The Yearbook World of Scott Geesey

from Jostens Yearbooks of central/northern Pennsylvania

ARCHIVE - JANUARY 26, 2020
 

THE POWER OF STORYTELLING: And Jostens Schools Have the Power In Their Hands Right Now

Hello! This is definitely a WEATHER week. Looks like more snow and real cold is coming up, and of course Sunday is Groundhog Day when my friends in Punxsutawney take the world stage. Will the famous Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow Sunday morning, which means six more weeks of winter? My guess is YES so get ready...

Don't forget - the deadline for this year's Jostens Photo Contest is Sunday, March 1. If you have some great photos from students, urge them to register online and submit their images online ASAP. Go to www.jostensphotocontest.com to enter. Be sure to check the rules and download the release form - need to get the permission of those pictured before entering their image in the contest. Good luck! 

Are you "total storytelling" right now? It's not too late to begin - and your audience will be thrilled...

As February starts it's a crazy time. Everyone has page submission deadlines pending or upcoming. Spring schools are closing in on finalizing their order of books and extra student options. Schools are starting to have more snow days this year. And oh yeah, there is regular school work to do and other responsibilities.

Let's take stock at this point - not how many books you've sold or how many ads you've sold but how many STORIES have you told so far. No matter if you're a spring or fall yearbook, take a look at your work so far. How many different people have been pictured so far, on your pages and on your ReplayIt website/app? Is it the same people over and over again? Beyond just your portrait images, how many times is every student pictured?

Last week in this space I wrote about the 3X goal, doing everything you can to picture as many people in school as you can at least three or more times in your book. Why is this important? Because everyone at school, from the most active students all the way down, deserve to be pictured and remembered for a lifetime in your book.

But if all you and your staff are doing are blindly making pages, slapping down whatever pictures you have and not really paying attention to your Coverage Report, you'll find a lopsided view of your school pictured and be doing a disservice to many of your students.

This is where what I call "total storytelling" comes in, and it's not too late to start . Here's what to do...

CHECK YOUR COVERAGE REPORT: If you've been image tagging, and I hope you have, on YBA go to Create, then Coverage Report. I've found that many advisers don't use this powerful tool. Do a little sorting to see how many times people are currently pictured and prepared to be surprised.

GET PICTURES OF THOSE UNDERREPRESENTED: And this is a project for the rest of the school year, not a rush job, but let's get started now. And then get those images uploaded to your Yearbook Avenue website immediately for display on your ReplayIt website/app.

Remember that yearbooking with Jostens isn' t just pages in a book anymore. It's also ReplayIt, especially the mobile app which most people can now view right now and always on their smartphone. Everyone likes to see images of themselves and their friends, so let's oblige them as many times as we can. Images from classes, in the hallway, from lunchtime, from before or after school, even images off campus or around town - go out and get images of EVERYONE. make a shot list for your staffers - we need images of THESE students.

TRY SOME DIFFERENT MEDIA: With ReplayIt you and your staff have the chance to do some really cool multimedia work, remembering people and school in video, audio and now augmented reality. And ALL of it will be saved into your annual Digital Time Capsule for viewing for many years to come online or via the ReplayIt app. As your staffers are out and about, tell them to shoot videos or record audio right from their own mobile device, then get the files to you the adviser for uploading via Yearbook Avenue to ReplayIt. Trust me, these new storytelling avenues will really impress the brass and thrill your students.

THEN BEGIN SOME REAL STORYTELLING: Start now and then let's continue this idea into next year's yearbooking effort. You can tell someone's story with just a picture and a caption, either on a page in your yearbook or on your ReplayIt site/app.

Then let's start the transformation, from just making pages in a book to telling at least one story about every person in your school. Yes, EVERY person, students and staff alike. Do it with pictures, some words and even short videos that can be displayed for viewing on ReplayIt.

People LOVE to be remembered and have their story told, and now with the combination of your Jostens yearbook and your ReplayIt site/app you can do just that. Yes, EVERYONE. My basic rule: the best material makes your yearbook, EVERYTHING makes ReplayIt. And at year's end all of that material, videos and all, is saved either in your new book or in your digital Time Capsule for all to enjoy for many years to come.

And for spring yearbook staffs who will finish their book in March, remember that ReplayIt keeps going in April and May and June. Keep working, keep taking lots of images (or videos) of lots of different people doing lots of things and keep uploading them to YBA for viewing on ReplayIt immediately. Add short captions to those items and keep the storytelling going. Promote this to the entire school, get everyone registed for your ReplayIt site or app, then watch them watching your work.

In this age of inclusive, nothing gets more inclusive than this. And think how everyone at school will feel to see that they've been included? Remember that your yearbooking effort is supposed to be the story of your entire school, not just a "special" group of people.

If your yearbook sales are struggling, student coverage is probably a major reason why. Follow this new plan, let everyone know what's happening, invite them to check it out, and I bet your book sales increase.

But as the old Chinese proverb says, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Let's take that step this week and keep on going. Let me know anytime on how I can help.