Seminars
Seminars and Town Hall Meetings
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Alliance Seminar and Town Hall Meeting, Branson, Missouri - October, 2009
See More Photos Below
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NEW! The Maine Event, a Seminar, Town Hall Meeting, and Maine Familiarization Tour – South Portland, Maine – April 26-30, 2010.
Sessions will include tours of Kennebunkport, the Maine Maritime Museum, and Bath Iron Works. Meals will include a traditional Maine Lobster Bake and a Taste of Maine multi-chef culinary event. $99 per person for Alliance members only. Accommodations, most meals, and admission to all events are included.
Click here for details.
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The Alliance presents members-only seminars at various locations. Some are standalone events, while others are held in conjunction with local Convention and Visitors Bureaus.
The standalone events emphasize information and training about the management of reunions and reunion associations. While there are opportunities to evaluate local hotels and attractions, these are secondary to the educational sessions.
The CVB-based events offer the same information and training, but the emphasis is on evaluating the location as a place for a reunion, with plenty of time to tour the area and its hotels and attractions. All events provide ample time for informal networking among the members in attendance.
A popular aspect of all our events is the Town Hall Meeting, which is an open session for discussion of topics of interest to the attendees. Some of these meetings include representatives from hotels, CVBs, tour operators, and others who provide services to military reunion groups.
Our seminars have proven to be extremely valuable to all who attend them. "I've never had the chance to talk about these things before," is a typical response from a reunion planner, "this is the best day I've had in a long, long time!" Hotel and CVB representatives say things like "This was the most interested and qualified group of reunion planners we've ever seen," and "I really learned a lot about reunion groups and their needs."
Seminar Locations
We choose our locations for one of two reasons, depending on the purpose of the seminar: their attractiveness as a reunion destination, or their accessibility to large numbers of members. Many locations have both qualities.
In 2009, we held seminars in Fairfax County, Virginia; Branson, Missouri; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Our tentative schedule for 2010 includes these locations plus places on the New England coast and in Southern Ohio. Destinations in Arizona, California, Illinois, and other states have expressed interest in hosting our seminars.
Seminar Topics
Alliance seminars cover the subjects of greatest interest to their attendees. We present our best information on them, discuss them, share information about them, and document what we find to be the best practices for dealing with them. Subjects covered so far have included:
Association Management – Running a better reunion group
 Leadership – Lessening the workload on leaders. Leadership succession / organizing for the future. Dealing with trouble. Membership - Finding new members: getting unit rosters, finding the people once you know their names. Increasing member participation. Money - Dues and contributions. Accounting and accountability. Cost sharing, group buying power, etc. Selling merchandise to members. Large gifts and endowments. Legal Matters – Incorporating. Tax exemption. Insurance. Computer Matters – Web sites. Member databases. Email programs. Newsletters – Editing and production. Distribution: postal mail, email, posting on the web site.Reunion Management – Planning and running your reunion
Choosing a location – Finding the best city. Cruise reunions. Different ways to decide. Selling your decision to the membership. Choosing a hotel – Working with CVBs and hoteliers. Creating "win-win" situations. Successful negotiations. Working around difficulties. Choosing tours and entertainment – Finding what's available. Working with tour operators. Helpful forms and publications – Sample hotel checklists. Sample RFPs. Military Reunion Handbook. Contacting members who have been to the same location. Using outside help – Helpful CVBs. Less helpful CVBs. Local "receptive" companies. Local and national reunion management companies. Nuts & Bolts – Publicizing the reunion. Increasing attendance. Making reservations. Registration desk. Photography. Hospitality room. Alcohol. Business meetings. Meals and banquets. Entertainment. Raffles, etc. Memorial services. Memory books.Exercise: Planning The Ideal Reunion – Small group breakout session on putting it all together. "The best thing I've ever done!" Alliance Management – How the Alliance can better serve its members
Members are encouraged to share ideas and to respond to what we are doing. How can we benefit military reunion groups and the CVBs, hotels, and vendors who serve them?
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Click Here to join the Alliance.Seminar and Town Hall Meeting
Branson, Missouri – October, 2009
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Almost a hundred leaders, planners and vendors spent an evening of quality time together,
matching their needs and wants, courtesy of The Alliance of Military Reunions. Sweet!
Scroll Down to see many more Very Happy People...
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Breakout Session: Planning The Ideal Reunion
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Barbara Fairchild entertains (and feeds) Alliance members
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Town Hall Meeting: Every member has a chance to speak
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Alliance instructional staff: Joyce Marshall, Skip Sander, Ron Cohen, Brian Forrester, John Baker
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Vendors wined and dined us, and we took the time to hear what they had to say. Everybody benefited.
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Suppliers and buyers forged new and meaningful relationships.
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It wasn't ALL just education and business!
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Steering Committee Meeting
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – November, 2009
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Hard at work
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Inspecting artwork prepared by LaRoche College graphic design and communication teams
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Happy campers, steering a happy course
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Exercising in place
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A day well spent, and full of
important accomplishments.
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Organizational Meeting
Fairfax County, Virginia – June, 2009
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Chowing down to break the ice
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Serious planning
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Our benefactor: Dean Miller, of Fairfax County, VA
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A patriotic welcome by The Airmen of Note
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Down to business: forming the Alliance
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Did the original Founding Fathers work this hard?
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Lunch with Fairfax County hoteliers
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Skip is happy in the end!
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