Alumni meet is a lifetime experience for both the alma mater and its alumni. Institutions can reconnect with their alumni for numerous reasons by hosting perfect occasions, events, and parties. Institutions can organize multiple types of alumni meet according to the occasion and situation to bring their former students back together. In this list, we will have a quick recap of the top five alumni meet ideas that every institute should have on their priority list.
Tell us in the end which idea you loved the most!
1. Virtual Alumni Meets
The traditional alumni meet usually had a pre-decided agenda. For example, IIT Delhi Alumni Association organized the ‘IIT Delhi Alumni Start-up Expo,’ where alumni had a chance to pitch their startup ideas, meet VCs, and get mentored by fellow IIT-D alumni. Similarly, CEGAANA organized an annual conference where accomplished alums joined the event to share their experiences in the corporate and entrepreneurial world. It serves as a great meet where other alumni can grow their network.
But the scenario is a bit changed today. After the worldwide pandemic shut down campuses for two years, colleges found a new medium to host alumni meets. Now, the concept of virtual alumni meet (hyperlink the landing page once created here) has become quite popular. Colleges and universities are hosting online reunions, virtual meet-ups, digital events, and much more to keep the connection between the community live. Everything from hosting a reunion to a fresher’s party, from farewells to homecoming events, institutions are organizing virtual alumni meets to make sure their community doesn’t break in the difficult times.
2. Chapter Meets
Alumni members of the community might be located across different cities globally. Thanks to the alumni portals that allow institutions to create various alumni chapters according to their geographical locations. For instance, Indian institutes mostly have state-wise alumni chapters. Therefore, it is difficult for the globally scattered alumni to attend the reunions organized on the institute’s campus.
To overcome this situation productively, colleges and universities are now planning chapter meets. The alumni coordinator of the respective chapter organizes the alumni meet in the said region. The idea of chapter meets work because it ensures whopping alumni participation. That’s because the alumni members located within the city will surely be a part of the event!
3. Jubilee Meets
Anniversaries are super important for everyone in their personal as well as professional life. For any institution, celebrating a silver jubilee or golden jubilee is a lifetime experience. Every year, new students become a part of the institute, and old students bid farewell. Silver jubilee is a great way to recall all those things institutes and alumni did to come so far successfully. The event can revolve around the progress made, values instilled, and growth achieved by altogether efforts of alumni and alma mater.
Golden Jubilee is one of the extraordinary alumni events where an institution celebrates its establishment with its oldest alumni. After all, 50 years is a long duration and deserves celebrating! The alumni with different thoughts, ideologies, and disciplines attend the event with one purpose – to cherish the growth of their alma mater in these 25 or 50 years. Golden Jubilee is an opportunity for alumni to learn about their succeeding alumni and current students.
4. Sports Events
Sports is something that interests almost all. Throwing a few sports events could make you stand out from other colleges that host a guest session or expert webinar during the alumni meet. You can follow the current trends of virtual alumni meet and conduct a virtual football match telecast.
Institutes like Penn State University, Colorado State University, and Cornell College are already winning the hearts of their alumni by organizing virtual tailgate events, football matches, and homecoming parties. To add an extra character to your institute’s sports event, you can ask alumni participants to bring their favorite beverages or booze to enjoy the event to its fullest.
5. Gala Dinner Events
A gala dinner is a perfect choice for alumni meet when the guest list is huge. Any alumni event of any institute in the world would have at least 100+ members for sure. And, organizing a gala dinner alumni meet could be one of the eye-catchy ways for the institute to boost alumni participation overnight.
A gala dinner is nothing but having a meal, either in buffet or sit-down style, paired with a few entertainment performances, maybe an award-giving ceremony in the end, and an overall theme. Not many but a few institutes target gala dinner events during their alumni meet to execute something out of the box and letting alumni have some fun while networking over dinner.
Conclusion
Institutions are now a lot careful in planning & performing alumni meet. Every time they come up with unique ideas, to make sure, it creates a buzz among alumni and fellow institutes, too. It’s guaranteed, any alumni office that implements any of these five stunning alumni meet ideas will receive participation from the alumni and appreciation from the management. So, what are you waiting for? Pick any one of these and start planning your next alumni meet right away!
May 25, 2022
