The Yearbook World of Scott Geesey
from Jostens Yearbooks of central/northern Pennsylvania
ARCHIVE - DECEMBER 2, 2019
THE SPRING FIRST DEADLINE CRUNCH: What To Watch Out For
Hello! I hope you and yours had a very Happy Thanksgiving last week. But wow, now just three weeks to Christmas! Let's make it a busy three weeks for your yearbook effort - how much can your staff get accomplished? Push a little harder in these coming days. You'll thank me when you hit the Christmas break and you're ahead of schedule, meaning less to worry or wonder about come January 2.
For my fellow Penn State football fans out there - well, where will the Nittany Lions go bowling? Anyone out there travel to bowl games? I keep hearing Florida but the Rose Bowl is still a possibility.
In high school football, good luck to my friends at Bishop Guilfoyle (A) and Southern Columbia (AA) for making it to the state finals this weekend. Two perennial powerhouses, here's hoping they both bring home the trophy! And congrats to Jersey Shore and Bald Eagle Area for making the state semifinals.
Have you checked out my November updates of The Yearbooking Report? If page design is a concern for your group we have a can't miss interview for you, and of course the video has our monthly trivia question with a chance to WIN. Check out both the video (10 minutes) and the podcast (50 minutes) with the widgets here in the lower right column.
Don't let First Deadline Anxiety hit you and your staff! Here are some important notes...
This week's update is especially for my spring yearbook staffs as many of you approach your first page submission deadline sometime in the next few weeks.
For non-Jostens schools creating spring yearbooks who may be reading this message, especially larger high school books, I'm guessing your first deadline was by mid November? Jostens prides itself for having the latest page submission deadlines in the industry because of the excellent processes, equipment and experience of our printing plants, and our Clarksville megafacility is the best production plant in the entire industry in my opinion, making all that possible. If too-early deadlines are bothersome to you, drop me a line and let's talk. Your school neighbors using Jostens don't have this problem.
I think the first page submission deadline probably elicits more anxiety than any other deadline during the year. Everyone wants to get off to a good start, and making that first deadline is a huge part of that. With that in mind, here are some reminders on what to look for as that deadline date approaches...
PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD: Most miscues in the early going are probably caused by a lack of thorough proofreading. Or perhaps a lack of ANY proofreading, especially spelling errors. Please, please, please, do yourself a BIG favor by getting into the habit of thorough proofreading to ward off mistakes.
Here's a tried and true proofing process that always seems to work. The first cardinal rule is to NEVER allow the person who composed a page to also proofread the page. If that person made mistakes on the page and missed them the first time, they're apt to miss them again while proofreading.
Instead, a great idea is to form a proofreading circle. Print out pages that are to be proofread, then create a circle of perhaps five people and pass the pages around the circle. Everyone has a pen to mark any errors they find. then the page is passed to the next person. Once around the circle, go back and make the corrections on the pages. If you have time, perhaps do the proofing circle again with the same pages.
Nothing is sloppier than misspelled words on pages. I can guarantee that someone at school will pickup on those errors, and then the adviser gets the grief. Misspelled names are the worst - NO ONE wants their name mispelled in the yearbook, you've just made an enemy for life. Always have a name list from the office handy to check correct spellings of names.
IMAGES LOOK OK?: I'll never understand using blurry images in the yearbook unless it's a one-of-a-kind shot for which there is just no replacement and the image must be used. I've found that is rarely the case.
Our Jostens proofers at the plants scrutinize pages carefully, looking for images that are blurry or perhaps pixelated. When they find them our consultant Micah Martin is notified and then you (and usually me) are notified. But it should never go that far. As part of your proofreading process, take a close look at every image. Is it in focus? Is the image cropped properly? Look them over carefully - no one wants their name mispelled in the yearbook, and no one wants to look bad either.
PAGE SUBMISSION TOTAL COMPLETE?: Make sure you've compiled and submitted enough double page spreads to complete that first deadline. Check your ladder thoroughly and often, either the paper ladder on your wall or your online ladder through Yearbook Avenue, to make sure you are staying on plan.
FOLLOWING THE 3X RULE?: Our ages old rule at Jostens is the 3X Rule, a reminder to do your best to include everyone in school in the book at least three times. I know it's still early in the process but hopefully you've already gotten into the habit of making sure you have broad coverage of your students on your pages. If someone keeps appearing over and over, that person has had their coverage, they're in the book too much.
If you have already submitted your portrait images for the year then it's time to start image tagging on YBA. Our facial recognition technology makes image tagging pretty easy, and that information then keeps us informed on how many times people are pictured on pages. If you've been waiting, let's start tagging!
For my Jostens customers be sure to use our exclusive Coverage Report tool to help you keep track of how many times people appear in the book at a particular time. Use it every day if you wish. And if you're a non-Jostens customer reading the update this week, imagine having an easy to use tool to keep track of student coverage so you can spread the wealth. Your neighbors using Jostens once again have had such a tool for YEARS!
And it comes with facial recognition technology that makes the job even easier. I've been amazed at the accuracy of this cool tool.
CHECK YOUR BOOK SALES: If you haven't already, make this part of your daily routine because your book sale is a crucial part of your yearbook effort. You and your staff could be making the greatest page layouts you've ever had, but if no one is making a book purchase your effort will inevitably come up short in the end, causing you a lot of grief.
Don't wait till late in the school year to get your book sale cranking - NOW is the time if you haven't gotten rolling already. And for those fall yearbooks reading this week's update, NOW is the time for you as well to get your book sale really going.
Our Jostens book promotion program featuring active email marketing has been a solid success again this year. Numbers are higher in nearly every school compared to this time last year, and the automated messages from Jostens are professional, stylish and personalized. For my advisers, don't forget that with email addresses available via Yearbook Avenue and/or your ReplayIt.com website/app, you can send your own email messages to non-buyers either through YBA or compose your own missives.
And if your group is image tagging in their YBA page creation we can also begin using our cool personalized flyers via YBA, over and over again to help you sell more copies of your book.
HAVE A GREAT DEADLINE SUBMISSION IDEA?: Maybe you have a great idea that has worked well for your staff. If so please share it with me so I may share it with other advisers.
As spring yearbooks approach that first page submission deadline, if you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate - contact me immediately. I'm here to help and I'll respond quickly.