On Tuesday July 20 at 11pm EDT/PT, MTV will premiere a new weekly series called “If You Really Knew Me” based on the Challenge Day program. Each episode will be shown on MTV multiple times during the week and streamed on MTV’s website.
“‘If You Really Knew Me’ is an incredibly authentic and compelling docu-series that takes us on a 24 hour journey through a high school’s social transformation. It shows us what happens when kids from various cliques decide to break down the walls that divide them and commit to change,” said Tony DiSanto, President of Programming from MTV. “It’s an intense and dramatic experience, but ultimately uplifting and universally relatable for all of us who have gone through high school or are about to.”
Each episode takes place at a different high school with its own set of issues and its own unique set of cliques. In the series premiere, viewers go inside a Northern California school divided by race and cliques, a symptom of a newly-diverse student body that has grown from 500 to 2,400 students in just 10 years. As the season progresses; the show profiles a variety of schools struggling with everything from cyberbullying to small town rumor mills.
Discussion Guides (sponsored by Herff Jones) can be downloaded from the Challenge Day website at: http://www.challengeday.org/mtv/.
What’s this got to do with yearbooks?
We all know that yearbook sales are directly related to school spirit. If your school is not participating in Challenge Day, maybe Yearbook could sponsor it! Visit the Challenge Day website for more info: http://www.challengeday.org/how-challenge-day-works.php
Teambuilding is key to an efficient yearbook staff. Try watching the episodes together as a group, and downloading the discussion guides. Download the discussion guides here: http://www.challengeday.org/mtv/
If your school is already participating, don’t forget to cover it in your yearbook! Make sure to interview the participants for their point-of-view!
Angela’s side note: I participated in a Challenge Day as a high school student (A LONG TIME AGO), and it was definitely worth it. Let’s just say a lot of tears and hugging were involved. I highly recommend it!
You know ESPN hosts both Summer and Winter games of Extreme Sports with events like skateboarding, BMX biking, street luge, snowboarding and snowmobiling. Well, what about the Yearbook X-games? Once the book is done, have an X-Game Celebration after school. Have staffers sign up ahead of time for events like these:
Big Wheel Slalom
Skateboard Paddling
3-legged Cross Country Skipping
Nerf Skeet (Frizbee) Shooting
It’s a great way to burn off all that built up stress, and it’s a great prelude to a nice Yearbook banquet where winners receive their medals along with the other staff awards. Or, be really X-treme, and ask ASB if you can host the Yearbook X-Games for the whole school over a couple of lunch periods and have students pay a dollar or two to participate. Instead of gold medals, give away golden tickets to your yearbook signing party!
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “X” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
Yes, we know, YERDS and Advisers are very under appreciated, but there are other individuals on campus who deserve some appreciation, too — whether it’s a note, a gift card, or a nice acknowledgement at a staff meeting.
The custodian (who cleans up the classroom after the pizza parties on your late work nights)
The secretary (who answers a million and two questions about yearbook)
The counseling department (who runs off all the class lists and always knows what class someone is in)
The IT person (who answers all your panicked phone calls when the computers are whacky)
The bank clerk (who collects all the money from book sales, ad sales, parent ad sales, and fundraisers AND pays your bills on time!)
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “U” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
Not a laughing matter, but can result in a lot of smiles. Tweets, Tweeps and Retweets are the basis of communications on Twitter, the social network site second in popularity only to Facebook. If you are not using this powerful tool yet, here are three reasons to become a tweeter:
Status updates of 140 character or less. No Farmville, Mafia Wars, or “What Shoe Are You?” news feeds to sort through (like that other site). Just the facts in every tweet (post).
Thousands of professional designers, photographers and artists post tips, tricks and tutorials free for you to view and use as mini-lessons.
Great way to communicate with other yearbook staffs, professional YERDS, and your school community about what your staff is currently working on, coming events, and yearbook sales.
While you’re there, follow The Yearbook Ladies at Twitter.com/YearbookLadies
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “T” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
Producing a yearbook is a lot of fun, but it also carries a great responsibility. A yearbook lasts forever and cannot be reproduced once the year is over. Because of this, every picture, every caption, every quote in every story, and even every graphic has to be true and accurate. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind as you record the year’s memories for your school community:
Check and double check names. No one wants their name misspelled forever.
Captions and Senior Superlatives are a part of the coverage. They are not a place for inside jokes.
It’s our place to record history, not make it up. Make sure your scores, quotes and sources are verified.
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “R” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
We know you’ve got ‘em: “When’s the next deadline?”, “What happened to my pictures?”, “Does anyone know this person?”, etc. But here are a few questions that good designers and copy writers should continually ask themselves and each other as they work. Keep these in mind as you look over your spread/copy before you call it “done”:
Is it fresh? Current? Original?
Does it relate to the theme? the year? the school?
Is it specific to the theme? the year? the school?
Is it my best work?
If you can answer “yes” with confidence, then your work is complete. When the book arrives, you’ll be glad you took the time to ask these critical questions, because “good enough” never is.
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “Q” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
We know what it’s like: deadlines, missing pictures, lots of stress. Sometimes it’s so overwhelming that production seems to come to a standstill. So how do you keep your students going through even the toughest circumstances? First, appoint a staff social director, and then try these methods of motivation:
Celebrate staff birthdays and 1/2 birthdays (for those born during the summer months.)
Institute a “Staffer of the Month” award with a small token of recognition: a crown or sceptor for the day, a Staffer of the Month certificate, and a perpetual plaque or poster on the wall. Throw in a cake, cupcakes, doughnuts or cookies, and you’ve got a great 10 minute celebration!
Plan a theme (think The 80’s, Pirates, Disney, Valentine’s Day) for each deadline week or deadline work night.
Decorate the room, have students bring theme-related food, and play a mixed CD of theme-related music. You’ll be surprised at how much work gets accomplished when fun is in the air!
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “M” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
A great interview requires a little bit of preparation. Take some time beforehand, and you’ll get a lot more than “Yes” and “No” from your interviewee:
Prepare open-ended questions. Unlike close-ended questions that just require a one-word answer (i.e. “What is your favorite color?”), open-ended questions
have more than one answer
could have a different response from every person you ask
requires the respondent to describe actions and reactions
is asked with the intention of collecting a quote
If you must ask a close-ended question (i.e. “What is your favorite subject?”), be prepared to follow-up with an open-ended one (i.e. “What do you like about it?”)
Remember, your list of questions is just a starting point. Pay attention to their answers, and you might discover something more interesting than what you had anticipated.
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “I” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
Let’s face it: the yearbook classroom isn’t just another set of four walls with cutsie kitten posters inside. Find ways to make it your “Home Sweet Home”:
Make sure you have a place for communication, using stacking plastic holders, envelopes, or actual mailboxes for each staff member (or team)
Add a room mascot and name it. Of course we’ve seen the standard stuffed animal, but also a growing ball of stickers, a store-bought piñata, and fish on a stick (made from construction paper, of course)
Make room for a “rant wall” where staff members can write funny sayings, quote other staffers during the year, and doodle.
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “H” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
Good coverage is hard to achieve when staff members sit in the room and hope that the stories will come to them. Sure, you can try to light some incense and pray to the gods of feature writing, but with your luck, you’ll probably just set off the smoke alarms.
Well if your school has a homeroom or advisory class, how about assigning each staff member to a teacher. That way the staffers “adopt” a particular homeroom class. It is the goal of each staff member to get “THEIR” advisory students into the book at least two times.
To accomplish this, your staff members should get to know their adopted class. Start with a school-wide survey to find out about the students there and then send the staffers in to dig a little deeper to find the hidden gems. Once they get to know their group, class conferences should be full of people suggestions. For example:
Editor: We’re doing a story on sports that students play outside of school. Who do we know out there?
Staffer #1: A kid in my homeroom is a competitive gymnast.
Staffer #2: Yeah, one in my homeroom has a black belt in Judo.
Staffer #3: I’ve got an Irish dancer in my homeroom.
(etc.)
Hyde Middle School has been doing this since the beginning of the school year. They have three giant binders full of surveys and the students look through them for ideas. Recently I challenged them to a contest: find THE MOST UNUSUAL story or person in your advisory class. Three winners would be selected to win In-And-Out gift cards. Imagine their excitement when they found a student who . . .
–has collected over 400 Tech Decks (little skateboards)
–is a competitive rock climber
–volunteers at the Red Cross and an animal shelter 15 hours a week
–can walk on stilts
–has collected Legos since he was 6 years old
–collects sand from around the world
–is a synchronized swimmer
–competes in Brazilian martial arts
So find those stories and people hiding on your campus. Your readers will LOVE the book and learning about their fellow students.
Editor: AKA best friend, worst enemy, that mean person making me stay late, dude, student who responds to an urgent scream of “help,” late-night karaoke champion, and permanent fixture in the yearbook room. All editors should:
Besides the Editor-in-Chief, consider section editors, a photo editor, a copy editor, and a business manager
Model the best behavior for the staff. That means showing good planning, being on time, not putting things off to the last minute
Must be present at every deadline (clear your social calendar for the next few months!)
Has the fewest pictures in the yearbook, but the most power over what it looks like
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “E” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
The fall is a perfect time to design and order staff shirts or some other apparel. It helps create a team spirit, identifies students on campus, and reminds students to buy their yearbooks.
It’s especially fun when the staff can sneak in a little theme humor that the general student body doesn’t quite understand. Last year the Prospect High School book used the “Polaroid” photo look in their book and used the same graphic on their staff sweatshirts. Of course no one on campus understood the connection until books were passed out in June.
It’s always nice to put the students in charge of the design, like the student pictured below. Last year, a student at Cupertino Middle School had been learning how to silkscreen and actually hand-made every staff jackets!
There are lots of well-priced vendors on the Internet (www.customink.com has a line of American-made shirts), but also give your neighborhood silkscreen store a call and keep your business local.
Deadline, shmedline: it’s no big deal when you have the proper planning.
Work backwards, setting up mini deadlines necessary to achieve the final one
Plan your ladder well, consulting with your school calendar to check for school events and sports seasons
Always add up to 10% more pages to each deadline to allow for unexpected problems (if 36 pages are due, assign an additional 4 just in case)
Have deadline parties or celebrate when you’ve successfully met a deadline
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “D” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
Building a team is more than just working together. Save time for playing as well
Designate one staff member as the social director
Go to the movies together after a deadline
Look into indoor rock climbing to learn trust and facing fears
Instead of individual page assignments, create teams and give them a few spreads each
*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook” project. If you’d like to download the “B” card, go to the “Adviser Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com
We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…
Between setting up your classroom, staff meetings, planning lessons for all the other classes you teach, and just general denial that summer is over, it may be hard to get back into yearbook mode again. If that sounds like you, or if you’re new to this whole yearbook thing, here are 15 ideas for the first week of school that will get the ball rolling:
Expectations - Review your class requirements, grading policies, any planned staff work nights/weekends and the importance of making deadlines.
Information - Complete a staff directory that includes phone numbers, other contact numbers (i.e. email, cell phones, work numbers), class schedules, birthdays, parent’s names, etc…
Theme - If it isn’t already decided or in the works, discuss theme and cover ideas
Critique - Go through last year’s book and have students list and discuss things they liked best and the things they would change
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.
Sell - Discuss and plan your book sales campaign. Have students brainstorm ideas to increase book sales.
Ads - Discuss and plan your community, parent, and friendship ad campaigns. Decide whether every student must sell a certain number of ads, if they get bonuses/commissions, how to organize, etc…
Team Building - Start each day with 10 or 15 minutes of icebreakers/team building activities. This will help students get acquainted and get over any fears, shyness, etc. and begin to become a cohesive team.
Ideas - Have each staff member bring in 5 ideas from magazines that could be used in the yearbook. Or, have each student bring several magazines and have a “look for ideas” class.
Practice - Have students refresh and reinforce their design skills by drawing layouts and pasting up photos and type from magazines.
Photograph - Buy disposable cameras, have students shoot photos around campus and “discover” who your best photographers are.
Improve - Have students rewrite 5 captions and headlines from last year’s book. They should try to make them more informative and adhere to the caption writing formula.
Brainstorm - Have students come up with and discuss ideas for feature stories, profiles, polls, and side-bars
Delegate - 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 responsibilities will be.
Bond - 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.
One of the major “issues” of almost every yearbook staff is communication and organization. There just has to be an easy way to keep track of what everyone is doing and an easy way to communicate swiftly and easily with everyone. Just because you assign someone to take pictures or conduct an interview does not mean that it will get done or that you will remember to follow up. The next thing you know, the spread is due and you were not aware that some element is missing until it is too late. No matter how wonderful your staff is, or how organized you are, some things just fall through the cracks. And then, how do you communicate with the parties involved? Well, here are a couple of places that address those issues. One is from Google, and one is from a company called Behance. Check ‘em out.
1.Schools from all over the globe, including 2 right here in Northern California are using Google Apps to stay organized and connected. If these apps work school wide, think how useful they would be for your staff ! Maybe you can be the one to get your entire school using free email! Check out the Official Google Blog at: Official Google Blog: Schools get the “App”titude across the globe
2. Our friend Dmitri Conom at Bellarmine College Prep shared this organizational tool. Action Method Online is like a virtual Project Manager. It was created to “help organize the creative world to make ideas happen.” It is a combination of best practices from companies world wide, and woven into one package. First check out http://www.behancemag.com/Tip-10-Realizations-For-Productivity-_-Making-Ideas-Happen/5745 then check out the official website: www.Actionmenthod.com.
3.Of course Herff Jones’ Planner for use with InDesign is also be a great tool. While it does not have all the elements of the other two applications, it does help organize your ladder, page assignments and deadlines. It is yearbook specific so doesn’t offer areas for Action Plans and Project Timelines. Here’s what it can do:
Rearrange the pages in your electronic ladder without retyping a thing. Move, add or delete pages and the rest of the book adjusts automatically.
Add page information like staff assignments and layout specifics to make your ladder as detailed as you’d like. List team members, copy placement or secondary coverage ideas–you can add all the details you want.
Sort and print your ladder by page, deadline, subject or staff member.
Build and label all the yearbook page templates for your book. No more templates without school name, job number and production method!
Track your yearbook page submissions to the plant. You’ll be able to review the status of every page and eliminate surprises when you think the yearbook is finished.
It’s a great organizational tool, and it’s already in your kit. Just load the CD onto ONE computer, and you are ready to go.
For a full demonstration, call your Herff Jones Sales professional. You can even get a chance to play with it yourself!
So, it’s May, your books done, and all you’ve got left is distribution. What are you going to do with all this time? Well, there are 3 ways you can take advantage of the yearbook “down time”:
Bring in some movies for the kids, call this your extra prep, and catch up on all the stuff you didn’t do all year because you were busy with yearbook
Have the kids put all the skills they’ve learned this year into other areas: creating a magazine, website, etc…
Start next year’s book now, and be ahead of the game in the Fall!
If Option #3 sounds appealing to you, here are 11 specific things you can do to make sure your staff is ready to roll on the first day of school:
Recruit your staff now - Ask your Herff Jones rep for a “Staff Recruiting Packet” if you haven’t done so already. It’s filled with posters, application packets, and everything else you need to recruit a quality staff. If your school won’t let you recruit, ask if you can simply recruit your editors.
Decide your theme and cover - The underclassmen on your staff have been waiting all year to have a real say in the book. It’s time to let them strut their stuff. Start brainstorming theme and cover ideas. Write down ones that have potential. Have the staff start collecting magazine lay-outs, brochures, etc… with design inspirations. This is also a good way for you to start choosing your editors for next year.
Write down what went well and what didn’t - Do this on your own, with your editors, or with the whole class. Don’t count on remembering everything. Make sure you write it down. (Although you’re calm and relaxed now, remember how rushed you are in the beginning of the year.)
Re-do any forms that didn’t work well this year - Sales letters, camera sign up sheets, etc… If there are any forms you use that need improving, now’s the time to do it. Remember to save the new version with a date or version number, in case you run across the old file again.
Register for yearbook camp - Most camps have registration deadlines or early bird discounts. Make sure you have all the information you need to register your staff for camp.
Train your staff - Now is a great time to work on photography, design, and copywriting skills for your staff that will be returning next year. Bring in some professionals in the community, if you can. Or use this time to beef up your technology skills. Learn some InDesign or Photoshop tricks that you might want to use in next year’s book.
Review this year’s budget and make plans for next year - Make sure you know what your final invoice is going to be, or at least a good estimate. Make sure you’ll have enough to cover it. If not, what adjustments do you need to make for next year. If you’ve got money left over, think about how you might want to spend it!
Plan your book marketing and sales for next year - Start planning next year’s sales now! Plan a Yearbook Sales Kick-Off event toward the beginning of the year. Come up with a sales slogan. Create video advertisements for morning annoucements. Get all the details taken care of now so that information can be ready to send home as soon as school begins! (TIP: If you sell enough books at the beginning of the year, you might be eligible for an early payment discount with your printer. You can also better estimate how many books you’ll need, so you don’t end up buying more than you can sell!)
Sell Senior and Business Ads over the summer - Just because they go in the back of the book doesn’t mean you have to do them last! In fact, if you sell your ads over the summer, your staff can already begin working on pages as soon as school starts (without having to wait for events to happen). This means you will have your first set of pages ready for that first deadline! And if you’re a Herff Jones customer and you send in pages early, you can get credit for future late days! (ask your rep for more details)
Open next year’s kit and toss out this year’s out - Your publisher kits should be arriving about now. Go through all the new stuff, and toss the old stuff out. There is no reason to keep old kit materials lying around! Take time to learn what’s new for next year, so you don’t get caught by surprise the day before a deadline, or miss out on an exciting new feature!
Clean out your photographs and file cabinets - Start next school year on a clean slate, archive all your photographs and then delete them off your harddrives. You don’t want them getting mixed up with next year’s photos! Also, have editors clean out section/editor cubbies, mailboxes, etc…
If you have any end-if-the-year tips, we’d love to hear them! You can add your comments below…
Sponsoring a signing party is a great way to distribute yearbooks while having fun and making money! Charge admission, sell soft drinks, popcorn, pens, plastic covers and autograph supplements. Order items from the Herff Jones Collection and give them away as door prizes, or sell them to make money for the yearbook program. Use the weeks before distribution to publicize the party and promote the yearbook. It’s extra work, but the money you’ll raise and the publicity you generate will be worth it!
Party planning timeline
8 weeks to go
Reserve a space for the party (may be done at the beginning of school or months in advance); it’s best to hold the party in the gym or cafeteria.
Arrange for chaperones and security at the party.
Order pens to sell at the party.
Order autograph supplements for signing.
Order items from the Herff Jones Collection and decide how to distribute.
Order plastic covers for yearbooks.
Order 300-500 helium balloons (in school colors or the color of your book), helium tank, ribbon and balloon clips.
Order butcher paper for signs.
Order staff T-shirts for the party. Put the time and place of the party on the T-shirts and wear them one month prior to the party.
Buy white or colored poster board (about 25 sheets).
Purchase crepe paper (in the color of your book).
Buy small stickers for personalized yearbooks.
7 weeks to go
Make signs on butcher paper to advertise the party.
Make signs on 8.5″ x 11″ paper and photocopy them.
Contact your school newspaper for an article about the party.
Begin to write promotions to submit for school announcements.
6 weeks to go
Continue to make signs on butcher paper to advertise the party.
Check that items ordered for the party will be delivered on time.
Arrange for four cash boxes at the yearbook signing party:
- one at the door
- two for new book sales
- one for pens, plastic covers and autograph supplements
Arrange for a DJ or music for the party.
5 weeks to go
Make signs for the following:
- cost of admission to the party
- cost of plastic covers, pens and autograph supplements
- cost of extra yearbooks
Make signs that display alphabet groupings: A-F, G-N and O-Z. These will be posted above yearbook distribution tables at the party.
4 weeks to go
Make or finalize a list of yearbooks previously sold; divide the list by letters of the alphabet and paste on poster board for quick reference.
Put up the first set of signs in your school advertising the party.
Distribute 8.5″ x 11″ fliers throughout your school.
On Friday, put the first promotion of the party on the school announcements.
Begin wearing T-shirts advertising the party on Friday.
3 weeks to go
Continue to place signs throughout the school.
Make sure the list of books sold is complete and personalized books are given a special number.
On Friday, put your second promotion of the party on the school announcements.
Wear your T-shirts on Friday.
2 weeks to go
Continue to place signs throughout your school.
Make sure all the signs advertising the party are displayed around the school.
Every day of this week, promote the party on your school announcements.
Wear your T-shirts on Friday.
Assign students jobs for setup and cleanup.
1 week to go
Every day of this week, promote the party on your school announcements.
Check to see when the yearbooks will be brought to the party location.
Arrange for ladders, tape and scissors for the day of the party.
Day of the party
Staff members should wear their yearbook signing party T-shirts.
Three hours before the party, the staff should begin to decorate the party location with balloons and crepe paper.
Set up the yearbook distribution tables; post signs according to alphabet groupings (A-F, G-N, O-Z) above the tables.
Personalized books with name stamps, name plates or other specialized options should have stickers with numbers placed on the spine for easy reference.
Set up a separate table for the purchase of additional yearbooks.
Have plenty of plastic covers, pens and autograph supplements.
Have the sound system set up for music.
Now, open the doors and distribute your yearbooks!
“Distribution Day” - Possibly the most exciting day in the year for many students, yet with the potential of being the most chaotic and stressful day for an adviser and the yearbook staff. With all the information you’ll have to remember, here’s a list to help keep you on track:
(TIP: Get a binder with 8-tabs to organize each of these items in preparation for the big day)
Distribution Memos - Keep a copy of all your emails and other communication about yearbook distribution (i.e. when students should be released from class, names of students who pre-ordered books, list of staff members who need to be released from class to help, etc…). This info should be handy in case an administrator, teacher, student, or staff member asks for a reminder. Although you may have memorized all this information by now, you’ll be surprised what you can forget when you’ve got several 100 students shouting at you for their yearbook.
Volunteer Info - If you are recruiting volunteers outside of your yearbook staff, keep the information here (names, contact info, time frame, station assignment, etc…). Create a check-in sheet to check-in the volunteers as they arrive, and make copies of instructions for their stations. Make sure instructions are typed out and photocopied. Volunteers will arrive at different times, and you don’t want to have to spend all your time training each one. Have a back-up plan for in case volunteers don’t show up. For example, you may want to assign a couple “floaters.”
Staff Jobs - Make sure every member of your staff knows what’s expected of them. If they are going to be moving boxes of books, make sure they arrive properly dressed. Once week before distribution, hand out a list of expectations (i.e. what time to show up, where to meet you, what part of the alphabet they will be helping with, what to do if they have a delivery question, and what to wear). You may want to let them know that any staffer/editor who violates the rules will be sent back to class. In which case, you also want to prepare for back-ups.
Pre-Order Database - Make sure you have a complete and accurate list of all students who have pre-ordered their books. Have this list divided by grade level and then sorted by last name. Set up a “Problem Table” and provide the staff at this table with a copy (or several copies) as well.
Complimentary Book List - If you budget for complimentary books (i.e. for the principal, library, PTA, etc…), make a list of who is receiving one, who is delivering it, and when it was delivered. Make sure you set these books aside as soon as your books arrive, so they aren’t accidentally sold. If possible, have a staff member hand deliver the book, and get a signature in return. Keep these signatures in your binder for future record.
Special Requests - Many times and for many reasons, you will need to deliver a book through the mail, leave it in the office for parent pick-up, or allow a sibling/friend/neighbor to pick up a book for someone. Keep a list of all special requests here, and some sort of proof that you followed through with the request. Anyone picking up a book for someone else should sign for it. If you have to mail a book, use certified mail, and get a receipt.
Delivery Problems/Suggestions - People are going to have opinions of how you can do things better next year. Whether it’s about the book or the actual distribution process, keep a form handy where you can jot down their suggestion, name, and contact info. They might actually have some good ideas for you, or at the very least, they will feel as though you are taking them seriously.
Notes - Keep a place where you can make your own notes of what went well and what didn’t. Not enough pens at stations? Too many people at the problem booth, but you needed more for crowd control? Not enough food to feed volunteers? etc… Don’t count on being able to remember it for next year. Remember, that’s a whole year away!
Remember, the more prepared you are, the smoother your day will be! And if you have any distribution tips and tricks, we’d love to hear them! Please share your comments below…
Yay! You’re done with your yearbook! All you have to do now is wait for them to arrive. Here are 5 things you should do in preparation for your book delivery:
Observe the 48 hour rule - Do not say anything negative about the book or find any errors for 48 hours. You and your students have worked hard and you deserve to celebrate your accomplishments.
Remember that it’s the process, not the product - The yearbook is done by students, and it is truly incredible what they have produced. There will be mistakes, and that is OK.
Don’t panic - If you find a major error or omission, call your rep! We have quick and easy fixes for many common errors. (Example: If you find inappropriate copy and your book is printed on 100# paper, you can remove type with a pencil eraser.)
Secure your books - Yearbooks are a hot commodity, and even the best kids can be tempted. Store your books in a safe location with limited access. Organized, supervised distribution can minimize the potential for theft.
Overrun copies - Sometimes, the plant sends extra books to cover damages and additional sales. You are charged for these books on your final invoice. If you find a damaged book or do not sell the extra copies, tear out the title page of those books and return them with your bill for a credit (HJ Customers only. For overrun policy of other printers, please contact your rep).
Here’s to a happy delivery and stress-free distribution! Whatever you do, remember to take time and congratulate you and your staff for a job well done!!!
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