion informaon that claries if
you will provide a full or paral refund if the event must be cancelled. See the example
below.
If the reunion must be cancelled due to unexpected circumstances, e.g. COVID, the
organisers will refund the reunion fee less any xed costs.
Reunion Tips
• Form a commiee well in advance to create a more comprehensive network and
share the workload.
• Make sure aendees pay upfront. Only accept RSVPs with payment.
• Keep your reunion event as simple as possible. Don’t include too many event
opons; if you have not organised an event before, keep it to one day.
• Keep in regular contact with classmates to create momentum.
o Include a class photo or old story to generate interest in your messages.
• Involve the commiee in locaon, costs, and ming decisions.
o Remember to consider issues such as venue accessibility, catering for food
intolerances, and school holiday/public holiday ming.
• Use the Alumni Relaons Oce templates to assist you.
• Use catering or other services provided by those with licenses/accreditaons and
health and safety/risk management plans, e.g. use licensed venues if you are serving
alcohol rather than organising your own.
If you need assistance or advice at any stage of your reunion planning process, please get in
touch with the Alumni Relaons Oce at alumni@massey.ac.nz.
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How Alumni Relaons can assist reunion organisers
Share class lists with you and help you contact classmates
We can provide you with a list of classmates, and once you have idened your dates, we
can assist you in creang the invitaon and send this out via email to all those on the list
with contact details.
NOTE: We cannot send informaon to anyone who is not on our alumni database or who has
not agreed to receive communicaons. We also cannot share contact informaon.
Promote your reunion on our webpage
We have a webpage on Massey University’s alumni website and social media plaorms
where your reunion will be listed for anyone who visits the site.
Prepare email invitaons
We can help you dra and send out reunion invitaons/registraon forms by email. Refer to
pages 12-14 for examples of leers and an online registraon form.
Assist with venue opons
We can assist with sourcing quotes and booking venues on the Massey University campuses.
Please remember that venues can be booked months in advance, so it is advisable to book
early. If a venue outside the university is preferred, you must book and pay for this. Refer to
page 15 for Massey University venue informaon.
Arrange tours of the campus or talks by Heads of School/academics
We can arrange campus tours and seek approval for tours of campus facilies or talks by
Heads of School or academic sta. We can also make room bookings on campus if you would
like to hold a lecture or talk. You will be advised if a fee applies for the room or speaker.
Collect monies on behalf of the organiser for Massey University service providers
Alumni Relaons can collect monies on your behalf from classmates and pay the Massey
venue/service provider. Please note payments cannot be made directly to the organiser as
we require an ocial invoice. Please note that we cannot provide deposits for venues that
do not oer a cancellaon oer, and we cannot organise contracts (e.g., to pay guest
speakers or for entertainment).
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Assist with the collaon and prinng of reunion booklets
We can assist with collang reunion booklets, which generally include class biographies
(supplied by your classmates), photos from your me at Massey and any other memorabilia
associated with your class. A dra booklet will be provided to the reunion organiser for
proong, and the Alumni Relaons Oce can then forward it to Massey Printery for design
and prinng services. Alumni Relaons can provide a quote via Printery.
Source photos and memorabilia
Massey has an extensive archives collecon; we can source photos and memorabilia. We
encourage you to share memorabilia with the Massey University Archives for future
reunions and students.
Name tags
We can print name tags for alumni aending the reunion.
Assist at the event.
The Alumni Relaons team may be able to assist at the event depending on the reunion
ming and the other obligaons the team is managing.
Diploma of Agriculture 1963-64 reunion held at Massey University in 2023
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Reunion class giing to Massey University
Your reunion is a wonderful me to reconnect with old friends and reect upon and
celebrate where life has taken you since graduaon. It is also an excellent opportunity to
impact Massey's future meaningfully.
By choosing to include a Reunion Class Gi as part of your reunion acvies, you and your
classmates can choose to help advance vital programmes and research or provide new
opportunies for students to follow in your footsteps.
As a class, you may give collecvely to a pre-exisng programme, such as a scholarship that
exists within your School. Alternavely, you might prefer to dene your Class Gi Project and
seek to support something that parcularly resonates with you and your Class – perhaps
helping to develop a parcular teaching space or creang your class scholarship for
students.
We would be delighted to work with you to develop a collecve gi honouring your class.
For more informaon on Reunion Class Giing, please get in touch with Massey University
Foundaon/Te Kete Aroha at hps://foundaon.massey.ac.nz.
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Health and safety
Under New Zealand health and safety legislaon, event organisers have a duty of care to
ensure the health and safety of everyone parcipang in the event, including persons legally
entled to be in or close to the vicinity of the event site. The event organiser is responsible
for providing and maintaining an event-specic health and safety plan.
Developing an appropriate health and safety plan for the event is essenal. It shows that
the event organiser understands the hazards and risks associated with the work and
situaons that may be encountered throughout the event.
The event’s hazard and risk assessment/health and safety plan must be specic to the event.
It must consider parcipants and spectators, the public, event sta, acvity provider
employees, contractors, subcontractors, and volunteers at the event. For more support and
guidance on compleng a hazard and risk assessment, contact the Campus Health and
Safety Advisor (HandS@massey.ac.nz ).
If you book a venue at Massey University, for example Wharerata, the venue will have a
health and safety plan in place to cover any events that take place. However, when you
leave the event for acvies you organise yourself you will need to prepare your own plan.
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Expression of interest leer template
1 March 2023
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: 1974 DIPLOMA AGRICULTURE REUNION
Dear/Tēnā koe Sarah
2024 will be 50 years since our graduaon from Massey University with a Diploma of Agriculture.
With the assistance of the Massey University Alumni Relaons Oce, I have volunteered to be the
primary contact for a reunion of our 1974 graduang class. At this point, I am seeking to gauge your
interest in aending a reunion in 2024 with a date and venue to be conrmed based on the response
from our classmates.
If you would like to aend a reunion of our class, please let me know which of the following dates
best suits you and I will try to accommodate your preference:
• 25 September 2024
• 15 November 2024
I would like to hear your ideas on the type of funcon and acvies you would like to include in our
reunion programme.
To make our reunion as successful as possible, let me know if you have contact details from
classmates who may like to aend.
Please get in touch with me to provide your feedback and advise if any details need to be updated. I
am also collecng photos and memories you might have and would be willing to share.
Please send responses to me by 1 April at:
Email: tombrown@gmail.com
Telephone: 027 242424
I hope to see you at the reunion.
Kind regards/Ngā mihi
Tom Brown
1974 Diploma Agriculture
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Reunion invitaon email template
1 June 2023
INVITATION: 1974 DIPLOMA AGRICULTURE REUNION
Dear/Tēnā koe Sarah
On behalf of our 1974 graduang class, I am pleased to warmly invite you and your partner to aend
the 50-Year Diploma of Agriculture Reunion in September.
Please click on the registraon link below to conrm your aendance and follow the prompts for
online payment. Registraons close on 30 August 2023 (at 11.59 pm NZST), but we would appreciate
your RSVP as early as possible.
Date: 25 September 2023
Time: 10 am-10 pm
Where: Wharerata, Massey University campus, Palmerston North
Dress: Smart casual (and bring gumboots for a farm tour)
Cost: $150
Inclusions and other informaon:
• Tour of Massey farms, including transport
• Guest lectures by industry experts and the Head of School
• Two-course dinner (set menu)
• A complimentary glass of wine, beer, or juice provided with dinner – cash bar available
• Dietary requirements can be catered for – please advise when registering online.
• Copy of Cha magazine – 80 years of the student magazine
To register for the event, please click here.
As part of the reunion, I am preparing a booklet with biographies of classmates and our
achievements since graduaon. Please email me a brief biography (max. 150 words) by 16 August
2023, including your career summary, family highlights, special honours or awards, or
projects/interests.
I hope to see you at the reunion.
Kind regards/Ngā mihi
Tom Brown
1974 Diploma Agriculture
Email: tombrown@gmail.com
Telephone: 027 242424
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Pre-registraon/registraon online form
Alumni Relaons can prepare an online form in addion to a leer of invitaon to capture
registraon names and numbers like the example below. We add a link to this form within
your leer and email your leer to alumni so they can complete their registraon online.
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Massey University venues
Listed below are some Massey University venues and catering opons that are available to
be used for reunion groups.
Wharerata, Manawat campus
Ideal venue for: guest lectures, breakfasts, lunch, dinner and cocktail
Note: Minimum numbers apply for evening and weekend events.
Or
Refectory, Manawat campus
Ideal venue for: morning tea, dinner
Note: as catering for Refectory is via Wharerata, there are extra charges for delivery,
crockery/cutlery if using this space and minimum numbers apply for evening and weekend
events.
wharerata@massey.ac.nz, (06) 350 5088, hps://www.wharerata.co.nz
Auckland campus
Catering on campus is done by Compass Group, which can be delivered to any room. There
is no dedicated venue on campus for funcons, as any room can be used depending on the
group size and other space bookings.
hps://compass-group.co.nz
Tussock Café, Wellington campus
Catering is by Tussock Café, which can be delivered to any room on campus. Students and
sta use the café during the day. Any room on campus can be booked for events depending
on the group's size and other space bookings.
hps://masseyvenues.com/tussock/, info@masseyvenues.com
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Sample budget
When planning a budget, consider costs for diering numbers of parcipants. Some costs will be
xed regardless of how many parcipants aend, and others will vary. Check on venue or catering
charges that may change if an event is held in an evening or on a weekend*. Also, check on
cancellaon dates and fees. If you do not receive the expected number of parcipants and must
cancel, you may incur cancellaon fees from your venue or other suppliers and need to be able to
cover these costs. If you oer oponal acvies, you must note these costs. These can be
challenging to budget for, as unl you receive registraons, you don’t know how many people will
want each acvity. It is easier to have one programme that everyone aends.
ITEMS
SAMPLE COSTS
NOTES
20
parcipants
40
parcipants
60
parcipants
VENUE HIRE -
DAY
$500
$500
$500
VENUE HIRE –
DINNER
$500
$500
$500
Some venues charge extra for
venue use in the evenings.
MORNING TEA
$200
$400
$600
LUNCH
$800
$800
$1,200
*Minimum payment is 40 for
weekend events – some venues
require a minimum number of
parcipants and, therefore, a
minimum meal charge.
DINNER
$1,600
$1,600
$2,400
The minimum payment is for 40 for
dinner, even if you only have 20.
GUEST SPEAKER
GIFT
$50
$50
$50
GUEST SPEAKER
PAYMENT
$1,000
$1,000
$1,000
Check on charges for speakers.
This can cost thousands of dollars.
REUNION GUIDE
PRINTING AND
DESIGN
$600
$650
$700
There would be a xed cost for the
design but variable costs for
prinng.
BUS TO OFFSITE
VISITS
$700
$700
$700
FLOWERS FOR
TABLE
DECORATION
$200
$200
$200
AV EQUIPMENT
FOR VENUE HIRE
$80
$80
$80
EXTERNAL MC
PAYMENT FOR
DINNER
$250
$250
$250
TOTAL
FEE PER
PARTICIPANT
$6,480
$324 per
parcipant
$6,730
$168.25 per
parcipant
$8,180
$136.33 per
parcipant