The Association plans and hosts these events for all alumni during Tech Reunions: Tech Night at the Pops (MIT's oldest reunion tradition), the annual Memorial Service, the Technology Day Program and Luncheon, the Reunion Row, and the Tech Challenge Games. In 2017, the Tech Reunions schedule was changed to reflect that more alumni were spending less time on reunion activities, and to make Tech Night at Pops more available to alumni younger than the 40th reunion. The new schedule is:

Thursday (50th and post-50th classes only):

• 50th reunion welcome dinner

• Cardinal and Gray Dinner Dance (for all post-50th classes)

Friday (all classes):

• Cardinal and Gray Breakfast, Academy, and Luncheon (for all post-50th classes)

• MIT Commencement (50th reunion class marches in procession; 25th reunion class invited to attend)

• Explore MIT Today, lectures and programs throughout campus

• Prelude to Pops Buffet Dinner

• Tech Night at Pops

• Pops Encore Party (open to all Pops concert attendees)

Saturday (all classes):

• Alumni Memorial Service

• Technology Day Program and Luncheon

• Tech Challenge Games (5th – 35th reunion classes)

• Class Speaker Programs

• Class Dinners

• Toast to Tech (open to all classes)

Sunday (all classes):

• Reunion Row

• Class Connections Brunch or individual Class Brunches

Reunion volunteers work directly with their Association Class Programs liaison on all aspects of reunion outreach to classmates and reunion planning.

Volunteer Recruitment and Stewardship:

• Work with the class president to identify and recruit reunion ambassadors, program chairs, and program committee members.

• Serve as advisers and resources to the reunion committee.

• Represents MIT to reunion volunteers.

Marketing and Volunteer Outreach:

The reunion staff works with committees to develop a participation strategy and provides support for communication and marketing efforts, including:

• In collaboration with reunion committee, produce reunion print and email marketing.

• Work with committee to develop a strategy to encourage attendance.

• Provides training on the use of the Association's Outreach Engagement Tool for reunion ambassadors.

Event Planning:

The Alumni Association Events Team handles logistics for all Association events, including class reunion events. Reunion volunteers work directly with the Class Programs staff and Class Programs staff work directly with the Association Events Team on all aspects of class reunion events. These include reserving MIT and other event venues, catering proposals, rental equipment, audio/visual, furniture rental, logistics, transportation, etc. Working with reunion committees, Association Class Programs staff will:

• Work with the reunion committee to identify class-unique activities or elements to the reunion, such as programs, speakers, souvenirs, decorations, etc.

• Suggest MIT-affiliated speakers and invite speakers on behalf of the class.

• Work with the reunion committee on a reunion budget.

• Serve as liaison with the Events Team.

• Review all logistics organized by the Events Team for approval by the reunion committee.

Services Provided by MIT Alumni Association:

• Planning general Tech Reunions events, including Tech Night at Pops, Technology Day, Reunion Row, Explore MIT Today programs, and the Tech Challenge Games.

• Reserving hotel blocks at area hotels and securing dormitory housing on campus.

• Providing parking for designated campus lots.

• Providing a shuttle that runs through the weekend and busing to many general reunion events.

• Managing all aspects of the registration process, including producing registration materials, processing alumni registrations and staffing the on campus registration area.

• Staffing class and general reunion events.

Expenses Assumed by the MIT Alumni Association:

• Printing, production, and postage for reunion mailings.

• Furniture for all on-campus reunion events.

• Set-up and cleaning expenses for events held on the MIT campus.

• Expenses for Association-sponsored events, exclusive of meals.

• General office expenses.

• Police details.

• Confirmation mailings and registration packets.

• Salaries for reunion staff, student staff and temporary help.

• Transportation for Association-sponsored events.

• Reunion committee conference calls and webinars.

For an MIT class reunion, it is important to put the spotlight on the class. Several classes have done this by scheduling programs of speakers from the class to discuss a variety of topics. These can take all forms, from traditional lecture programs, panel discussion, or TEDTalk-style programs; at MIT, the latter are often called TIMTalks.

Deciding on a Theme:

A reunion committee may want to choose a theme for a speaker program. Typical themes include how an MIT education influenced their professional lives, career paths, non-traditional careers. Some classes also choose themes around particular issues, such as K-12 education, student debt, or an aspect of science/technology, and seek out experts within the class. Often a class will decide not to have a theme at all and invite speakers of varied fields and experiences, to display the range and breadth of expertise in the class.

Selecting Speakers:

One strategy for identifying speakers it to request a copy of the class directory from your Alumni Association staff liaison and sort it by job title or company name.

Search beyond the “usual suspects,” including committee members. It is important to attract classmates who haven’t yet attended a reunion by including a speaker with a unique topic, or someone who hasn’t yet spoken, served on a committee or attended a reunion.

Timeline:

Speakers should be invited in the autumn before the reunion and confirmed by the end of January. This will allow the speakers and the subject matter of their talk to be used to market the reunion.

Audio/Visual:

Your Association staff liaison will work directly with the speakers to accommodate audio/visual needs, which will be billed to the class.

Supplementary Material and Programs:

Some classes choose to have a printed program to hand out at the start of the program, including the schedule of speakers, descriptions of the talks, and speaker biographies. These can be as simple or as elaborate as the class wishes.

Some MIT classes find it meaningful to acknowledge deceased classmates during their reunion. Before the 45th reunion this is most often confined to a moment of silence during a class function and a list of deceased classmates. On request, a chaplain from the MIT Religious Activities Center will participate in the planning and execution of the service.

Often the committee will want to reach out to surviving spouses of deceased classmates. The Emma Rogers Society, for surviving spouses of MIT alumni and faculty, can assist.

If your class decides to include a memorial service for their deceased classmates, they usually include the following elements:

Classmates to Lead the Service:

Many classes will recruit or invite religious clergy in the class to preside and plan the service. Others have also been fortunate to have organists in their class to play the organ in the MIT Chapel as part of the service.

Venue:

A venue on campus during Tech Reunions. While many classes prefer the MIT Chapel, others prefer a non-religious venue.

Program and Readings:

A printed program of the service including a current list of deceased classmates from the Association's Records Office, a selection of religious or secular readings.  Some classes choose to read aloud all the names of the deceased. This can lengthen the program so if time is an issue, some classes will just read the names of those classmates who have passed away since the last reunion.

2020:

    50th Reunion: Thursday – Sunday, May 28-31, 2020

    5th – 70th Reunions, Cardinal and Gray alumni, MIT10, General Tech Reunions: Friday – Sunday, May 29-31, 2020

2021:

    50th Reunion: Thursday – Sunday, May 27-30, 2021

    5th – 70th Reunions, Cardinal and Gray alumni, MIT10, General Tech Reunions: Friday – Sunday, May 28-30, 2021

2022:

    50th Reunion: Thursday – Sunday, May 26-29, 2022

    5th – 70th Reunions, Cardinal and Gray alumni, MIT10, General Tech Reunions: Friday – Sunday, May 27-29, 2022