Planning your reunion

A reunion is a fantastic opportunity to bring your classmates back together and reminisce.

As the lead organiser, there are a few important factors to consider to ensure our team can offer the most relevant support. 

When to start planning? 

We suggest planning your reunion as far in advance as possible. 

A year ahead is perfect if you expect classmates to travel from overseas to attend, but generally three to six months ahead is fine. 

Do bear in mind that we'll need a minimum of three weeks to turn around any requests for class lists and invitations. Guests will also need time to respond to your invitation and make any travel arrangements.

Setting a date

Perhaps you could celebrate on the day you graduated, or the day you started? 

Alternatively, you might wish to align your reunion with the Great Exhibition Road Festival (GERF) weekend, when our campus and the wider South Kensington area will be buzzing with plenty to see and do for this annual celebration of science and the arts. Many alumni take this opportunity to reconnect on or around campus. 

If you wanted to request a visit to your old department, it is typically easier for the staff to accommodate visitors on weekdays.  Then again, weekends might be best for guests travelling long distances. If you are celebrating virtually, you'll have more flexibility, depending on time zones. 

Location and venue

Do you want to come back to campus or host the event locally to you?

Before sending invitations out, you will want to have an idea of where to hold the event

Past reunion groups have enjoyed:

• Meals out
• Revisiting the student union bars 
• Barbecues and picnics
• Virtual reunions using Zoom or Microsoft Teams
• Trips abroad
• Campus visits and departmental tours

When considering a venue, it is important to think about your options for catering and any audio-visual requirements (e.g. will you be needing screens, microphones, etc.). 

If you are looking to visit your old department, we can facilitate contact with them. Please be aware that the Alumni Engagement Office cannot guarantee a departmental visit. Visits are individually approved and coordinated by each department and are dependent on staffing and availability. 

See our useful links page here for further guidance on choosing a venue. 

Get the word out 

We can search our database to see which of your classmates we are able to contact. If we have their details, we can send them an invitation.

You will need to write a message for us to send - this could be a fully-fledged invitation or just a short message to gauge interest in a reunion. As well as the proposed date and activity, invitees will need to know if there'll be a cost to attend and whether they can bring a guest. You may also wish to collect dietary and accessibility requirements at this stage. We will ask invitees to respond to you directly, so remember to include your contact details in your message. 

We can also publish your reunion to our public events webpages, if you wish for it to appear in search engines. 

If you are already in touch with your classmates, you might want to set up a WhatsApp or Facebook group. 

Share your photos

We'd love to see some photos from your reunion! Let us know how it went and send us your best photos and stories. Send your pictures to us by emailing reunions@imperial.ac.uk.