Essential Summer Tools

You can feel it. It’s almost here.  You can almost see it. You can even almost smell it. Summer! But wait…here are 5 yearbook end of the year to-dos before the last bell rings.

1. HAVE A PARTY

Celebrate and welcome your newly selected yearbook staff members at an introductory meeting/party where you can initiate them (kindly) into the Yerd world. Be sure to include some ice breakers and get-to-know-you activities. Assign returning staff members as mentors to new staff members (1:2 or 1:3 works just fine!) and have the mentors hand out and go over your newly updated staff manual as well a little “welcome to the family gift” (a decorated cubbie, yearbook flair, Starbucks card, staff t-shirt, etc.)  Whatever you can do now to include your new staff members will go a long way to having a cohesive staff in the fall.

2. GET SOME FEEDBACK

Have the class write a readership survey to distribute with your book. You can even create an on-line version through such sites as Surveymonkey.com, freeonlinesurveys.com and adobe.com/FormsCentral. Offer fun rewards for anyone to logs on and takes the survey.

3. CLEAN UP AND ORGANIZE

A clean work space  makes happy workers. Clean out closets, drawers, cubbies–and be ruthless. Save only things that you will definitely use next year. Toss out old photos, posters, layout forms, magazines, etc. Inventory and re-order supplies for next year. Delete old computer files, backup and organize hard drives or servers. Create a plan for a better organized digital photo storage, paper storage, magazine storage, note filing, etc. The more space you can create, the more creative you are free to be. Make new forms (photo requests, story assignments, beat sheets and evaluation/grading forms/rubrics) for next year. Get the school calendar and athletic schedules to assist with coverage and deadline planning. Make sure you have current contact information for all professional photographers and sports coaches. Contact each of them now to establish communication about your future deadlines and needs.

4. WRITE AND DELIVER THANK YOUS

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. It takes a village to create a yearbook. Write thank you notes to administrators, teachers who supported your efforts all year, advertisers, parents, custodians, secretaries, coaches and any others who assisted the staff with the production and completion of the book. Note cards can be student-designed or purchased, but it’s the hand-written personal message inside that is of the most value. Consider giving them a yearbook signed by all the staff members.

5. SELECT A YEARBOOK CAMP

Nothing will prepare you for next year like time spent at a summer yearbook camp. Find a camp near you to attend and organize fund-raisers to help staffers and/or the yearbook budget with costs. We recommend that at least your editor(s) attend something over the summer or in early fall to help with the planning process and to get a big dose of creative motivation and inspiration (not to mention the chance to hang out with a fun, positive group of other Yerds!)

5 1/2. HAVE A YERDY SUMMER

Ok, so this is really what to do AFTER that last bell rings, but we think it’s pretty important. Keep your eyes open all summer for typography, photography and layout designs that catch your eye. Look at  everything through a yearbook filter…how can it be used in your publication? Magazine layouts, college brochures, TV ads, billboards, restaurant menues, blog posts…everything has the potential to spark an idea or generate a theme. Follow designers on Twitter and Pintrest. Read design and photography blogs. Look at lots and lots and lots of magazines and design annuals. Take note of  color combinations and pallets that catch your eye. And take pictures of everything to share with your staff at camp or in the fall. You’ll be so glad you did!

March is the month of leprechauns and NCAA basketball madness, but this can be a month of yearbook madness as well. Here are some tips to avoid the craziness of those final days leading up to your final yearbook deadline.

1. Look over your ladder for “holes”–school events that maybe didn’t happen or were moved to a later date but you planned on covering them. Now would be a good time to check the master school calendar to verify things are still happening as planned before your last deadline. Maybe there is a page or two that weren’t ready to go in when originally planned to go, but did get finished and are now ready to go but sort of fell through the submission cracks. (So hard to imagine, we know…) go ahead and send them before your final yearbook deadline–it will make your plant happy!

2. Check your record of submitted pages with the plant’s record to double check accuracy of page numbers and total number of pages submitted. There’s nothing worse than submitting that final page, only to find out a few days later you still have one more page to go!

3. Develop mini deadlines so you keep track of the progress of each spread. If you haven’t been doing this all year, now is a perfect time to start. You might even have a daily “roll call” that sounds like this: You: Spring Fling spread? Staffer: copy done, photos taken and placed, writing captions today.

4. Create an action plan for final deadline–whatever this looks like to you, just make sure everyone knows what is expected of them. Put it in writing and post it in a prominent place and cross things off as they are completed.

5. Contact all spring sports coaches–ask for the date of the team photo shoots, and if any are after your final deadline, ask for some time at the end of a practice to have one of your staff photographers take the team photo. That’s a great day to take candids, too, especially if it has to be during a practice. Be sure to let them know you are working on the final yearbook deadline.

6. Build in some play–this sounds counter  intuitive during crunch time, but happy staffers work better and harder. Trust us–a little play goes a long way! To get you started, check out  howdoyouplay.net.

7. Index your pages. If you haven’t been running an index all along, start now–It always takes longer than you think. And you might catch some misspelled names that you still have time to correct.

8. Have supplemental tasks for staffers to do when they complete their pages. Suggestions: come up with fun recruiting ideas; create  another book sales campaign; plan/prepare for distribution; write thank you notes to people who have been a big help throughout the year (secretary, custodian, principal, parents, activities director, etc.)

9. Celebrate! Plan a final deadline celebration and make it a big one! You’ve all worked hard–you deserve it! And it gives everyone something to look forward to as the pressure builds.

You can survive this crazy time of year. It just takes a bit of organization, preparation, and a lot of deep breaths!

Have some other ideas? We’d love to hear them!

1. Have a yearbook Holiday celebration. Decorate your work environment, play  games, sing holiday songs and eat lots of holiday cookies. Or, make it a classy event by dressing up and enjoying a holiday banquet at a local restaurant. If students are willing, have a re-gift exchange or new gift exchange with a dollar cap. Maybe it’s as simple as watching some classic holiday videos together in the classroom. It doesn’t really matter how you celebrate–just that you celebrate.

2. Share the true joy of the season through the gift of giving. What if you were able to extend the fun of exchanging gifts to a local classroom that needs some joy, or books, or whiteboards, or PE equipment? We’re talking about a classroom right in your own community. And what if your yearbook students got to pick which classroom project to support and how much they wanted to give? Intrigued? Check out DonnersChoose.org. You can search for projects in your local area and fund all or part of a project.

3. Go on a Holiday field trip and help feed the needy. Check out the volunteer opportunities at your local Food Bank and make it a part of your yearbook holiday party by signing up for a morning shift at the Food Bank and then going ice skating, caroling, or viewing your favorite holiday movie together. You can find the closest Food Bank to you at feedingamerica.org. The whole day will really boost your Holiday Spirits!

4. Become Elves. Host a holiday coat or food drive on your campus. Spread holiday cheer beyond your yearbook classroom walls to include all the students in your school by advertising your drive around campus. Be sure to tell them where the coats are going. Need a place to donate all the coats you collect? Onewarmcoat.org can help. Or check with one of your local shelters–especially shelters that help families or teens.

5. Change up your usual gift exchange. Instead of an internal yerdy gift exchange, have yearbook students use the money they would normally spend on the exchange gift to purchase a gift for a child in need. Toys for Tots is a great place to start if you don’t know of place in your city accepting toy donations. If you’d like help finding a local organization hosting a toy drive, just search “holiday toy drive in ‘your city’.” You’ll be amazed at list.

These are just some ideas to get you thinking about how you can celebrate the season of giving in true yerd fashion. We’d love to know what you and your yearbook staff do to ring in the holidays! Don’t be shy…share your ideas here or on our Facebook page.

Oh, and Happy, Yerdy Holidays to you all!

Back to School

And…we’re off! It’s a new year, with some new students and a new book. Here are some things to do the first week of yearbook class that are both fun and educational.

1. Establish Expectations: Review class requirements, grading policies, any planned staff work nights/weekends and the importance of making deadlines.

2. Share Information: Complete a staff directory that includes cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses, class schedules, birthdays, parents’ names, etc. Consider creating a gmail account (or other e-mail), facebook page, etc. as a way to relay information between adviser/editors/staffers.

3. Self-Evaluate last year’s book: It’s not always easy, but be honest, and be tough. Did the theme reflect the school year, the population, the events and was it present throughout the book? How was your coverage? What people/events did you miss? What was covered well? Was the design consistent, tight, and attractive? What areas need some cleaning up? Was your copy interesting and engaging? Too long? Too short? Do you have captions for every picture? Are your photographs worthy of publication? Are they good quality action/reaction shots? Are they varied in subject and angles? Did you pay attention to details like folios, spelling names correctly, and consistent margins?

4. Think Through Your Theme: If it isn’t already decided or in the works, discuss theme and cover ideas.

5. Determine Your Deadlines: Finalize and post the ladder. Color code it by deadline and list specific spread assignments, which pages will be sent with each deadline, etc. Indicate which pages are going to be printed in color and/or spot color.

6. Build a Strong Team: Start each day with ten or fifteen minutes of icebreakers/team building activities. You could choose a quote or thought for the day the students respond to as you take roll. This will help students get acquainted and get over any fears, shyness, etc. and begin to become a cohesive team. Look here for short games with a purpose.

7. Sell the Books: The beginning of the school year is the best time to sell books. Remember that parents are the real purchasers, so as you discuss and plan your book sales campaign, have students brainstorm creative ways to reach and motivate parents.

8. Inspire Creative Ideas: Have each staff member bring in five ideas from magazines that could be used in the yearbook. Or, have each student bring several magazines and have a “look for ideas” class session.

9. Develop Your photographers: Have students shoot photos around campus and “discover” who your best photographers are as well as generate examples of the elements of great photography.

10. Delegate Special Jobs: Ask what special contributions/talents each staffer plans to give to the yearbook. From this conversation, decide each staffer’s strengths and what each student’s additional responsibilities will be.

BONUS: Try to plan one outside of class activity. You could go for pizza, go bowling, go roller skating–anything that will allow staffers to get to know each other and just have fun.

Have some other great tips? We’d love to hear them! Happy Yearbooking!

Here’s a cute spot from one of our high schools in Indiana:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Approximately 65% of the population learns visually so go ahead and indulge your student body. They are more likely to remember your information when they see their friends or recognize the location.

Helpful hints:

• Create small groups to work on writing, filming and editing their video
• If students are talking, be sure there is a mic attached to the camera (or that they don’t film outdoors)
• Teach students where to find royalty-free music and the laws around copyright
• Invite the administration in to view the final videos before playing them for the whole school
• Challenge students to come up with fun and creative ideas besides people acting. Consider a silent film, stop motion photography, claymation, etc.
• Remember that humor works best but be sure to keep it clean, kind, and age-appropriate

More examples of clever yearbook videos from around the country!

1. HAVE A BANQUET

Celebrate your hard work by planning a yearbook banquet. Organize small groups to take on each element required to host a nice event including choosing the site, date and time, menu, entertainment, decorations, award voting, awards, small gifts (if your budget allows), etc. Design invitations for each staff member and encourage the students to dress nicely. Make it something they look forward to every year, even if it takes place in your yearbook classroom!

2. PLAN YOUR BOOK DISTRIBUTION DAY

Organize your yearbook distribution. Choose the site, plan crowd control, prepare distribution lists, create the music playlist, plan the decorations, decide on whether or not to sell food, drinks, signing pens, etc. Plan the publicity for the day: posters, video announcements, audio announcements, web-site articles, Facebook postings, etc. The bigger the event, the more excitement you create for the yearbook you worked so hard to produce. (And it will really help sell those last remaining books!)

3. GET SOME FEEDBACK

Have the class write a readership survey to distribute with your book. You can even create an on-line version through such sites as Surveymonkey.com, freeonlinesurveys.com and adobe.com/FormsCentral. Offer fun rewards for anyone to logs on and takes the survey.

4. CLEAN UP AND ORGANIZE

Clean out closets, drawers, cubbies–and be ruthless. Save only things that you will definitely use next year. Toss out old photos, posters, layout forms, magazines, etc. Inventory and re-order supplies for next year. Delete old computer files, backup and organize hard drives or servers. Create a plan for a better organized photo storage system, paper storage, magazine storage, note filing, etc. The more space you can create, the more creative you are free to be. Make new forms (photo requests, story assignments, beat sheets and evaluation/grading forms/rubrics) for next year. Get the school calendar and athletic schedules to assist with coverage and deadline planning. Make sure you have current contact information for all professional photographers and sports coaches. Contact each of them now to establish communication about your deadlines and needs.

5. WRITE AND DELIVER THANK YOUS

Write thank you notes to administrators, teachers who supported your efforts all year, advertisers, parents, custodians, secretaries, coaches and any others who assisted the staff with the production and completion of the book. Note cards can be student-designed or purchased, but it’s the hand-written personal message inside that is of the most value.

Whatever you choose to do these last few weeks of school, make sure the memories are just as precious as the ones you worked all year to preserve. You never forget your first yearbook staff experience. Or your last.

1. RECRUITMENT

Select next year’s staff. Ask other teachers for their recommendations for potential staff members. Design a written application for each potential staff member that includes information on prospective class schedule, extra curricular activities including clubs and sports as well as off-campus jobs and commitments. Consider asking for teacher recommendations and holding personal interviews. Then, be sure to celebrate and welcome your newly selected staff members at an introductory meeting/party where you can initiate them (kindly) into the Yerd world.

2. COVER/LADDER/THEME

Why wait until next year? Think of how wonderful it would be to start the year with your theme selected, your cover in production and your ladder completed. Start a new tradition of this year’s staff picking next year’s cover. You’ll hit the ground running when school starts and easily make your deadlines.

3. SELL THE BOOK

Plan a complete merchandising campaign to sell next year’s book. It should have its own mini-theme, look, and “voice.” Create video and/or audio announcements and plan when and how often they should run. Write blurbs for parent letters or web-site announcements. Create the order forms for any summer mailing or for orientation days, back to school night, etc. Plan lunch-time activities to kick off your sale.

4. WORKSHOPS/CAMP

Go to a local spring workshop to generate new ideas and “get excited” about next year’s book. Select a summer camp to attend and organize fund-raisers to help staffers and/or the yearbook budget with costs. We recommend that at least your editor (s) attend something over the summer or in early fall to help with the planning process and to get a big dose of creative motivation and inspiration (not to mention the chance to hang out with a fun, positive group of other Yerds!)

5. SELL ADS

Start selling ads for next year. Take this year’s book to advertisers not to ask for a renewal ad. Design ads for potential new clients to take on sales calls as an example for what you can do for them. Brainstorm new potential advertisers. Practice the art of selling with role-playing situations so all staffers are comfortable with the process before heading out.

As you build in spring yearbook activities that develop a deep-rooted sense of pride and legacy, we’re sure you’re going to see growth not only in your program, but in the characters of your staffers as well. And isn’t that a great way to end the year?

Next up–Part III–Even more end-of-the-year ideas!

1. GRAPHICS NOTEBOOK

Students should look through magazines and collect a variety of graphic ideas. Give students a list of items (with a specific number of required examples) to find such as headline treatments, folios, secondary story packages, drop or raised caps, wrapped text, pulled-quote or have them just find items they like and organize them in a way that is pleasing and makes sense to the reader. They should keep the notebooks for ideas for next year’s book. This project can be an on-going assignment throughout the year with additional requirements added at different points. Consider adding typography treatments, photography elements, page layouts, color design, etc.

2. DESIGN A PERSONAL YEARBOOK

This final project should include a cover, endsheet, title page, opening, division page and one spread from each section of the book. It can be an autobiographical yearbook with personal photos, essays, poems, activities, interests, etc. built around a personal theme determine by the individual (a favorite song, a movie title, etc.) or by a general theme topic assigned to all that each person will develop in his/her own way. Or, this can be a starting-off point for next year’s book. Students can work individually or in groups to produce a mini-yearbook that could potentially be expanded into next year’s book.

3. STAFF NOTEBOOK

Each staff member creates a notebook to pass on to a new staffer for next year. Notebooks should include a month-by-month calendar of duties and deadlines, a section outlining the position’s tasks and tips on how to complete assignments, with specific instructions on copy writing, cropping, photography, organization, etc. required by the position. Then, have each staff member write a personal letter to the person who will be taking the position next year to include in the front of the notebook. These can be digital or actual hard-copy notebooks in binders or folders. Content is more important than form for this project.

4.CREATIVITY

Design an all-staff design contest for next year’s staff letterhead, business cards, staff t-shirts, etc. Each student submits his/her designs via formal presentation to the entire staff with explanation of their creations. After all presentations are made, secret ballot decides the winning designs.

5. EARN MONEY

Produce the graduation program, prom program, spring concert or play program, tickets, forms etc. as a fund-raiser for yearbook. Design resumes for students seeking summer jobs.

What end-of-the-school-year project do you do? We’d love to hear about it!

Next up:  Planning Ahead–6 things to do now that will make a big difference next year.

Ho Ho Ho. Happy Holidays!

That’s the goal anyway, right? Happy, unstressful holidays, despite the fact that you’re smack dab in the middle of producing the best yearbook ever. So, here’s a checklist of things to get out of the way now so you don’t panic when you’re up to your chin in wrapping paper and bows.

1. Complete your first deadline. It doesn’t matter if those first pages were due in November, December, or even early January. Do all you can now to make sure all pages are in to the plant. Put everyone on staff on the job of identifying those last few faces, or writing the last three captions, or getting those last elusive scores. The last thing you want to worry about while shopping, cooking, entertaining and enjoying is incomplete yearbook pages. And just imagine how wonderful it could be to come back to school in January without the dread of an eminent deadline!

2. Complete proofing names and mug photos. Even if you are not planning on submitting your mug pages between now and January, this task is fairly easy, but can be time consuming. These pages often require the least amount of design-time, and once the mug photos are all ready to go, they and can be used to help complete a deadline if other content pages can’t be completed.

3. Set up mini-deadlines for your January or early February deadline. The real key here is to just plan ahead. If everyone knows what is expected of them before they return from the Holidays, there will be fewer surprises and more opportunities to catch glitches before they become issues. A mini-deadline schedule  helps keep both you and your staff informed of progress and on track to complete your deadlines on time.

4. Do a ladder inventory. Do you have enough pages for all your parent ads? Did one or more of your winter sports make the playoffs and need additional coverage? Was there an unexpected awesome assembly or all-school event? Didn’t see as many business ads as anticipated? A couple of school activities cancelled due to weather? Make corrections to your ladder and advise your yearbook representative of any changes to your page totals.

5. Have Holiday Yearbook sale. Call it whatever you like, but make sure you have an all-out media blitz for your last sale of the year. Post it on your Yearbook Facebook Page; make a sale video and post it on YouTube after you show it on your video morning announcements; create fun radio-like commercials for your audio morning announcements; put up posters with creative, story-telling slogans; make an announcement for your school’s auto-dialer; post the information on your school’s website and/or parent information site like School Loop or Infinite Campus; add an incentive for all those who purchase a book before the end of the year, like names go into a drawing for gifts to iTunes, Best Buy, Wal-mart or wherever your students really like to shop.

5.5 Celebrate. Have a wonderfully big Holiday party. Decorate your work environment, play reindeer games, sing holiday songs and eat lots of holiday cookies. Or, make it a classy event by dressing up and enjoying a holiday banquet at a local restaurant. If students are willing, have a re-gift exchange or new gift exchange with a dollar cap. Maybe it’s as simple as watching some classic holiday videos together. It doesn’t really matter how you celebrate–just that you celebrate.

And, if you take care of these year-end items, everyone will have a stress-free, happy holiday.

Sample Yearbook Ladder

Your first deadline of the year (regardless if it is your first year or your tenth year advising) always feels like you are navigating a stormy sea. Below are 5 things that you should have done and 5 things you still need to do to make sure you sail smoothly through your first deadline.

Five Things That Should Be Done: (Don’t worry, you can still get them done if they aren’t yet.)

1. Theme & Cover Idea – I know it is 2 things, but they go hand-in-hand

2. Yearbook Instruction on the finer points of putting a yearbook together:
a. How to take a picture
b. How to write a caption
c. How to write a headline
d. How to write copy

3. Your Ladder – Yes I mean all of it…this includes deciding what pages you are turning in for each deadline.

4. Assignments for the first deadline, and (crossing my fingers) all deadlines for the year.

5. You have called your portrait photographer(s) to make sure you get the portrait CD that includes the make-up pictures. Again, make sure the CD includes the make-up photos!

Five Things That Still Need to Be Done:

1. Assign Mini-Deadlines – Make sure you have worked backwards from your first deadline assigning dates for each piece of the yearbook spread, building in time for editing. I know, a lot easier said then done, here is an example:

a. Deadline Nov. 14th
b. Nov. 10th – The spread should be submitted for final edits
c. Nov.8th – Captions, with edits placed on page
d. Nov. 4th – Captions submitted
e. Nov. 3rd – Pictures placed on Page
f. Nov. 2nd – Pictures selected (photo editor and section editor should have been checking on progress along the way)
g. Oct. 28th – Final Draft of Copy & Secondary Coverage Due & placed
h. Oct. 26th – Copy Submitted & Secondary Coverage due – photos and text
i. Oct. 25th – Questions and Interviews should already be completed

2. Put Your Templates on the Pages!! Either select from the templates provided to you or make create your own – either way they should be on spreads by Friday, if not earlier.

3. Look for ways to build in fun secondary coverage on your pages. HJ customers – This means Pop-Ins, Mods, etc…

4. Flow in Placeholders for your portrait pages (or the actual portraits if you have them!) –talk to your rep for more details.

5. Make sure your endsheets are getting worked on and are finalized.

6. Bonus: Make sure you are working on Senior or 8th grade Favorites…it is a long process