Princeton Class of 1994: 15th Reunion Blog

Reunions: Everything You Need to Know

Here's a reprint of the email you should all have received on 5/22.  Hope to see you in a few days!

Is your hair stringy? Is your flannel rumpled? Are your jeans
second-hand?

CAN YOU SMELL IT?

Yes, SMELLS LIKE FIFTEEN SPIRIT is almost here! This is the email
you should save in your inbox or print up because it’s got almost
everything you need to know in it. 

WHEN & WHERE:

Reunions starts on Thursday, May 28, at noon, and lasts until Sunday, May 31. General Reunions details are available on the main Princeton Reunions page – it is really a wealth of information:
http://alumni.princeton.edu/main/goinback/reunions/reunions_2009/. 

The 15th is very conveniently located in the LITTLE/EDWARDS COURTYARD.
All of our events will take place on site. A map is available here:
http://alumni.princeton.edu/main/volunteers/reunions_volunteers/Reunions2009HQMap.pdf

WEATHER:

Experienced Reunions-goers know that the weather can be unpredictable.
Stay informed by checking
http://www.weather.com/outlook/health/coldandflu/tenday/08542?from=36hr_topnav_flubefore you finish your packing. And because things can change quickly, you might want to pack layers.

REGISTRATION AND CHECK-IN:

Online registration is now closed, but you can still register – you
just have to do it in person at Reunions. Come to the Little/Edwards
courtyard during the following hours to get your buttons, costumes,
wristbands, and on-campus housing (if you have been notified that you
received it):

Thurs., May 28: 12 noon to 11pm
Fri., May 29: 9am to midnight
Sat., May 30: 9am to 1pm and 5pm to 11pm (closed for P-rade)

If you still need to register, you can do it on site. Payment by
check or cash is preferred, but we will be able to take credit cards.

Walk-in ticket prices are as follows:
Classmates: $375
Adult guest: $375
Children (1-20): $100
Children under 1: FREE
Child-care giver: $50 (does NOT include meals, drinks, costume, etc.)
Walk-in tickets (other than child-care giver) include all meals,
drinks, entertainment, and activities, as well as costumes on a
first-come, first-served basis until they run out.

Walk-in SATURDAY-ONLY ticket prices are as follows:
Saturday-only adult: $180
Saturday-only children (1-20): $55
Saturday-only children under 1: FREE
Child-care giver: $50 (does NOT include meals, drinks, etc.)
Saturday-only tickets (other than child-care giver) include all
Saturday meals, drinks, entertainment, and activities. They do NOT
include costumes. Leftover costumes will be available for purchase
until they run out.

TRAVEL, SHUTTLES, and PARKING:

The university has information on travel, hotels in the area, local
and on-campus parking, and hotel shuttles:
http://alumni.princeton.edu/main/goinback/reunions/reunions_2009/travel/

Got a hotel room you want to unload? Are you in need of one? Barter
on our blog at
http://princeton1994.typepad.com/princeton_class_of_1994_1/2009/05/hotels-barter-here.html. 

For questions about on-campus housing, contact smbrodbeck - at - yahoo .dot. com or
miro.pasic -at- morganstanley /dot/ com.

COMING WITH KIDS?

We are excited to meet all the little tigers coming to campus! Here
are a few key details if you’re traveling with kids. (And please
see the full schedule at the end of this email for details on our very
fun kids’ activities!)

The university does NOT have high chairs, so if your child eats best
when strapped into a chair, please bring your own TRAVEL BOOSTER
SEAT/CHAIR or a STROLLER. 

We will have an INFANT/TODDLER LOUNGE with changing pads, a mat for
crawlers, and space for nursing mothers. But please bring your own
TRAVEL CHANGING PAD (the kind that comes in a diaper bag), WIPES,
DIAPERS, etc. We’ll have some extra supplies on hand but not
enough to provide for everyone all weekend.

Other items to bring: STROLLER, good WALKING SHOES, SUNSCREEN,
BOTTLES/SIPPY CUPS, SNACKS, SWIMSUIT and small TOWEL (for water
slide), DRY CLOTHES, and LAYERS.

Luckily, our Reunions site is very close to the U-Store, the Wa-Wa,
and downtown, so don’t panic if you find you’ve forgotten
something.

COSTUMES:

Your costume includes a lightweight FLANNEL SHIRT, a T-SHIRT,
SUNGLASSES, and a BANDANA. We recommend bringing your own RIPPED
JEANS, CUTOFFs, or CARGO SHORTS to wear with your costume. 

There will be PRIZES for best grunge interpretations – these will be
awarded at our class dinner on Saturday.

For more information and inspiration, see
http://princeton1994.typepad.com/princeton_class_of_1994_1/2009/04/grunge-fashion.html.

REUNIONS GOES MOBILE:

Reunions Mobile allows reunion-goers to access a range of important
information on their web-enabled handheld devices. Reunions Mobile has
the following features:

· An abbreviated version of the Reunions schedule of open events

· News alerts and live weather conditions

· Information about parking, campus shuttle and hotel bus schedules

· Nightly entertainment at the HQ sites

· The P-rade map, showing classes where to muster

· Information about the lawn concert and fireworks

· A listing of HQ sites for major reunions and satellite classes

Check it out at: m.princeton.edu/reunions 

Simply enter this URL into your mobile web browsers, bookmark the
page, and then return via the bookmark throughout the weekend.
iPhone/iPod users can add the URL to their home screen and a shortcut
icon will be installed.


FINALLY, THE SCHEDULE!

The heads of our 24 sub-committees have been working hard for more
than a year to bring you a fabulous weekend. Here are all of the
details:

THURSDAY, MAY 28

12 noon to 8pm: Children’s activities (arts and crafts, ball pit,
mini bouncer, scavenger hunt)
12 noon to 2am: Beverages under the tent
8pm-10pm: Assorted music under the tent
10pm – 2am: DJ playing grunge and other hits under the tent

FRIDAY, MAY 29

8am-10am: Breakfast under the tent
9am to 8pm: Children’s activities (arts and crafts, ball pit, mini
bouncer, scavenger hunt)
9:15am: Classmate Amy Holmes participates in the forum “Is There a
Post-Racial United States?”
10:30am: Classmate Sarah (Hermanson) Meister participates in the forum
“High Culture: Maintaining Relevance in the 21st Century”
Noon-2pm: Lunch in the courtyard
1pm-5pm: Smoothie station for kids and adults in the Children’s area
1pm-5pm: Bouncy water slide for the kids in the Children’s area
2pm: Community service project: tour of Arial Homes (Broadmead, east
of stadium)
2pm-4pm: An afternoon of magic, hosted by the class of 1969 in
Dod-McCormick courtyard
3pm-5:30pm: Career workshop, Frist Campus Center
4pm: Class memorial service, September 11 Memorial Gardens
6pm-7pm: Cocktail hour and nacho bar, Little courtyard (with a
cappella grunge favorites at 6:30pm!)
6pm-8pm: Kids’ dinner buffet, Little courtyard
7pm-9pm: Mexican buffet, Little courtyard
8:30pm-10:30pm: Cross-class singles mixer, Chancellor Green
9pm-11:30pm: Seattle espresso bar, Little courtyard
10pm-2am: Dancing to RIGHT ON! under the tent

SATURDAY, MAY 30

8am-10am: Breakfast under the tent
9am-1pm and 5pm-8pm: Children’s activities (arts and crafts, ball
pit, mini bouncer, scavenger hunt)
9am-1pm: Water slide in the Children’s area
10am-1pm: Face painting for kids in the Children’s area
10:30am-12 noon: Seattle espresso bar, Little courtyard
10:30am: Classmate Keith Elias participates in the forum “Should
Athletes Be Role Models?”
11am-1pm: Lunch in the courtyard
1pm-5pm: Special kids’ celebrity appears to entertain before and
during P-rade
2pm: P-rade, including a mobile grunge concert
6pm-8pm: Kids’ dinner buffet, Little courtyard
6:30pm-8:30pm: Class dinner, Pan-Asian buffet
7:20-7:35pm: President Shirley Tilghman visits our class, Little
courtyard
8pm-9pm: Orchestra concert, Finney and Lambert fields
9pm-9:45pm: Fireworks, Finney and Lambert fields
10pm-2am: Dancing to BREAKFAST CLUB under the tent

SUNDAY, MAY 31

8am-10am: Breakfast under the tent

NOTE:
There are numerous other events open to the entire Princeton reunion
community. The entire schedule of open events is available on the
Reunions 2009 website:
http://alumni.princeton.edu/main/goinback/reunions/reunions_2009/events.


STILL HAVE QUESTIONS? Email us.

gomez at alumni dot - princeton - dot - edu

jasonhollandermd -at yahoo- dot com

ninapots at gmail dot - com

serogers at yahoo -dot -com

Online registration is now open!

Online registration is now open for Smells Like Fifteen Spirit!  Please go to www.princeton94.org to get early bird pricing and request on-campus housing.

Registration information -- the basic details

We've received many enthusiastic inquiries about registration for our 15th.  We're still hammering out the technical end of the registration process, as well as some details about what you get at each stage of registration.  But we can share with you the anticipated timing of each phase of registration:

Early-Bird Registration: opens on 2/2/09, ends on 3/15/09.  Early Birds will pay the lowest fees, be guaranteed costumes and all meals, and have priority access to on-campus housing on a first-come/first-served basis.  There will also be some other perks to be announced.

Regular Registration: opens on 3/16/09, ends on 5/15/09.  Regular registrants will pay more in fees than Early Birds but less than Late registrants, be guaranteed costumes and all meals, and have access to any remaining on-campus housing on a first-come/first-served basis. 

Late and Walk-In Registration: opens on 5/16/09 and continues through Reunions, which begin on 5/28/09.  Late registrants will pay the highest fees, will NOT be guaranteed costumes or meals (though every effort will be made to accommodate late registrants), and will NOT have access to on-campus housing.  

We encourage everyone to use the online registration system that will be up and running soon, but we will also have a paper form that you can fill out and mail in with a check.

Thanks!

-- Your Reunions Co-Chairs

Reunions volunteers still needed

SMELLS LIKE FIFTEEN SPIRIT NEEDS YOU!

Classmates,

We have a great team of committee chairs but are still looking for chairs, co-chairs, or committee members for the following areas.  This is a great way to get involved with Reunions and learn the secret inner workings of this vast machine.  Plus, it's fun.  If you're interested in any of these, please leave a note in the comments or email one of the Reunions Chairs.  Here's a brief description of each:

Children's Activities - This person will contact vendors to rent bounce house, water activities, snow cone machine, etc.;  order craft supplies;  build a schedule for children's activities for the weekend;  publicize children's activities to classmates.  The Class of 1993 did a great job with Children's Activities, so we don't have to recreate the wheel here.  We can pretty much do what they did.  Also, this person will help to communicate Tiger Camp details to classmates.

Community Service - Our class goal is to raise $20K to help build Arial Homes in Baja, Mexico.  This person will publicize the project; possibly organize a fundraising call to classmates; track donations and update the class website with our progress v. goal periodically.

P-Rade - The job of the P-Rade chair is to arrange for and manage the class formation, including hiring and coordinating with at least one marching band, any floats, vehicles, posters, etc.

Program - Coordinate class activities, including Class Dinner, arrange for class picture, and build a schedule for the weekend.

Registration - This person will partner with Tania (Cendejas) Gleason to track all registration information before and during Reunions. The Registration Chair must also report the reunion attendance periodically to the Alumni Association and file and Attendance Report immediately after Reunions.

Transportation - The job of the Transportation Chair is to coordinate transportation (vans, golf carts, University shuttle) needed during reunions.

Full descriptions are available on Tigernet: http://alumni.princeton.edu/main/volunteers/reunions_volunteers/

We're also looking for someone to help us blog about money-saving tips for Reunions travel and other costs.  If you're an expert at sniffing out bargains, let us know!

Finally, we're working with several other Reunions classes on a Singles Mixer this year. 

If you would be interested in overseeing any of these committees, please contact Nina (Bojko) Potsiadlo: nbojko@hotmail.com.

Thanks!
Your Reunions Chairs

Welcome to our 15th Reunion: Smells Like Fifteen Spirit

Greetings, classmates!  15 years ago at this time, we were probably all entombed somewhere in Firestone Library, the E Quad, or another library or computer cluster, working on our theses while wearing flannel shirts, jeans, and early fleece, which was not nearly as soft as today's versions.  As fuel for those late nights, Snapple had been invented, but Red Bull had not.  There was one real coffeehouse in town.  We accessed the Internet via something called Gopher, and, luckily, the procrastinatory allure of YouTube was not yet even a glimmer in a young technophile's eye.  Kurt Cobain was still alive, though not for long.

This spring -- May 28-31, 2009 -- we'll take a break from the financial meltdown and re-live our glorious, grungy youth.  This blog will provide you with updates on everything from registration to entertainment to tips for saving money on Reunions travel.  There may be a recession, but the great Class of 1994 will keep up its stellar record of Reunions attendance, creativity, and fun.

Check back regularly for updates from your Reunions chairs, committee chairs, and class officers.  We'll be posting frequently.  For those interested in registering, we'll have information on that by January 15th.

In the meantime, feel free to email us with any questions.

Your Reunions Chairs,

James Gomez (gomez at alumni-dot-princeton-dot-edu)
Jason Hollander (jasonhollandermd at yahoo-dot-com)
Nina (Bojko) Potsiadlo (nbojko at hotmail-dot-com)
Sarah Rogers (serogers at yahoo-dot-com)