March 12, 2010 / Staff Management / Theme

Start making summer yearbook plans now in Workshop Central

Written by Jamie Chambers

As the school year and the work on this year’s yearbook is winding down, advisers can already start their preparations for next year.  One great way to get ready for next year is by attending a yearbook workshop.

You can see all of Walsworth’s workshop options in our updated Workshop Central section, with listings broken down by month.

Workshops can benefit a yearbook staff in a variety of ways. Students are given the opportunity to learn new techniques that will help them get a jumpstart on the upcoming year. In addition to the latest technology to help the construction of their yearbook, staff members will learn valuable methods to improve theme development, as well as overall team building.

In just a few days at a yearbook workshop, your students “live, eat and drink” only yearbook, with only a few hours devoted to sleep. This is the time the staff can use to concentrate on the development of their yearbook-workshop-centraltheme for the upcoming yearbook.  Figuring out the “perfect theme” for the year can be one of the most challenging, as well as rewarding, parts of the workshop.

Learning what inspired other staffs is extremely valuable. The interaction with other staffs gives your students new techniques for theme and even layouts, they might never have considered. They will also learn new ways to develop the theme throughout the book. Exposure to these new and exciting ideas will motivate your staff members and make them eager to thoroughly develop the theme and keep them enthusiastic throughout the upcoming year.

Possibly the greatest benefit that builds during this week of “intense yearbook,” is the team bonding. Workshops often have staff members participate in group activities that encourage them to work together for a common goal. Working as a group to develop the theme and the overall execution of that theme will definitely unite the staff members. Ultimately this sense of teamwork will carry into the classroom.

Your staff will not only benefit with the introduction to new ideas and techniques, they will also become a stronger team. Look for a workshop in your area, you will definitely notice the benefits it will bring to your staff.

One Response to “Start making summer yearbook plans now in Workshop Central”

May 10, 2010 at 12:58 pm, With summer almost here, a yearbook workshop makes perfect sense said:

[…] Jamie Chambers recently wrote an article over in the Idea File about how a few days at a summer workshop getting your staff to &#8220…. Be sure to take a […]

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Jamie Chambers

Jamie Chambers faced two career path choices in college, and lucky for Walsworth he chose art over accounting. He has been a creative influence for Walsworth for 17 years, currently as Design & Creative Concepting Supervisor in the Marketing Department. For 10 years, as an artist and supervisor for the Creative Services Department, Jamie traveled to workshops to collaborate with yearbook staffs to develop their covers and theme packages.