Reuniting Old Grads Brings Fun and Profit

Ron Forman and Steve Drucker went to about 50 high school reunions last year.

Not because they moved a lot as teen-agers, but because they plan high school reunions for a living.

As co-owners of Great Reunions, Ron Forman and Steve Drucker say they have seen their company grow from a two-man operation into a company with more than $2 million in revenue and a staff of 14.

The company, based in the city of Orange, is the largest of six reunion planning services in Orange County competing for a share of the reunions held each year by about 450 high schools in Southern California.

“It’s fun because you see the happiness when the reunion is finally held and you know you have single-handedly created this thing,” said Drucker, who worked as a certified public accountant before he joined Forman at Great Reunions.

But behind the frivolity of letterman jackets, old photographs and memories, there is a serious business. Organizing high school reunions can be profitable but only if a planner has the resources and skills to track down classmates near and far. Success depends on ticket sales.

A gathering organized by Great Reunions costs $50 to $60 per person and includes dinner, current snapshots and a booklet of nostalgic photos. After expenses, the company clears an average $3,500 per reunion, and it has six reunions per weekend scheduled from now until October.

Business is referred almost completely by word of mouth, Drucker said.

“It’s challenging because you never know where the next reunion is coming from,” he said. “We may not book any reunions for two weeks and then suddenly we’ll confirm three or four in one day.”

Locating classmates is the most time-consuming aspect of reunion planning, Drucker explained, and is the main reason they require nine months to plan.

“It’s difficult because many (classmates) have moved several times,” he said. “Many people have gotten divorced or remarried. Many have moved out of state, and many have just not left any traces.”

The high school organizing committee typically has current addresses for a portion of the class. To find locations of others, the researchers try to match names in marriage records, voter registration lists and property tax records they have on file.

When those measures have failed to track down the classmate, the company prints a “missing persons” list and sends it with the reunion invitations and brochure and waits for responses to trickle in, Drucker said. As the day of the reunion nears, the calls multiply.

“The phones are ringing all day long,” Drucker said during a recent interview in his office, pausing to answer a call. “Classmates will call, giving us addresses, but also asking what to wear, and ‘is so-and-so coming?’ We try to pick up on that and ease their anxiety so that they will attend.”

Pre-reunion jitters are endemic, Drucker said, for classmates and organizers alike. Great Reunions makes its money from individual registration fees, and attendance is difficult to estimate until the event is under way.

“We can find the people; we can contact them; but we cannot make them come,” Forman said.

According to Drucker, one of the most important aspects of reunion planning is having enough cash in reserve to pay for the numerous deposits required by hotels and other services.

“I guaranteed 300 people for the first reunion I did,” said Forman, who founded Great Reunions in 1983 after attending a friend’s high school reunion. “I got the contract from the hotel requiring a $1,000 deposit and almost flipped. At that point, I knew I would have to start off slowly.”

When classmates plan reunions without the help of professionals, individuals often put up the money for deposits, as was the case with the 10-year reunion for the Orange High School Class of 1968. The event was costly and turnout was light, said Debbie Wetbracht, who recently worked on the class’s 20-year reunion.

To avoid the financial risk and to free themselves from the logistics of putting on their reunion, Wetbracht and her colleagues decided to hire a reunion planner. The organizing committee interviewed five companies before deciding on Great Reunions.

“When we found out what they could do for us and the price they could do it at, there was no point in doing it ourselves,” she said.

Just as Forman was inspired to start his business after attending a reunion, so were two other Orange County organizers who have recently started companies.

Wendy Cotner of Laguna Niguel organized her high school reunion and decided to turn professional. She founded Reunions to Remember in March, and her one-person company’s first reunion is scheduled for October.

Her plan is to stay small--organizing 10 to 15 reunions a year--and offer personalized service.

Corporate caterer Paula Minger went to a reunion with a friend last year, and the two also came away inspired. Their firm, High Class Reunions, is also based in Laguna Niguel but has yet to land a contract.

High Class Reunions plans to offer just that--”premium” reunions, held in locations such as cruise ships and Beverly Hills mansions. The firm is targeting 20-year reunions, when alumni tend to be better off financially.

While aware of the difficulties inherent in starting up a small business, Minger said she is confident that her firm will find its niche and her $20,000 investment will pay off. “We’ve put our own money into this, but not more than we can afford to lose,” Minger said.