Class of 1975
Reunions

We Need To Rethink How We Do Reunions
8/15/2005

To:  Jim Shaw and the AOG Staff
From:  Ken Finn, '75

Ms. Lani Wing indicated at a recent meeting for the Class of 1975 Reunion Committee (30 year) that there was an interest in revamping the framework for the reunion activities with respect to reaching critical mass with football game scheduling and AOG staffing adequate to the event.

As an active member of my 10, 20, 25, and now 30 year reunion committees, I have some ideas that I believe may be helpful.  At the 28 year point for the class of ’75, the AOG provided the class with demographic information based on the zip codes of the class. That info had the class divided very evenly east and west of the Mississippi River, with the expected distributions heaviest in the east coast areas around the Washington, D.C. area, the state of Texas, and the Los Angeles Basin.  There were, at that time, smaller populations in Florida, Colorado, and the Northeast. Our reason for investigating population distribution was to attempt to locate a departure point for a proposed class cruise that might capitalize on a heavy concentration of classmates available, combined with a lower cost to travel to the embarkation port.

As our 30 year reunion approaches and the costs involved are discussed, there is plenty of email traffic indicating the expense and difficulty of the timing on family and employment, as well as the desire to involve a family vacation with the use of family funds for the reunion opportunity.

I would like to recommend that the AOG investigate (survey the membership) the concept of having only the “tens” reunions at USAFA.  I believe the classes and family members expected to travel to USAFA every 5 years after the 20 yr reunion to listen to the same stories over and over could be having a detrimental effect on attendance and fund raising. That “doing it the way we have always done it” has set the bar lower than it needs to be.

As an example, a large active-duty and newly retired group of grads is located in the Beltway area around D.C. What better place to host the 25 yr reunion group than D.C.?  You have an active grad chapter to help with the planning, a plethora of site seeing opportunities, and with the advent of high-tech video conferencing, the opportunity to have the leadership at the Academy participate in direct discussion with the attendees.  Wouldn’t it be great to have an AOG sponsored all-classes video conference in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum as part of the 25th reunion activities for some lucky class?  The chapter would get huge publicity; the family members would perceive a real commitment on the part of the AOG to keep them involved in the goings on at USAFA and would better understand the mission of the USAFA and the AOG without the trip to USAFA every 5 years to sit in a cold football stadium.  If scheduled in June, it takes some of the pressure off the football schedule with reunions; it would most assuredly increase the giving through the AOG since the perception of association with a quality organization increases the perception of the need to support same; and those that travel from outside the area are getting the opportunity to include new destinations in their travel plans with family as well as experience a quality improvement experience related to USAFA. Yes, there is expense related to the AOG to travel to the area of the proposed reunion and the problems with set up and support of the chapter; but the gains in community support from our large population base should easily outdistance the inconvenience and expense.

The research of the database on location of other (35,45,55) reunions should result in similar opportunities to expand the reach of the AOG into communities underserved at present and take the pressure off the football schedule, as well as relieve the families of the never-ending pilgrimages to USAFA.  There should be an opportunity to plan a warm weather reunion in the winter and other get-away opportunities in the summer.  Perhaps the 45 yr reunion could be an Alaskan cruise.  The age of the participants will be in the middle 60s, hopefully at a pleasant place in their fiscal lives as well.  These grads will want to share their good fortune with their families by scheduling the trip to include their children and their families and the AOG can target the captive audience with plenty of bequest info regarding the beginning institution that set this successful opportunity in motion all those years ago.

It is time to set the bar higher for the reunion opportunities through the AOG.  Those of us who live in the local area and work with you certainly appreciate the hard work of Lani and all the others that it takes to produce a successful reunion. But we all understand the cookie-cutter approach and the limitations of the Colorado Springs area with respect to tourist activities in the Sept, Oct, Nov time frame.  Our classmates and spouses are telling us in no uncertain terms that this is not the way of the future.  The perception is that this is a recurring dream/nightmare that will no longer be tolerated in such a compliant manner as in the past.

The Class of 1975 is researching non-USAFA reunion opportunities for our 35th reunion in 2010. We would like to team with the AOG to make this research valid and reliable.  Then we would like to act on the desires of the class.  We believe there is great value in working with the AOG in this effort, but are more than willing to go it alone if necessary.  The major impetus to our reunions is the bond we forged with each other those many years ago in the crucible of the USAFA experience.  We gather together to renew those bonds as much as to support and understand the recent changes at USAFA, our Alma Mater.  Please help us accomplish our complimentary missions.

Thank you for your time and attention.  If there is anything I can do to help as you investigate this matter, please feel free to contact me at home at 481-2319 (Monument) or on my cel at 661-6751. I am routinely out of the country for up to a week at a time, so please do not take a slow reply by phone as indifference to your call. My email address is kenfinn@peoplepc.com.

Sincerely,

Ken Finn

USAFR, Lt Col (Ret)

Class of 1975 Reunion Committee Member

kenfinn@peoplepc.com