The Yearbook World of Scott Geesey
from Jostens Yearbooks of central/northern Pennsylvania
ARCHIVE - FEBRUARY 12, 2017
IT'S RANDOM WEEK: Scott Shares Some Random Thoughts on Yearbooking and More
Hello! Looks like nearly every school has next Monday the 20th off for President's Day...or do they? Our recent snowfalls may mean the day has been claimed as a snow make-up day. What's your situation?
Of course this Tuesday the 14th is Valentine's Day. In my recent travels to schools I've seen some interesting promotions for the holiday, from selling flowers to special messages to a dating service. For your current yearbook sale I'm sure there are ideas to connect your book to Valentine's Day - "Loving this year? Remember it forever with our yearbook." Or something similar. Even if you only get one extra sale the attempt would be worth it - give it a try!
Random thoughts on a random week...
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS WEEK: This week, February 12-18, is the annual observance of this week (there are even websites for this!) for folks to just do kind or helpful things for others, just because you can. So why not? Take a little time this week to help out someone in a jam, give someone a ride, offer a favor, etc. I've found that when you do something helpful for someone, at some point they'll do something helpful for you. GIve it a try!! And perhaps offer this to others and make it a wide effort in your school this week, a great idea.
CHECK OUT MY PHOTOGRAPHY LEARNING LINK: Your sports or candid photography less than stellar lately? In the left column here check out my link on learning good photography. It features some interesting websites to help take steps to snap better images to make your yearbook even better. I even have links for other interesting educational journalism sites. And if you come across other interesting photo websites in your travels please let me know so I can add them to this list.
CONTESTS, LOTS AND LOTS OF CONTESTS: In my travels I've seen some interesting photos, ones worthy of our annual Jostens Photo Contest. But you have to ENTER to have a chance to WIN. The deadline to enter is coming up fast so if your staffers have taken a few thought provoking shots this year, please enter them in the contest. For junior high and middle school advisers please note that there is a separate category for you so your students are not going up against older students. But HURRY - March 1 is the entry deadline!! Click on the link in the left column here for all the details. Note that images can be easily transmitted online - simply have students register and then submit images whenever they wish. Let's get started - March 1 will be here quickly.
Coming soon for YearTech Online users it's the annual YTO page design contest which can be done easily right through Yearbook Avenue. Watch for the announcement on YBA in the coming weeks.
WORD OF MOUTH SALES IN THE 21ST CENTURY: Getting a suggestion from someone else about a product or service has always been the most effective way to spread a sales message. It still works for yearbooks but in this current age, word of mouth has more options. One GREAT idea for this year - the Jostens ReplayIt smartphone app! Get a lot of people to download the free app to their Android or iPhone. Then through YBA you can send them mobile notification messages anytime you wish, as often as you wish, all FREE. Send messages about needing images of particular subjects or events, have you bought a book yet, even more generic school-related messages. It's really cool and easy to do!
CHECK MY CYBERBULLYING LINK: Have you ever noticed the button at the top of the left column here? It's a link to a valuable website filled with ideas on fighting cyberbullying, still a hot topic in schools this year. And Jostens is working actively on more initiatives to help our partner schools to educate students on this topic.
CHECK OUT JOSTENS ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Jostens is all over social media with great ideas, inspiration and responses to posts from users. Check out these links sometime, perhaps the media of your choice or all three of them...
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/jostensadviserandstaff. Be sure to LIKE us when you go!
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/jostensyearbook. And I'm a Twitter user myself, @yearbookScott. I like to tweet on yearbook and other education topics.
PINTEREST: www.pinterest.com/jostensyearbook. Not one of the big boys but definitely check out this site, some GREAT material here. And no, guys, not just for girls.
And let's not forget your OWN use of social media to reach students with your yearbook message. We have an updated social media usage guide that is filled with great ideas - check your YBA Digital Classroom to download it, just enter "social media" in the search bar there.
IMPROVE YOUR YEARBOOK WITH A COOL YEAR IN REVIEW SUPPLEMENT: Jostens always offers two different year-in-review inserts for different types of schools. There's the 16 page World Beat supplement, chock full of great information from the year, tons of story telling images and stylish design. Again this year we will have some augmented reality links for folks to launch and watch videos tied to the World Beat material right on their mobile device. And Flashbax is a fun eight page supplement remembering the year for elementary students. It's not too late to add one of these memorable items to your yearbook but hurry, please check them out and let me know!