The Yearbook World of Scott Geesey
from Jostens Yearbooks of central/northern Pennsylvania
ARCHIVE - DECEMBER 11, 2016
YEARBOOK LOVE MAGAZINE: Jostens Adviser & Staff Turns a New Page
Hello! Just one week till Christmas break, can't wait! And I know you can't as well. But in the meantime let's get as much yearbook work done as possible over this next week so you can off on holiday and enjoy yourself with no worries about the book.
Congratulations to my friends at Bishop Guilfoyle High in Altoona for winning their third straight PIAA Class A football title last weekend, and throwing a shutout to boot. BG now has an amazing 47 game winning streak, unbelievable. Way to go Marauders!
And WOW, Army beat Navy in college football Saturday for the first time since 2001. I have no close interest in either team but always love to watch that particular game. And Jostens is proud to create the yearbook of both academies, the Lucky Bag (Navy) and the Howitzer (Army.)
For my advisers, be on the lookout for my annual Christmas card coming to you soon. Once again it features my favorite "big guy." You'll love it!
Yearbook Love isn't just a website anymore. Check out the stories in the fall edition of our new magazine...
Advisers, if you haven't received it already you'll get be getting it this week - the fall edition of the Jostens Adviser & Staff magazine but now with a new name, Yearbook Love.
Hopefully you know about our creative website, www.yearbooklove.com, which features a ton of great information to help you improve your entire yearbook effort. Now we've renamed our awesome semi-annual A&S magazine to give you even more Yearbook Love in a paper and ink version.
And I really like the stories featured in this magazine, which goes out to more advisers everywhere than any other similar publication. What are some of the highlights?
BOOKS WITHOUT BORDERS: Just recently I had a student ask me where Jostens creates yearbooks. And it's not just in America - our Canadian friends have had yearbooks for decades. Jostens has expanded into Mexico and the Caribbean, some forays into Europe, and new efforts in Singapore and the Far East (check page 8 for more.)
Now I find out from reading the new Yearbook Love magazine that we've made initial inroads in Africa. Check out the amazing story of students new to the yearbooking tradition and how it has impacted their lives and education.
THEMATIC MARKETING: As we work together to sell more books this year, consider the idea of further utilizing your annual yearbooking theme as a sales tool to help spread the word about this year's edition. It makes perfect sense, yet few schools do it.
Read over the awesome story featuring the active staff from Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas led by dynamic adviser Matthew LaPorte, whom I've had the pleasure of meeting. Note his ideas, then get together with your group to see how you can try your own versions of those ideas.
YEARBOOKS MAKE THE NEWS: It worked for Donald Trump - using the news media to spread the word. You and your yearbook staff can probably do the same - finding ways to provide stories for local newspapers, radio or TV and getting some great publicity in the process.
One great idea: invite local media to cover your yearbook distribution event. There's nothing like it, the news outlet gets a great story and you get plaudits from everyone around.
CONTEST WINNERS: Be sure to read about the winners of our annual page design contests for both InDesign and YearTech Online schools. Note the modular design idea used for the YTO winner - it's a great idea and EASY to use. Let me know if you need a refresher on modular page design.
And read about the winners of our annual Jostens Yearbook Scholarship - what, you didn't know about these annual prizes? I promoted them pretty heavily last spring and will do so again this spring. And note the web address there for your senior students to apply for THIS year's scholarship. Note that these awards only go to yearbook staffers at Jostens schools.
LAST PAGE: For ALL advisers, be sure to consider attending next summer's Jostens Adviser University in mid July in Scottsdale, Arizona. JAU is the finest adviser-only educational event ANYWHERE and advisers currently working with other companies are welcomed to attend as well. Four days and you'll go home energized and ready for another yearbook year as some of the finest advisers and professionals in the business serve as your guides.
NEXT WEEK - my annual Christmas wish list!