The Yearbooking Report Podcast

Welcome to a new calendar year! Halfway through the school year now, do you and your staff do a good job of yearbook promotion? Not just book sales but also letting your school know about all the hard work you do every single week? Do you do ANY promotion at all? Most yearbook staffs DON'T. If not, it's time to start - listen to some great views from veteran yearbook adviser Rebecca Pollard from L...

Let's face it - everyone has a smartphone in their pocket. How can that little item be used as part of any yearbooking effort? Check out this episode with comments from Penn State University associate professor John Beale, also an experienced  veteran photojournalist who teaches a course on smartphone usage for journalism. Pick up a bunch of tips on using your mobile device for yearbooking, along...

How's your yearbook page making going? No matter where you are, listen to this episode for a LONG list of great advice and tips from Jostens ambassador and yearbook legend John Cutsinger. John has been helping yearbook staffs for decades to improve their look and design with cutting edge ideas like freeform design. Listen to see what we mean! And John also shares nearly five decades of yearbooking...

It's our October 2019 episode, and get ready for some great thoughts on what should be the chief reason for making a yearbook - storytelling. Everyone at school has some story to tell, and everyone WANTS their story told. Listen for great ideas and wisdom from Casey Nichols, recently retired as the outstanding adviser at Rocklin High School in Rocklin, CA. Now a traveling ambassador for Jostens, a...

In the September 2019 episode of The Yearbooking Report, hear some good ideas on staff organization with top adviser Kristen Scott from Kealing Middle School in Austin, TX. Kristen helped to write the Jostens Yearbook Adviser Guide and has one of the top middle school staffs in America, a book that rivals many high school efforts. Listen for tips and inspiration on both organizing your staff, and...

Welcome to a new school year! Check this our first episode of the new year with thoughts on building your new yearbook team with veteran adviser Kelly Shearer from South Williamsport HS, PA. Building a great team will mean ultimate success for your effort. Also be sure to listen for lots of other ideas and tips from Kelly, along with news on a new exciting portrait photo option slowly sweeping the...

To wrap up the school year, hear a great interview on the importance of student journalism with Sarah Nichols, president of the national Journalism Education Association (JEA) and one of the top yearbook advisers in the country. Sarah leads an outstanding media group at Whitney HS in Rocklin, CA where trained students do the reporting and decision making.   Hear Sarah's thoughts on good student jo...

Welcome back! With the end of the school year approaching, your distribution day should be one of the most important days on the school calendar. But at most schools, it goes by without any fanfare. You've worked hard all year and then...nothing. Let's change that! Listen to an interview with Maddi Hallock, adviser at Bradford Area High School, PA, on her staff's Barker Day entertainment and distr...

It's March and SPRING! It's also about time for spring yearbook schools to wrap up their book work, and a popular question for them is "book's done, now what?" This month we talk with adviser Savannah Cajka of Loyalsock Township High School in Williamsport, PA on what she does with her staff once the book is completed. Last year's staff won the Jostens Yearbook Program of Excellence Award AND made...

Having trouble motivating your students to do their best work or maybe even to WORK? In the February episode of The Yearbooking Report podcast listen to veteran adviser Mitch Eden of Kirkwood HS, MO as he shares some great advice and ideas to help any adviser get the best out of their staff. EVERY journalism adviser needs to listen to this interview and episode - it's time to get the kids to WORK!

The January 2019 episode of The Yearbooking Report has some great discussion on yearbook promotion, something that most yearbook staffs frankly don't do all that well. We interview Ava Butzu, veteran adviser of the award winning Echo yearbook from Grand Blanc High School in Michigan. Have your note pad ready for a long list of great ideas and tips to not only sell more books and ads but also to pr...

The December 2018 episode of The Yearbooking Report is all about yearbook production - how is a book really produced? Why have deadlines and why are they important? And you get an audio visit to the best yearbook production plant on Earth, from Jostens in Clarksville, TN. Production manager Jennifer Gee gives us the tour with lots of information and ideas for any yearbook staff.

We're back, and this month's interview is all about writing, one thing that most students really struggle with. Acclaimed writing instructor Bobby Hawthorne (The Radical Write) shares some fascinating insights on how writing is taught, along with some tips and ideas to change your writing game. No more inverted pyramid? For advisers, perhaps ask your students to listen to this on their own, then r...

In this month's update we look at yearbook design, probably the toughest part of the yearbooking experience for most staffs. Need some advice? Listen to many great ideas and tips from Rick Brooks, veteran Creative Design Manager for Jostens and a 2018 recipient of the prestigious Pioneer Award from the NSPA. You CAN create a beautiful yearbook that your readers will really enjoy reading - listen i...

Welcome back to The Yearbooking Report! No matter what new technology comes down the line, pictures will always be the key element of any yearbook. But most yearbook images are rather dull and uninspired. This month we talk to veteran photojournalist and instructor Mike McLean about taking great photos for your book - starting right now!

Welcome to the new Yearbooking Report podcast. I'm Scott Geesey - journalist, 20-year Jostens representative and JEA Certified Journalism Educator. I plan to have some fun once a month with great interviews and information about yearbook storytelling (what I call Yearbooking,) and this is for ANY yearbook adviser and/or staff, not just Jostens partners.   In this episode, starting the new school y...