Adults Only or Family Event?

[B McG]

Would you like the reunion to be Adults Only? Or A Family Event Only? Or doesnt matter?

[karamorgan]

I like the idea of both. Why not put out a simple meet up at Busse Woods or something? Picnic style. Literally come with your own food, play music and hang out with kids etc.

[timcaravia]

Both. A picnic sounds great.

[B McG]

I think we will end up doing something like that.

I could see a nominal fee for a ticket, something like $7 per person.
And a heavy turnout.

With that, we'd get the lot at Busse, a jumpy with insurance for the kids, signage, and spend anything we have left over improving the experience for all.

I'd be willing to donate bringing and setting up a gas grill.

Someone mentioned getting a couple food trucks to come by could be good.

I could see moving this to Arlington for Family Day though.
It provides a higher quality experience for everyone and has everything built in. And is only like $10 per person also.

I'm getting the feeling my Adults Only evening could be pretty popular though.

Micro events.
Tickets / access purchased direct through the EventBrite

Pay for only what you can make / afford.

[rachelrose]

Arlington on Family Day is such a great idea!
Most people love Arlington, and they have plenty of fun options for everyone.

[jennycamp]

A stress free way to have toys/stuff for the kids is to have people bring what they can from home. A few balls, hula hoops, cars/trucks, scooters, bubbles, puppets, etc can go a long way.

[Matthew C. Cavett]

We could always start at the preserve, then have a night event after. Pic-a-nik till a bus arrives to take us to the boat? Grease the wheels a bit, if you know what I mean. Wink wink, nudge nudge. This would give those who have family obligations a chance to participate, and those who want more of a shindig scenario will be sated.

[amydd1]

If the entire reunion is family friendly I'm not sure I will make the trip. If there is some family friendly time and some adult only time that would be fun!!

[B McG]

There's going to be a mix of Adult and Family events. I'm a big fan of a weekend full of 'micro events.'

Everyone is then free to attend what they want. Pay for what they want. And see the people they want to see.
And there's alot less bitching.

Dont like that? Dont go to it.
Cant afford that? Go to a less expensive event.

Noone is left out.
Noone can say they didnt like the singular event, so they didnt attend.
And noone is forced to do something they simply dont want to do.
Noone is stuck feeling like they are over paying for an event they had no say in.

Boat will be on Saturday night if we do it. Not Sunday M@

[B McG]

My thoughts keep going to something along the lines of :

Friday night - Social Mixer. Light cover cost, light extras, cash bar. Venue - a bar, nightclub or somewhere awesome, who can accommodate large groups. This will be easy to find.
I truly do not want to do The Fox and Hound.
But something that size is kind of perfect for this.
We will of course coordinate with the venue to get whatever benefits we can for the group that is able to make this event.

Saturday Afternoon - Tour at SHS. Potentially a daytime meetup forming.

Saturday Evening - Dinner / Bar meetup. We will make reservations, or pick a venue that is able to accommodate us, but not sign a contract to secure a private room unless the turnout becomes such that we must or it makes sense to do a package.

By my understanding, most attendees do not prefer this reunion event type. So why make a huge deal out of it? It's just dinner.

None of the committee want the financial stress or worry about attendance that the 10 year reunion caused.
If we are getting the indication that this will be a very popular event via EventBrite interest, we can shift gears.
I would LOVE to brainstorm an idea that surpasses this and is even more sensible.

There's going to be an SHS football game happening this night. Just saying.

Adding another family friendly event type to this evening is definitely a possibility.

Saturday After Hours - Party Busses to and from Navy Pier. From all locations if necessary. Fully stocked with booze, music and fun.

Saturday Late Night - Midnight Odyssey Boat Cruise, a la Post Prom. Except with a cash bar and no formal wear.
I could see us switching this to a Party Bus ride to a late night spot in the City... like The Mid or something like it.
It would be less expensive, but alot less alluring in my opinion.

I would love to see attendees from both the Adults only and Family Friendly event show up to this.

Sunday Afternoon - Arlington Family Day or Busse Picnic. Cheap. No pressure.
I prefer Arlington for this scenario... just because tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for kids. And everything is all there already. No muss, no fuss. We don't have to bring much for this to be super enjoyable.
Ill look into reserving a private spot for our group. The track has an entire kid zone built in. Adults like to drink and gamble. There are restaurants, food stands, and bars everywhere. Ample space and parking for all. Plus, we're not completely dead in the water if it rains.

Could see an Adults Only gathering occurring during this time, as well.
The adults who do all 'adults only' events for the whole weekend are likely to be burnt or travelling by now.

I'm open to ideas or feedback.
Totally good if we alter some/any/all of that.

[B McG]

whirlyball truly could work for one of those events.

[Nicole Dugger Mantel]

My concern with doing a whole weekend of events is that some people (including myself and some others that I've talked with) are mostly interested in just attending one event, not a whole weekend. With that being said, the point of having a reunion is to see people and if some people are only going to attend certain events, it maybe kind of defeats the purpose of a reunion??? Just a thought.

[Tracy (Gleixner) Serafini]

It would probably be easiest to schedule the tour of SHS at the same time as the home football game so that there are administrators/staff available.

[B McG]

Apr 3, 2017 21:14:21 GMT Nicole Dugger Mantel said:

My concern with doing a whole weekend of events is that some people (including myself and some others that I've talked with) are mostly interested in just attending one event, not a whole weekend. With that being said, the point of having a reunion is to see people and if some people are only going to attend certain events, it maybe kind of defeats the purpose of a reunion??? Just a thought.

Which of those event types mentioned above would you prefer?

I've kind of been getting the opposite feedback...