1. Location:

A reunion city should be selected that is easily accessible by major roads, preferably interstate highways. It is also important that a major airport is located nearby for those who may fly in for the reunion. While it is not necessary for an RV or Camper Park to be available, this would be an added asset for consideration for those who prefer to camp out. A military base located nearby is good but not mandatory.

2. Hotel:

(a) The reunion hotel should be selected based on room availability and reasonably priced room rates. The hotel should be willing to offer discounted room rates based on the number of rooms we will sell for the reunion. In addition, the hotel should have handicapped rooms for those who may need them with easy accessibility for those in wheelchairs.

(b) The hotel sales manager, or authorized official, should agree by contract to set aside a minimum of fifty (50) guest rooms which would be held for our group until at least 30 days prior to the actual start date of the reunion. Thereafter, any rooms not rented by our individual group members could be released without any obligation to the organization. This should be clearly spelled out in the contract before it is signed as the organization cannot be held legally responsible for rooms not rented.

(c) The hotel management should be willing to extend to our organization a number of complimentary guest rooms based on the number of guest rooms that are sold for our reunion. These complimentary rooms are assigned, first to Secretary/Treasurer and if more than one is granted they will be assigned as determined by the Board of Governors.

(d) The hotel should provide for us, without charge, a room large enough to accommodate no less than 100 persons comfortably. The room should be at least 56’ X 56’ or approximately 3100 sq. ft. This room should be available to us for the entire length of the reunion, usually beginning on Thursday and ending Sunday. This room should be a multi-purpose room that can be used for hospitality, business meetings and the Saturday evening Awards Banquet. Seating space in this room for the evening of the banquet should be such that it will easily accommodate 100 persons seated, preferably at round tables, with no more than 8 persons to each table. A head table, usually rectangular in shape, may be requested to accommodate no more than 6 persons. If, for some reason, the multi-purpose room is not available, then several rooms may be used but they must all be able to accommodate 100 persons.

(e) The hotel should extend to our members and guests the discounted rates for guest rooms at least 3 days prior to the start of our reunion and 3 days afterwards for those who may arrive early and wish to stay late.

(f) Reservations for guest rooms will be made and paid for by the individual attendees.

(g) Consideration should be given to locating back-up hotels in the area of the reunion hotel. This may be necessary for those members who are late in registering at the reunion hotel. The reunion hotel staff should be asked if they recommend another hotel in the area in the event of overflow. It would be helpful if the host hotel would work with us to get the overflow hotel to commit to a reduced room rate, without a contract.

(h) Consider whether the hotel has adequate and/or free parking.

(i) Our Organization name should be on the marquee outside the hotel (as part of the contract) from start to end, provided this action is permissable by the hotel.

(j) Question whether pets are allowed, and whether Service Dogs and Seeing Eye Dogs are permitted. We have several members who use Service Dogs so this is important.

(k) Ask if the hotel is totally non-smoking or if there are smoking rooms available, if so, how many?

3. Catering Service:

(a) The hotel catering service or restaurant manager should be able to provide our group with a selection of meal choices, reasonably priced, for the Saturday evening banquet. These choices should consist of at least one beef and one chicken selection. Other choices may be presented for consideration. No more than seventy-two (72) hours advance notice should be required for the number of meals ordered.

(b) The hotel should agree to setting up a master account for the organization. From this master account, the organization will pay for all meals by check or credit/debit card. If credit approval is required in advance, please have the hotel management contact the Secretary/Treasurer. All incidental charges will be the responsibility of each individual.

(c) We will normally require that each meal on Saturday evening be served individually so the hotel should be alerted of this to ensure they have an adequate number of servers on hand.

(d) The hotel manager or catering service manager should be questioned with regard to our group being permitted to bring in alcoholic beverages. It should be made clear that our group will be conducting a private party, open to only those who are members or guests of members and not open to the public. Any alcoholic beverages brought in by our group will be maintained in the hospitality area of the room made available to us. This room must have a means of being locked so as to protect our property at all times during the reunion. We will also bring in light refreshments, i.e., chips, pretzels, soft drinks, etc. It is customary on Friday evening to serve pizzas or some other heavy snacks, that are usually ordered from an outside supplier. We need to be sure this is permissible and covered in the contract. If it is not, it should be clearly stated and what will be allowed in this regard. If the hotel does not allow for the use of an outside caterer can the hotel caterer/restaurant management accommodate our needs? This needs to be clearly stated. We do not want to pay a corkage fee or a bartender.

(e) We will also need a wet bar setup for our use during the entire time of the reunion. We will require ice from the hotel restaurant and this should be discussed with management.

(f) The multi-purpose room we use for the reunion may require several changes in the way it is setup during the weekend. A contact person should be available to us for any changes that might be necessary.

(g) A public address system (PA) should be provided by the hotel for our meetings throughout the weekend without charge. Be sure this is clearly defined in the contract.

Reunion Dates:

Since we do not always know the dates of our next reunion, it is important to discuss with the hotel management room rates and meal prices on several different dates. Usually our reunions are held in June or July but there may be an occasion when it would be held in August, September or October. Ask for quotes using these dates as examples. At this point we are looking for a proposal and do not wish to make a firm commitment. The Board of Governors will need to review any proposals and make a final decision.

Contracts:

It is of utmost importance that we have a legally binding contract when committing to a specific hotel. This will ensure that we get the room rates quoted, the complimentary guest rooms and/or hospitality room and any other amenities promised to us.

These are but a few of the basic items that need to be covered when arranging for a reunion hotel. I’m sure there will be other questions that arise. If you need my input please feel free to call me anytime. I can be reached at home at (803) 506-3120. If you have any suggestions to improve in this outline, please let me know.

Thanks for your efforts.

Dave Nesbitt
Reunion Committee