Revised 4/2/02
One of the most significant services members of the Ships Company can perform for their shipmates is to coordinate a reunion. This is a time consuming and difficult task but the reward is great. This document is a description of the many things involved and some of the experience gained by previous reunion committees. You can tell from the length of this document that there is a lot to do and think about.
There can be as many as a dozen people, in two groups that are involved in the conducting and management of a reunion. It is difficult to maintain harmony, minimize misunderstanding, establish and maintain good communications, and efficiently work toward a successful reunion without some kind of agreed to document that provides direction, guidance, and assistance to all parties involved. It is disconcerting and unpleasant to be involved in hassles during the process of planning and organizing a reunion. Most of these problems are caused by inadequate communications and planning. Some have been.experienced during the coordination and planning the first two reunions. It is the objective of this document to avoid as many of these problems as possible.
This guideline has been developed based on the experience gained by the implementation of two reunions and has several purposes.
1 - To clarify the working relationships between the Magnificent Seven and the Reunion Committee.
2 - To provide an overview of the tasks, management, reporting and control work involved in coordinating a reunion
3 - To provide reunion committees and the Magnificent Seven with an overview of the tasks, and responsibilities before the fact rather than during the process or after the fact.
4 - To provide the reasons and vehicles that can be used to insure good communications occur. This document assumes a reunion proposal has been submitted or will be submitted sometime in the future. It also assumes the reader has reviewed the By Laws of our organization and the Reunion Proposal Criteria and Process description on the Mag7 page of our web site. The information in this document is intended to supplement the documents mentioned above and to help avoid confusion and misunderstandings between the work of the Magnificent Seven and the reunion committee. This document covers most of the important parts of the reunion process and tries to clarify many of the questions that arise during this process.
If there are any questions related to reunion coordination they should be addressed to your cruise representative for resolution.
1 - The working relationship of the Magnificent Seven and Reunion Committee.
Understanding the working relationship between the Magnificent Seven and the Reunion Committee contributes to a hassle free experience.
2 - The Reunion Proposal
Initial investigation and compilation of information as described in this section makes the process easier as the process unfolds.
3 - Requirements for reunion funding.
Obtaining funding assistance from the Ships Treasury removes a lot of anxiety from the process so it is important that this be handled properly for quick and easy approval.
4 - Businesslike planning, tracking, controlling and reporting.
This part of the process exercises all the management skills the Mag 7 and the Reunion Committee can apply. Our process is intended to help each other make the correct decisions for the right reasons.
5 - Financial accounting associated with the reunion.
The reunion puts at risk some of our shipmates money that is contained in the ships treasury. Conducting the reunion represents additional shipmate out of pocket money. It therefore behooves both the Mag 7 and the Reunion committee to follow good accounting practices to keep expenses as low as possible and well controlled.
The Ships Company has a current set of By Laws that establish the relationship between the Ships Company, the.Magnificent Seven and the Reunion Committee. These By Laws, when approved, by the Ships Company provide the guidance that is needed to prevent misunderstandings and conflicts between the working groups and are intended to be followed. Some of the By Law statements have been included to illustrate the key elements of this working relationship
1 - The Magnificent 7 shall have general supervision of the affairs of the LST 1159 USS Tom Green County Ships Company including the full responsibility of selecting the annual reunion location, the reunion committee, and supervising the reunion activities to completion.
2 - The Magnificent Seven cannot delegate its authority -- that is, it cannot empower the reunion committee to act independently in its name.
3 - The Magnificent Seven shall be subject to the orders of the Ships Company and none of its acts shall conflict with the actions taken by the Ships Company.
1 - The reunion committee is a committee appointed to carry out a specified task, at the completion of which--that is, on presentation of its final report to the assembly -- it automatically ceases to exist.
2 - The reunion committee may not establish their own rules except as authorized in the bylaws or instructions given to the committee by the Ship's Company.
3 - The reunion committee can only be empowered to act for the Ship's Company on specific instructions and to work under the supervision of the Magnificent Seven. The reunion committee always reports to the Magnificent Seven.
These By Laws establish and define the working hierarchy for our entire organization. The reunion committee is subordinate to the Magnificent Seven who in turn are subordinate to the Ships Company. The overall purpose of the Magnificent Seven and the Reunion Committee is to serve the Ships Company and the above mentioned By Law statements are intended to make this clear.
The Reunion Proposal evaluation process contains two steps.
1 - The Initial Proposal review Process
2 - Site selection
The initial proposal review also consists of several steps.
1 - The ships company yeoman will acknowledge receipt of
the reunion proposal and in the name of the Mag 7 will inform the submitter that an initial review is in progress.
2 - The Mag 7 can then review the proposal using a checklist to insure all of the requested proposal information has been addressed.
The information requested list consists of two dozen items, and to insure uniformity of the review, the individual Mag 7 members will use the same check list to verify all information requested has been submitted. A check list is used because it is virtually impossible to remember accurately all the items of task and financial information that are needed to start the process toward a successful reunion.
This same list of information requirements is intended to be used by the proposal submitter. If both the reunion proposal submitter and the Mag 7 are working from the same check list it avoids problems of misunderstanding, guess work, and confusion. The approach is one of cooperation in the best sense of the term.
Following the independent reviews of the Mag 7 members the findings can be shared on our yahoo facility and a decision made to accept the proposal as written or request information that was not contained in the original submission. In most cases the submitted proposal will be missing some of the information requested. Additional reviews can be conducted as additional information is submitted.
At some point in time the Mag 7 must make a decision to accept or reject the proposal and this decision should also be sent to the submitter by the Commanding Officer, in the name of the Mag 7.
In the event the proposal is accepted, a reminder that accepting the proposal for the next step, (site selection consideration), is not approval of the site for the next reunion. The site selection decision will not be made until all submitted proposals have been considered for selection and this will not occur until some time after the registration submission deadline of the current reunion has passed.
From this beginning it can be seen that the working relationship between the Mag 7 and the proposal submitter is working as intended and in a cooperative fashion because everyone is working against the same check list in order to serve the ships company in the best manner possible.
The cruise representatives have a responsibility to their shipmates to handle financial matters associated with the ship's treasury in a businesslike way. Conducting reunions are one of the major financial responsibilities of the Magnificent Seven and a portion of this responsibility will be delegated to the reunion coordinators.
The financial tracking and control of the delegated responsibility will be accomplished by a separate checking account being established by the reunion coordinator. This checking account will be used to record all revenues and expenses and will provide the information for the periodic submission of financial progress reports.
The highest priority items of a reunion are to meet with the shipmates that attend the reunion, to honor the shipmates that have died, and to conduct the business of the Ships Company. The Magnificent Seven have agreed to advance funds from the Ship's Treasury for deposit requirements related to a ballroom, a room for the business meeting, music, and mailing costs. These are considered to be the high priority items that are absolute musts to conduct a reunion. Many hotels require a lot of lead time for commitments so this work is probably the first that should be completed. Without a hotel that provides the required facilities there will be no reunion.
The Mag 7 did not feel the people working on a reunion should be required to personally provide this deposit money as long as the ships treasury was able to provide for this requirement. One of the limiting criteria the first Magnificent Seven thought would be prudent and advisable was to limit reunion loans to no more than half of the funds in the Ships Treasury. This position was taken in order to insure sufficient funds were available for the next reunion, in the event the current reunion did not meet their break even point, and were unable to repay their loan.
Any expense beyond the items mentioned above is a separate negotiation and should be reasonable, and submitted via E-mail for review. This includes all other items such as optional activities, donations, gifts, and contributions to the Ship's Treasury. These expenses are expected to be covered with individual fees identified on the registration form, or from higher than anticipated attendance.The reunion coordinator shall provide a document (E-mail or hard copy) that defines the expenses the loan is for (hotel, banquet room, business meeting room, music, and mailing costs) and the amount of money being requested for each of these items. It should be kept in mind that many of our shipmates are on a fixed income which suggests expenses should be kept as low as possible. Without this documentation a resolution for the loan cannot be formulated and voted on.
The two reunion committee responsibilities that govern this aspect of the work are:
1 - The Reunion Coordinator and helper team are delegated with the responsibility for managing, planning, implementing and controlling the approved plan. They are also responsible for receiving registration forms and
collecting fees.
2 - The Coordinator will track the progress of the tasks and finances related to his reunion and report his findings to the Magnificent Seven. In order to fulfill these two responsibilities the Magnificent Seven expect a documented plan and periodic E-mail reports as a minimum requirement from the committee that has been delegated a shared responsibility as big and complex as the annual reunion.
Once that responsibility has been delegated to the reunion committee chairman he should be granted the freedom to select the manner in which he documents the plan as long as it clearly defines ALL the items that must be accomplished to implement the reunion, and transmits that plan to the Magnificent Seven.
At first blush this may seem like an extreme measure. But when you consider the reunion coordination team will be faced with numerous questions to be answered, approximately fifty tasks to be assigned to team members, tracking and control of all tasks and finances, and a bunch of negotiations and phone calls with the people being depended on to make the reunion a success, it becomes clear that a plan is necessary to avoid overlooking important tasks. The old saying still holds true; Failing to plan is planning for failure.
If, when that plan is submitted for review and approval the Mag7 does not feel it adequately covers all items required, it is their duty to withhold approval of the plan until such time that they believe it is adequate. The complete absence of a documented plan is definitely inadequate.
The only formal way the Mag7 can be informed of progress is from periodic reports. Progress reports should be E-mailed and reviewed by the entire Mag7. That is what the Mag7 was hired to do.
The members of the Magnificent Seven were elected and empowered by the ships company as their representatives and all have an equal vote. An informal oral report to any single member of the Magnificent Seven does not cut it. The entire Mag7 must review the data and an E-mail sent to all provides the vehicle for accomplishing that. E-mail reports are the only sure vehicle for everyone reviewing the coordinators unedited words.
As an aside most civilian organizations and corporations make formal progress reports. Anyone that has been in a management position has endured this process and understands that it comes with being a manager, which is what the Magnificent Seven and the reunion coordinator have been hired to be.
A process that was used successfully to communicate progress to all concerned with the first reunion involved the development of a task listing that included the name of the task, the person responsible for that task, the target date for completion, and the status.
Based on the target dates a business plan was developed by simply arranging the tasks in chronological order using electronic cut and paste techniques. Once this business plan was completed and distributed, progress reporting became as simple as a one liner. All tasks and finances are on schedule as per the approved business plan.
The task listing below is presented as an example only. It is presented as an aid to reunion coordinators for the development of their own plan or to use it at is. This is the choice of the coordinator. It is also the kind of guideline and check list the Mag 7 will use in the evaluation of a plan that is submitted.
This listing is a more detailed view of the information contained in the Reunion Committee Guideline and is a suggested approach for use to plan, organize, implement, communicate, and manage the many tasks the committee members will be working on. Use of this task listing approach is not a requirement. It has proved useful for two reunions, but it is an optional approach.
This document generally incorporates the schedule requirements established by the Mag 7 and a logical sequence of tasks to be completed for the reunion. The dates suggested assume the reunion will be conducted during September but can be altered to accommodate another date.
In addition a suggested Business Plan has been developed following the same premises outlined above. Keep in mind that nothing is cast in concrete. Deviations from this schedule can always be negotiated with the Mag 7.
The generic dates included in the task analysis and business plan are:
The Reunion proposal.
Submission deadline for the Mag 7 - June of current year
Approval of site selection and proposal - September of current year
Business plan submissions
Initial announcement of reunion - September of current year
Note - Some shipmates that are still working will couple our reunion with their employers vacation plan. This often requires notification during January of the following year so a September announcement is desirable.
Mailing of registrations - May of the reunion year
Registration deadline - July of the reunion year
Reunion - September of the reunion year.
The Tasks have been divided into generally related major tasks and task sequences. This listing also assumes the general schedule outlined in the Reunion Guidelines developed by the Mag 7 during 2002 is being followed. The related tasks are as follows:
This task listing assumes the normal timing of submitting a proposal and gaining approval of the reunion during the current year and then working on the reunion for the remainder of the current year and through the first three quarters of the following year.
Start Up Tasks
In order to gain an understanding of the full scope of the project, the working relationship between the involved people, and the communications required the following two tasks should be completed prior to submitting a proposal.
Review the By Laws
Responsible - All members of the Reunion Committee
Target Dates - Prior to submission of the proposal
Status -
Review the Reunion Committee Guideline
Responsible - All members of the Reunion Committee
Target Dates - Prior to the submission of the proposal
Status -
The Reunion Proposal
Note - The By Laws document contains the instructions and criteria for the Reunion Proposal.
Task - Obtain commitments for assistance from shipmates.
Responsible - Coordinator
Target Dates - Prior to the submission of the proposal
Status -
Task - Complete the documentation of the reunion proposal.
Responsible - Coordinator
Target Dates - June 1 of current year
Status -
Task - Email the Proposal to Mag 7 cruise representative for review and acceptance.
Responsible - Coordinator
Target Dates - Prior to June 15 of current year.
Status -
Task - Acknowledge receipt of Mag 7 acceptance memo.
Note - Acceptance of the Proposal is not approval of the Reunion. These are two separate functions of the Mag 7.
Responsible - Coordinator
Target Dates - June 30 of current year
Status -
Task - Acknowledge receipt of the Mag 7 approval memo.
Note - This is the official start signal for all committee members to start work on tasks.
Responsible - Coordinator
Target Dates - July/August of current year
Status -
Reunion Preparation Tasks
Complete first draft of Task Analysis
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Task - Obtain commitments from assistants to complete tasks.
Responsible - Coordinator
Target Dates - When the Reunion Proposal is approved by the Mag 7
Status -
Task - Update task analysis with names and dates
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Task - Generate First draft of the Business Plan
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Hotel Planning Tasks
Note - The primary objectives of a reunion is to meet with shipmates, honor our departed shipmates and conduct the business of the ships company. In order to accomplish these objectives a hotel with the proper facilities is required. The Mag 7 has agreed to advance the money required for deposits related to a ballroom with a dance floor, sound system, microphone, meal availability, a business meeting room, a band or DJ, and mailing costs. The first tasks are therefore related to finding the appropriate hotel.
Task - Locate and select a hotel
Responsible -
Target Dates -
Status -
Task - Determine room costs, Reduced rate for 75 people? Obtain banquet room and business meeting room deposit requirements as well as dance floor, sound system, microphone costs.
Responsible -
Target Dates -
Status -
Task - Estimate as closely as possible the deposit requirements for hotel, band, mailing costs
Responsible -
Target Dates -
Status -
Task - Request loan from Mag 7 using itemized list above.
Responsible -
Target Dates -
Status -
Task - Establish Reunion Checking account
Responsible -
Target Dates -
Task - Establish reunion accounting system. Examples from the first two reunions are contained in our connections web site
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Task - Complete contract with selected hotel.
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Task - Mail Banquet room and Meeting room deposit to Hotel
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Banquet arrangements
Obtain commitment for Banquet Master of Ceremonies
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Develop the Banquet Agenda
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Obtain Commitments for Invocation and Memorial Service
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Obtain Commitment for Captain Comments -
Responsible -
Target Dates -
Status -
Task - Obtain Commitments for reunion photographers
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status - Will probably use shipmate photos that will be shared.
Task - Locate and select a band
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Task - Obtain deposit requirements for Band
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Complete Contract with the band.
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Task - Define Dinner Selections and price. A beef, chicken, and fish selection is ideal
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Submit headcounts for meal selections to hotel as per the hotel instructions for lead time.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Business meeting Arrangements
Task - Obtain Commitments for Color Guard
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Obtain commitment for leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Obtain commitment from Mag 7 to conduct the following Business Meeting reports.
Optional Activities Tasks
All optional activities are pay as you go activities and must be prepaid as part of the reunion registration process. None of the ships company loan is to be used for optional activities.
The idea is to make sure we receive enough money from the registrations to repay the ships company loan and to pay for all services related to the banquet and business meeting that have been contracted for.
If registration moneys exceed the break even point that money can be used to purchase gifts or to make a donation.
Task - Select potential optional activities for Friday and or Saturday
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Determine arrangements such as cost, headcount lead time, & deposit requirement lead time for Friday and/or Saturday optional tour.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Reunion Announcement
Note - Attendees of the previous reunion have been notified of the next reunion if the normal schedule has been followed. If the normal schedule has not been followed or shipmates that have not attended the previous reunion our shipmates that have Email addresses can quickly and easily be notified. All others should be notified by snail mail. This suggests there will be two mailings. The announcement mailing and the registration mailing.
Task - Final Update of Email and snail mail Address Lists
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Print mailing labels.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Email and Snail Mail announcement letter.
Responsible -
Target Date - five months before the runion
Status -
Task - Publish reunion announcement in various military publications.
Responsible -
Target Date - five months before the reunion
Status -
Task - Place reunion announcement on our web site
Responsible -
Target Date - five months before the reunion
Status -
Reunion Registration Tasks
Task - Develop Reunion registration form that includes:
Names of attendees, registration fee, meal selections, optional activities and their costs, hotel name and location, hotel cost, phone number to make reservations and anything else that is desired.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Develop Information Sheet
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Develop the reunion program.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Update Registration Fee as required.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Update Registration Application as required
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Update Reunion Program as required.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Update Address Lists as required.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Print mailing labels.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Mail registration forms and reunion information letter
Responsible -
Target Date - four months before the runion
Status -
Additional Reunion Preparation Tasks
Task - Update Web Site as required
Responsible - Ed
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Design and print Name Tags.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Program printing and Name Tag printing.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Update Information letter as required.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Identify welcome package gifts, cost, and ordering.procedures.
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Task - Process applications
Responsible -
Target Date - Two months before the reunion
Status -
Task - Determine if money is available for welcome package gifts
Responsible -
Target date - Two months before the reunion
Status -
Task - Order gifts if decided upon
Responsible -
Target date - Two months before the reunion
Status -
Welcome Package
Task - Insure info from hotel and chamber of commerce is available on time for welcome package assembly.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Gift available for distribution in or with Welcome Package
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Insure all Welcome Package contents will be delivered to the hotel in time for assembling the welcome package.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Assemble Welcome Package at reunion location
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Conducting the reunion
Task - Conduct Reunion
Responsible -
Target Date - September
Status -
Closing out the Reunion
Task - Pay all reunion location bills.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Deposit additional funds collected at reunion from raffle 50/50 drawing or other fund raising activities into reunion checking account.
Responsible -
Target Date -
Status -
Task - Repay loan from ships company.
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Task - Make donation to to ships company treasury or other worthy cause if funds are available and this action is decided upon.
Responsible -
Target date -
Status -
Task - Submit Final Reunion report to Mag 7
Responsible -
Target Date - October
Status -
The purpose of the business plan is to communicate to all concerned parties the progress that is being made toward the conducting of a reunion.
As illustrated, this approach represents an easy to maintain communication vehicle that clearly shows the status of the work in process in summary form.
A more detailed understanding can be obtained by comparing the Task Analysis to the Business Plan. Both the Task Analysis and the Business Plan follow the general sequence of events documented in the Guideline.
If everyone involved performs their assigned tasks as scheduled in the task analysis the only entries that will be required after the target dates have been established are, not started, on schedule, completed.
The first business plan can be submitted shortly after the proposal has been selected and approved by the Mag 7, electronically updated periodically and then resubmitted on the agred upon schedule.
This area of the report can be used to outline: Recovery plans for any critical tasks that are behind schedule.
Changes in the plan
Unanticipated problems
Anything else that the basic Business Plan does not adequately cover.