Yes, with Facebook, Instagram and the internet many think that a yearbook isn’t a necessity for students anymore. They think all their moments and excitement during the school year can be captured and looked at within a social network on a mobile device.
While that is potentially true, a printed yearbook chronicles what is most relevant to students and allows them to physically have something to touch when revisiting the book in future years.
Why is a yearbook important?
- For one, it doesn’t exclude anybody. Everyone is mentioned and no one is left out or snubbed. In contrast, if you rely on a social network and the web to showcase the school year, there is a good possibility sections, stories and photos can get deleted. This could lead to tension between students and perhaps lead to a memory that only few will want to remember instead of the entire class.
- Yearbooks are permanent keepsakes. Just like a wedding band and a piece of fine china, a yearbook will last forever. You will have the ability to go back to it and reminisce with future generations including your own children and grandchildren. In contrast, as quick as technology evolves, web-based sites may change their format or go out of business tomorrow and all of your memories could potentially be gone. A printed yearbook guarantees these memories will last forever!
While technology and trends change, good traditional storytelling never goes out of style and that is exactly what a yearbook is. Students will flip through the printed pages of their yearbooks, ask friends and teachers for their autographs and to share stories. Something that just isn’t the same on a mobile phone, tablet or computer.
While creating a yearbook is a long process, before you know it the school year could be coming to an end and it is time to hand out your class yearbooks.
There is nothing worse than it being “hand out day” and your book isn’t ready. That is why it is extremely important to keep to deadlines with your entire yearbook committee and staff.
So how do you keep a volunteer staff to deadlines? Here are a few tips:
- Create “dummy” deadlines way ahead of your real deadlines. This buffer will put pressure on the staff to keep things moving along but also allow you to have some “breathing room” before the book goes to press in case a deadline isn’t met.
- Encourage the staff to send in increments. That means if 20 pages are complete, send them. Don’t wait until the other 40 pages are finished. This will put less pressure on the final eyes to review everything, as everything won’t have to wait until the “25th hour”.
- Incentivize days off when work comes in early. This will take the stress off everyone and give the team a break from the grind.
- Utilize a group messenger text system such as the app GroupMe that can on a regular basis provide upcoming deadline alerts. Students these days all have smartphones that they are looking at every few minutes. By providing deadline alerts via their phones will keep the deadlines top-of-mind.
By simply following steps like these, will not only help get your yearbook elements coming in on time but potentially even early. Give them a try; they can make the yearbook process run more smoothly!
Organizing all your school’s yearbook photos and files can sometimes be a long and grueling task. Between the retouching and renaming of files, the stress level for these members of the yearbook team can most definitely hit new highs.
In today’s digital age though, it doesn’t need to be as bad as you’d think. A little structure and the help of yearbook software programs like Pictavo, which can be used online, can make this organization process a breeze.
Instead of using Microsoft Excel and Word, which could have fifty versions of the most up-to-date document, try utilizing the Pictavo Software, which is available when you work with YearbookLife. This software doesn’t live on one computer hard drive but rather online in the “cloud”. This means multiple users can easily collaborate from anywhere there is internet access.
Aside from the numerous templates and collaboration capabilities Pictavo provides its users with a great way to keep your files and data organized. Within the software admins are able to grant permissions and access rights so those who aren’t suppose to be in certain areas, aren’t.
With Pictavo’s community image upload feature, members of the school community, beyond the yearbook staff can contribute to the school’s book. These people are able to upload and share images they’ve captured on their own, which can make for additional great additions to the book. Best of all, all of this can be done with the Pictavo mobile app!
No more will you hear “Am I using the latest version” and “did I just overwrite an existing file?” Everything can be in one common place with the latest data always updated in real time.
Give Pictavo Software and YearbookLife a try. It can be a real lifesaver!
Like with any other memorable piece, a yearbook is a very important possession for a graduating class. What you put in it isn’t something that you need to just thirty seconds to think about. You want everything to be perfect!
Creating the perfect yearbook can sometimes be frustrating and a little inspiration may be needed in order to achieve that “creative spark.” But where do you find that inspiration? How can you get inspired? Here are a few tips on how to best get inspired for creating that memorable yearbook:
- Develop A Theme. Themes should relate to the attitude of the year that your school just had or is having. Was there a milestone or special event that went during the year? By creating a theme and building around that will make the entire process that much more smoother.
- Work Off Of Popular Phrases. Besides your class photos and the photos of your teams and clubs your yearbook needs good content. One way is by feeding off popular phrases. For Example the “Keep Calm and blank” line or the “I Heart Blank” line. People always remember these. Why not get some inspiration from them and create some pages that have custom lines that feed off these popular phrases.
- Utilize Current Events. Whether it is good or bad, people always remember major news stories and current events. Why not intertwine it with your yearbook and create pages and provide quotes or mentions of where students were during a specific event that everyone will always remember.
There is no good or bad yearbook. Every yearbook should be unique and feature a theme that most closely resembles its graduating class as well as something they will want to go back and look at for years to come.
Yearbooks are items that you will cherish not only with family and friends but your own children and grandchildren. You will both laugh and cry when looking back at it. Your yearbooks will standout for all the wrong reasons if they are filled with spelling and grammar mistakes.
If you are the editor or part of the editing team of your yearbook here are a few tips to consider so you don’t get “egg on your face” not only after books are printed but also for years to come.
- Check spellings of all names. There is nothing worse then having a student (or teacher) come to you and tell you that their name is spelled wrong after the book is printed. It is almost like getting a tattoo. Once it’s there, it’s there forever. Don’t assume spellings of names are correct even if they seem easy. Before anything is printed get an official name list and go one by one in checking the spelling of each name.
- Read the book before it is printed. From front cover to the back, read out loud every single page not just to you but also to others. While something may sound normal when reading to yourself, it may sound diferent when reading to others. In addition, multiple eyes are better than just two eyes. Have a checklist in place so not just one person is responsible for the entire book’s spelling and grammar.
- Sign offs are important. Make sure every student and faculty member signed off on the spelling of his or her name before it goes to print. This makes the spellings bullet proof. In regard to grammar, have one of your English teachers who isn’t on the yearbook committee also read through the book before it goes to print. You would be surprised what a professional will find.
There is nothing worse than having your class yearbook filled with errors. Just one error is too many. While no one is perfect, by putting a proofing plan in place ahead of time will make your yearbook a true and more importantly, memorable success.
While that is potentially true, a printed yearbook chronicles what is most relevant to students and allows them to physically have something to touch when revisiting the book in future years.
