This article is part two of our article on what to discuss during your first few family reunion planning meetings. Here is a link to part 1.
During the first family reunion planning meeting, each committee was assigned a team leader and was given some direction on what their responsibilities were.
They were required to create a timeline of tasks, decide on due dates, and recruit volunteers.
The Secong Family Reunion Planning Committee Meeting
The second planning committee meeting is arranged with three goals in mind.
1. Give everyone a chance to catch up on what has been accomplished,
2. Go over what still needs to be done,
3. and discuss any changes to the original plan
The meeting is designed to be a halfway point where everyone in the planning committee can get together and see where everyone else is. Do budgets need to be re-evaluated? Are individual committees in line to complete their tasks on time?
As was discussed previously, have the family reunion planning committee meetings in a cordial and friendly atmosphere. A restaurant usually makes for a good place. Your committee will appreciate the free meal and the environment will foster a family like atmosphere.
Here is a list of things to bring up during your second family reunion planning meeting
Discuss What Has Been Done
Give each committee a chance to bring everyone up to speed on what they have accomplished since the first meeting. If anyone has fallen behind their schedule, then reevaluate whether they need additional volunteers, or more direction. Having one committee not hitting their targets really slows everyone down so do what needs to be done to get them back on track. If that means a change in leadership, then go for it.
Discuss What Needs To Be Done
As each committee is going over what has been done, go over what is left to be done and determine if they are on track to complete their assigned tasks. Re-evaluate how realistic their goals are in terms of time and budget and if goals need to be re-established at lower or higher targets. For example, your car wash fundraising may have raised less money than expected so you now have to re-evaluate whether another fundraiser needs to be planned.
Budget
Go over everyone’s budget individually to see where everyone is with their allocated funds. If there are committee members who are frugal and have been able to come under budget, then it’s to allocate their excess funds to areas where the budget was under funded.
Attendance
Bring everyone up to speed on attendance numbers, and registration collections. Changes in attendance will affect several committees. For example, if the numbers for your family reunion are higher than expected, then the hotel selection committee will have to change the number of rooms that are blocked at the hotel. Also, the catering committee will have to call the banquet house to up their numbers as well.
Going over the attendance numbers will help give more direction on what needs to be done next as well. For example, if the attendance turns out to have less kids than you were expecting, then the Activities committee should change the mix of things that they were planning on doing at the family reunion.
Open The Floor To Everyone
Before you adjourn open the floor to others for suggestions or any ideas that they may have to make planning easier. Encourage people to share best practices and what worked and did not. Go over any money saving ideas that one committee used to stay within their budget so everyone can apply similar principles over the next few months.
Record The Minutes
Make sure to have someone record the meeting or at least take notes. Having a recoed of what was said by whom keeps things clear for everyone. Email the notes to everyone present at the meeting for their records. Another benefit of having these notes is that they come in handy for when you are planning the next family reunion.
Decide On A Date For The Next Family Reunion Planning Committee Meeting
The next meeting should be scheduled about a month before the actual family reunion. It’s designed to be just a final touch point so everyone can (hopefully) say that their tasks are completed and on budget. The time between the second and the third meeting of the family reunion planning committee should be used to complete everyone’s tasks.
What should you do next?
Since you’re planning a family reunion with a committee, read “Organizing Your Family Reunion With A Committee“.