RW09

This past weekend was Reunion weekend at the college. It's all hands on deck as 1500 alumni, friends and spouses converge on the campus from all parts of the world. I'm typically a "behind the scenes" guy, (with my database skills! Jealous?), but Reunion Weekend brings my inner social butterfly. (I've been told that I have social skills as well.)

Since I work with computers, it is often assumed that I'm well equipped to handle anything that is plugged into a wall. So Reunion Weekend means I'm the AV "OH CRAP IT'S BROKEN FIX IT" support guy. And I don't mind that at all. I helped setup multimedia presentations, slideshows, and did a bit of troubleshooting with people's personal laptops. All that stuff is well and good, but the part that makes the weekend is the people that come back. (And consequently, people are what make my job so enjoyable.)

Each Reunion Year has Landmark Classes: Always the 10th, 25th, 40th, and 50th Reunion classes. There are also Generational Clusters, which are specific reunion classes, and one year ahead and before them. (For example, this year's 45th Generational reunion was made of the classes of 1964, 1963, and 1965.) Each reunion and reunion cluster has its own dinner. This year, I staffed the 20th Generational, (classes of 1988, 1989, and 1990.) I can't believe how nice people are, and how willing they are to just talk and talk and talk. Conversations weren't strained, or akward. It was just an all around nice situation. However...

There are also some problematic situations. For example, our entertainment this year was a band comprised of 3 staff members and 1 alumnus of the college. The person next to me thought their time on stage was a perfect time to talk over the volume of the band and tell me what she thought of each person that was on stage. She happened to have a very strong opinion towards one of the band member's wives, which she screamed VERY LOUDLY... as said wife was sitting no less than 5 feet away. Personally, I think our dinner guest was way out of line, and had a totally skewed perspective. In fact, I think she might have had a little crush on the band member, which became more and more apparent as more wine flowed...

There was also a choir reunion. I know, I know... all the preconceived notions about choir and "band geeks" and all of that. But it was nice to see the reunions turning out to support the choir concert. The choir returned and put in a solid 2 days of practice, and really put on a great show. I'm not a graduate of this college, but I really got chills when I heard them perform the Alma Mater. Wonderful work by all involved with the concert.

But I think I was most impressed by my Co-workers. (Well, most of them.) There are a lot of people who did some very gritty work and put in some really long hours. And they're the people that probably won't get any recognition from the people that were having a great time at Reunion Weekend. They were hidden in storerooms, behind piles of programs and paperwork, and generally running around like mad people. But it's because of these people that everything was so successful. Yes, the President did a great job, (and people raved about him all weekend!), but the true stars of the weekend are the coordinators. If you happen to read this, you should be getting back some of those 16+ hours per day that you put in. GO TAKE A NAP!

And only 363 more days until Reunion Weekend 2010...