Q: What is the best way to find my classmates?
A:Start early. Have you already had any previous reunions? Talk to the planners of those reunions, and see if they have any information leftover from those events.

Contact any family members who are still living in the area, and see if they can put you in touch with your classmates.

Some statistics say that 70% of your classmates are still in your home state, others say more than 60%. So they may be easier to find than you might expect. Check the local phone book — you might be surprised.

Search online national phone books, such as Switchboard.com, Anywho.com or Whitepages.com. Be prepared to get creative. For example, Whitepages.com has a reverse lookup that allows you to fill in a previous mailing address for a classmate, and get the current phone number for that address. Depending on who is living there, they may be able to provide useful leads.

Sometimes classmates may still have contact with your high school or be involved with your alumni association. Make a few phone calls, or visit their Web sites to see what you can dig up.

Put your classmates on the case — let them know who you’re looking for, and perhaps they can give you leads through friends of friends, family or co-workers.

Your HighSchoolAlums.com Web site features links specially devoted to locating missing classmates’ contact information. Have your classmates check out the “Missing Addresses” and “Missing E-mail Addresses” links to see if they might be able to provide information on a classmate.

While it is not common for high schools to actively participate in reunion planning, they may agree to allow you to post a link on your school Web site or the alumni association’s Web site. This might be useful in case a classmate is searching for reunion info online.

Go mass media — you might reach someone by publicizing the upcoming reunion using newspapers in your area and on local radio stations, church bulletins and more.

Search for your classmates using search engines like Google or Yahoo. You might find their personal or business Web site that would give you a way to contact them.

If you have a little extra money in your budget, there are search services that charge fees to help find classmates: Examples include ussearch.com and people-finder.com.

Some classmates may have passed away already. Checking online newspapers for obituaries may allow you to fill in your classmates as to a friend’s unfortunate passing.

If you can’t find everyone looking for, don’t feel bad. There’s always the possibility that a classmate may not want to participate in an upcoming reunion, despite your best efforts. Just do your best to enjoy seeing the classmates that you do find.

Q: Should I consider using a professional reunion planner?
A: Basically, it depends on the amount of time and money you have. If you don’t have the time to do it yourself, and have a budget that can afford it, a professional reunion planner can be a great option. Depending on who you hire, professional reunion planners can perform a variety of helpful tasks:

• Pinning down the specifics of your reunion events
• Finding classmates
• Creating and mailing out reunion announcements
• Tracking RSVPs from classmates
• Managing payments
• Locating venues and paying deposits
• Arrange for photographers and music
• Make PR announcements using local media or by sending the word out to your alumni association
• Provide staffing
• Paying for liability insurance
• And more

Call around and talk to various reunion managers and see what they can offer you. Find out how many reunions they�ve planned � the more experience they have, the better. Someone who has been working in your area for a while will know the pros and cons of using different venues, including how much they cost and how easy it is to work with the manager. Get references from them, and see what past reunion committees thought of working with them. Definitely check their credit and business references, too.

Ask what their fee structure is like, and if there are any upfront expenses that you and your reunion committee will have to pay. Be sure that you�re clear on what services they actually provide, so there isn�t any confusion later. They may even offer package deals that can simplify the planning process greatly.

Once you�re comfortable with your choice of a reunion planner, set �em to work and prepare to have a great time!