Collaborate on Your School Yearbook

December 10, 2012 / No Comments
involve everyone in the yearbook creation process

Group projects are not always the easiest…   It’s like trying to get a class of people to agree on a movie…

The best way to get a collaborative yearbook project started is by getting together a group with a common vision. It is normal for everyone to have their own ideas about the yearbooks direction, however in the first meeting your team should all agree on some key aspects of the project such as:

  • >Who is in charge of each section
  • >The overall look and feel of your book
  • >The project timeline
  • >What happens if someone does not fulfill their duty
  • >What tools you will use to collaborate (easiest question)
One of the most important parts of this meeting is deciding who is in charge of each section. It is often good if you can come to a consensus  on who will lead the project and make the final decision in the case of a dispute between team members. A key to stopping disputes is all agreeing to a common goal in the very first meeting. Once you have decided on a direction for your schools yearbook (style, tone of writing etc), you should write this down and refer to it as a guide every time their is a decision to be made. The last key thing that you need to decide in this initial meeting is what to do if someone does not fulfill their duty. Set deadlines for every task and have contingency plans for what should occur (and who should do it) if a person does not come up with the goods.

Here are some ideas to help you start Collaborating on your School Yearbook project:

> Show them how it works!
Request your free trial account  of the online yearbook system and get your core team to sit in on the tutorial that the Fusion Yearbook Advisor will give (most groups just put the phone on loud speaker).  If they can’t make it, give your team a demo creating your first page from carefully selected content. Have fun exploring the simplicity, speed and creative qualities offered by the application.

Once you have formed your group and have had your first direction meeting, assign your team pages and themes, so they can start work on the book and get familiar with the online system.  Seeing that everything is very fun, simple and effective, they will be better placed to get their part of the project done efficiently and motivate the other troops!

When organising students to fill out their own profiles, it is often good to have a few of your yearbook team working on the chasing up of students. It can be good to print out a few samples and show what the other students have done to those students who are being slow or difficult.

> Lead the Yearbook  with Vision:
Outline what you intend to put in your yearbook. Articles, photos, profiles of students, reports of activities, etc..  Arrange brainstorming meetings to gather more ideas and discuss how to get everybody interested and sell more yearbooks.  For example, create a poster, a Facebook group dedicated an important issue to get their attention.

Create motivating examples in your trial account by using existing pictures of a party or an event partnered with corresponding captions and text.  Students will recognize themselves and will want to go further, and even participate!

> Show your team the quality of the final Yearbook product:

You can request for Fusion to send you a copy of our free yearbook guide.  This book is produced in the same way as your yearbooks will be.  This will give students the opportunity to hold, examine and have a clear idea of how their printed yearbook will look!

> How Much is a Yearbook:
How much will it cost?  This is a very common and important question that most students ask.  We give you the keys to answer them.  Also remember that there are a lot of tips for fundraising that will help keep the cost of your yearbook down.

And wait, it’s still a yearbook which allowed Marty McFly to save his skin !

For more information on this, click here

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Katrina de Dios Ballecer

Katrina is like the Cat Woman of our design team. Being responsible for some of the most beautiful layouts and clipart available in our online yearbook builder, chances are she already helped you create beautiful things. Oh also... She loves everything cat and dreams of running a cat sanctuary in the future.
Posted in: Project Management