Reunions are a great opportunity to catch up with old friends, expand your professional network and check out all the latest changes on campus.

The NMU Alumni Association encourages you to organize a reunion as a way of keeping in touch and rekindling the bonds forged during your time at NMU.

We have a number of tools to assist you in creating a fun and meaningful reunion event.

Planning a successful reunion

Organize a committee

In order to ease the workload that often comes with event coordination, consider organizing a small group to assist with the organization of your event. However, if your event is small, informal event, this may not be necessary.

Target Audience

Consider who you wish to invite to the reunion and whether or not partners, family or friends will be included. This will assist you in developing the overall concept of the reunion and will determine where you can host your event. It is often important to ensure the group invited have a common interest as this will dictate the nature/theme of your event. You may also wish to invite former faculty/staff members to your event.

Event Plan

  • When: Ensure you allow yourself an appropriate lead time to organize your event. If you are planning for a large reunion, it is acceptable to start planning your event a year in advance. By planning your event in advance you allow individuals time to plan ahead if attending from other states. This also allows time for the NMU Alumni Association to assist you with your reunion.
  • Location:  When selecting a date and time, it is important to consider public holidays and other events coinciding with your reunion, as well as whether your event should be on a weekday or weekend. Ensure the venue selected is affordable and suitable for your target market, often a conservative venue is the most appropriate choice as it allows you to spend money on other aspects that will enhance your event.

Tips for Success

Publicize your event through the NMU website, Northern Network, "What's New, NMU?" e-newsletter, Facebook, community publications or any news bulletins that will spread the message about your event and possibly make contact with alumni who you haven't been able to trace.

Timeline

  • 8-12 months
    • Contact the NMU Alumni Association and inform us you'd like to organize a reunion. Determine the format and who you wish to invite.
    • Establish a committee if necessary.
    • Develop your budget
    • Set a date and book your venue.
  • 6-8 months
    • Create a task list.
    • Book any speakers, musicians or photographer.
    • Contact the NMU Alumni Association to assist with promotion of the reunion
  • 2-4 months
    • Have invitations ready to send. Contact the NMU Alumni Association to prepare mailing list.
    • Send invitations in the mail.
    • Provide Alumni Association with any address updates of alumni
    • Records all acceptances/declines
  • 1-2 months
    • Reminder emails to all invitees who have not responded.
    • Confirm all bookings.
  • 1-2 weeks
    • Provide final numbers to venue for catering.
    • Check the venue has all requested items, including registration table, microphone, etc.
    • Assign tasks to all volunteers.
  • Event Day
    • Confirm you have completed all last-minute details
    • Final briefing for all volunteers.
  • Follow up
    • Contact the NMU Alumni Association to provide a brief update about the reunion(including photos).
    • Send any address or name updates.

Support from the NMU Alumni Association

The following services are available from the NMU Alumni Association team to assist you with organizing a reunion.

  • Invitations:
    • The NMU Alumni Association maintains a comprehensive database of all graduates from Northern Michigan University. Due to our privacy policy, we are unable to provide you with details of alumni, however, we are able to contact alumni on your behalf. Once you have determined the criteria for who will be invited to attend your reunion (fellow graduates, former members of teams or student groups, etc.) we will help you get in touch with people by sending out an email or mail invitations (costs may apply for postal invitations.)
  • Promotion:
    • We strongly encourage you to promote your reunion through the NMU Alumni website and e-newsletter distributed weekly to more than 15,000 alumni worldwide.
  • Tours of NMU:
    • The Campus Visit program provides guided tours of the NMU campus. We can connect your group with a tour guide to make a trip down memory lane possible. Group tours can be arranged on request.

How you can assist the NMU Alumni Association

  • Planning a reunion?
    • Contact the office and let us know you are planning to host a reunion and provide us with the details.
  • Update alumni details
    • The NMU Alumni Association maintains a database of all graduates of NMU. However, often people forget to inform us of new addresses. As a result, we are no longer able to keep them informed of events and developments at NMU.
    • Your assistance in obtaining these lost alumni is greatly appreciated.
  • Feedback
    • We appreciate hearing how your event went, so please send some photographs and a brief update so this can be included in NMU Alumni Association communications such as Horizons and our website.


You can reach the NMU Alumni Association toll free at 1-877-GRAD NMU or
906-227-2610.
Email us at
alumni@nmu.edu