How Greenwich Academy hosted its Annual Alumnae Reunion virtually for the first time in history

Like hundreds of schools across the country, Greenwich Academy also had to either postpone or cancel all of their in-person alumnae events due to the pandemic. However, the school could not afford to let down its alumnae by cancelling or postponing the much-awaited flagship event - the Annual Alumnae Reunion. Overcoming the constraints of social distancing, Greenwich Academy adapted to the trend of virtual alumnae events and successfully hosted its first day-long virtual alumnae reunion.

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William Peace University grand welcome to the Class of 2020 virtually with Almabase

About Greenwich Academy

Founded in 1827, Greenwich Academy is the oldest girls’ school in Connecticut. An independent, college-preparatory day school for girls and young women who seek to foster excellence, Greenwich Academy has over 6,000 alumnae around the globe.

The school’s mission is to provide a challenging, comprehensive educational experience grounded in a rigorous liberal arts curriculum within an inclusive, diverse community. The school’s objective is to develop girls and young women of exceptional character and achievement who demonstrate independence, resilience, courage, integrity, and compassion.

What were the challenges faced by Greenwich Academy?

COVID-19 made it impossible to have an in-person reunion

With strict social distancing measures in place, Greenwich Academy was not able to host an in-person event to celebrate the flagship Annual Alumnae Reunion. The school, therefore, needed to find alternative ways to host this event and uplift the spirits of its alumnae.

Decreasing alumnae engagement due to social distancing measures in place

Similar to other schools across the country, Greenwich Academy also had to cancel all planned in-person programming for its alumnae, which led to a significant drop in engagement. This meant that alumnae who used to frequently visit the school campus for various events or meetings were no longer able to. The school, therefore, needed to find alternatives to connect and keep alumnae engaged.

What was Greenwich Academy able to achieve using Almabase?

Organized a successful virtual reunion for the first time in the school's history

While Greenwich Academy was already hosting multiple virtual events ever since COVID-19 forced everyone to be confined to their homes, the school had never gone virtual for a flagship event like the Annual Reunion. Greenwich Academy took on the massive task of planning and hosting a day-long Annual Alumnae Reunion event virtually for the first time in the school’s history.

The school set up an event page on its alumnae network complete with the schedule of activities planned for the day.

Check out the Virtual Reunion 2020 event page on Greenwich Academy's alumnae website

Everybody knows that reunions are incomplete without star alumni appearances. Every year Greenwich Academy honors a distinguished alumna. This year's award recipient is Radhika Jones, Editor in Chief of Vanity Fair Magazine, who graciously agreed to go live in a podcast followed by a Q and A session moderated by Reshma Gopaldas, Vice President, Video at SHE Media. The school created a dedicated landing page to promote the podcast and showcase the achievements of the incredible hosts.

Visit the landing page here.

Post the event, the school also uploaded photos on its alumnae website.

Virtual Alumnae Reunion Album added to alumnae website

Greenwich Academy made sure to leverage social media to promote its Annual Alumnae Reunion. Here are a couple of creative posts that Greenwich Academy developed to boost participation at its virtual reunion.

View the post on Facebook

Greenwich Academy asking alumnae to submit their entries for the Virtual Art Show. View the post on Facebook.

Keeping alumni engaged with fun activities throughout the event

With the current state of the world, Greenwich Academy looked to make reunion a refreshing experience, keeping with the traditional purpose of reunion, gathering with friends, reconnecting with faculty, toasting the past, and partaking in fun activities.

Virtual events that are spread over an entire day can seem arduous which is why Greenwich Academy made sure to plan the day well with regular breaks and lots of opportunities for social banter. The school planned a host of fun activities to keep alumnae engaged throughout the day of the event. From an art show to a Happy Hour, the Alumnae Office was meticulous in planning all of it.

The school captured entries for its virtual art show via a form and showcased all the beautiful artwork submissions on its alumnae website.

Check out the Alumnae Art Show Exhibition Page on GA’s alumnae website

Greenwich Academy also organized a virtual happy hour (branded as a GAppy Hour) and Class Zoom Rooms for its alumnae. As alumnae were missing out on those special get-togethers and fun-filled conversations with their peers, Greenwich Academy went above and beyond to bring the experience home to them. The virtual alumnae reunion was a huge success as it offered GA alumnae the much needed opportunity to bond with their friends during these testing times.

Greenwich Academy continues to virtually engage and empower its alumnae community through these challenging times with Almabase at its side. Head over to Greenwich Academy’s alumnae website to see more virtual events.

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