Adviser and Staff Spring 2004 - Jostens

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Virtual CD-ROM planning
starts in real time
The ladder is a planner,
not just a wall poster
Avoiding a spring
“no coverage zone”
Yearbook crunch time is over,
but there’s still a lot of great
school stuff to cover.
Spring dances. Spring sports.
Senior Skip Day. Graduation.
Summer. Next fall’s first day
of school.
If you produce a springdelivery
yearbook, now’s the
time to develop a plan for
covering spring and summer
school life. Also, don’t forget to
have your coverage assignments
in place for summer and the first
days of school.
Consider creating a
multimedia CD-ROM
supplement as a companion to
the print book. Or, design a print
supplement and sell it at
distribution time.
Yet another approach is to
begin coverage in your 2005
yearbook from the day the 2004
volume is finished.
The possibilities are endlessly
fun, just don’t allow important
spring and summer events to
fall into a “no coverage zone.”
Like the print yearbook, real-time planning rules the virtual world
of multimedia yearbook supplements.
“Organization is critical for a successful product,” says Janet
McKinney, adviser at Ben Davis High School, Indianapolis, IN.
“Just as the printed yearbook has a ladder, so should the CD-ROM
yearbook.”
McKinney has a separate CD-ROM staff of five students who
oversee the virtual project and are responsible for gathering and
editing the content of the supplement.
Before you grab your videocam, it's best to determine how CD
supplement coverage will differ from that in the print yearbook.
Will your CD be a basic supplement, featuring good photos that
didn't make the print yearbook? An extravaganza production with all
the audio-visual bells and whistles? Or something in between?
Establishing your CD’s scope and intent, up front, sets the pace for
coverage planning and follow-through.
To keep everyone on track, all of McKinney’s yearbook planning
sessions involve both the print staff and the CD-ROM staff. “Many
times we plan something for the printed book and emphasize that we
must get video[for the CD],” she says.
McKinney and her staff regard both the print yearbook and the
CD-ROM as a “total package.” She believes the CD should
complement the print yearbook but include “live reporting, video
coverage for each section and the ‘must get’ photos.”
“When readers view the CD, they should see different coverage that
provides vibrant flashback moments of people and events,” McKinney
says.“We always include the school song from a game or pep session.”
Flexibility and an open mind are key to capturing great CD
coverage.
“Whenever something newsworthy breaks in the school, my
CD-ROM staff members are there to cover it live,” McKinney says.
“We may or may not have room for everything in the yearbook, but
we notify our readers [about the multimedia coverage] through the
CD-ROM listing in the index.”
With the right mix of real-time planning and virtual adaptability,
your staff is sure to enjoy a positive multimedia experience.
For more information on how to create and produce a multimedia
yearbook supplement, check the Jostens booklet, Verbal Visual Virtual:
A real-time guide for the multimedia student journalist.
Clip and paste designs
into an idea notebook
Transform that stack of
magazines into a handy graphics
notebook.
Clip ideas with teen appeal
then organize them into
categories like typography,
headlines, color use, content
packaging, photo display,
coverage ideas and more.
Next time you’re looking to
ignite your yearbook staff’s
creative fire, open the notebook
and spark their imaginations.
Don’t forget to take your graphics
notebook with you to a summer
workshop — the ideas will come
in handy.
Online ladder
simplifies planning
Planning and managing your
yearbook ladder is a breeze using
the exclusive planning ladder on
Jostens Yearbook Avenue.
While gathered under a shade
tree at a summer workshop, your
staff might use the ladder poster
provided in the Plan It! Kit for
reference.
However with the exclusive
ladder on Jostens Yearbook
Avenue, you’ll be able to quickly
and easily:
■ Define sections, label page
content, assign staff members and
indicate deadlines.
■ Specify process color and
black/white.
■ Select page templates and track
staff progress.
Say goodbye to hours of
writing, erasing, highlighting
and cramming critical yearbook
information into tiny boxes on
a poster.
The yearbook revolution has
begun.
More then just a poster to decorate
the wall, the ladder diagram is a page-bypage
content planner and deadline tracker.
It’s an essential tool for the organized
completion of any yearbook, and ideally it
should be completed before school starts.
The ladder is built with facing pages
called spreads.The ladder also groups the
spreads into 16-page printing signatures, and
within those signatures indicates 8-page
multiples, an important guide for staffs placing
color within the book.
Begin planning the ladder by establishing the sections
that will be included in your yearbook. Popular yearbook
sections include:
■ student life
■ academics
■ sports
■ organizations
■ people
■ advertising
■ index
With the sections established, determine the order in which the
sections will appear in the book. Based on content, allocate the
specific number of pages each section will receive.
As a staff, brainstorm all the possible topics that you might want
to include in each section.When the list is drafted, mark the topics
that must be included in the yearbook.Then, indicate the feature
topics that can be included as space allows.
From your list of essential and optional feature topics, assign each
an appropriate amount of space, [content module, page, spread, multispread
presentation], striving to be as fair and balanced as possible.
Fair and balanced coverage requires that the pages of the
yearbook offer something for everyone. Content should be a
relevant, complete and interesting reflection of the year. All
population groups within the school should be included.
After brainstorming, planning and organizing the ladder, the staff
will be organized and ready to begin photographing, writing and
designing the pages.
From modules
to multi-spreads
When allocating space on the
ladder, there are several options:
■ Content module: A portion of a
page or a spread, often displayed
with other content modules
presenting different perspectives
on the same topic.
■ Page: A single page of content
with the opposite page featuring
a different, but often related topic.
■ Spread: The most common
allocation of space, two facing
pages presenting several content
modules, each with a different
angle on the topic.
■ Multi-spread presentation:
When an important topic receives
two or more spreads, allowing for
in-depth coverage.
16 spring2004 adviser & staff
spring2004 adviser & staff 17