Mini-courses deal with topics that previous attendees have requested. They are held before the workshop tracks begin. Each course requires advance registration and an additional fee. Note the different time slots, so that attendees may take more than one course. Also some courses require certain skills or programs. (See further information on registration page.)
8:30-10 a.m. – 1.5 hrs. each
M1 | Theme
Selecting a theme for your yearbook is the first and most important decision you and your staff will make. Launch your yearbook workshop experience by brainstorming the many options and possibilities you have as you nail down the theme of the book. Get those summer cobwebs out and start by selecting a solid theme!
Instructor – Frank Ragulsky
M2 | Beginning Photography
This session is for beginning photographers or any others who want to learn the basics, from composition to exposure. Digital photography issues will be addressed as well. If you're new to photography or just want to know more about it, this session is highly recommended. Bring your digital camera.
Instructor – Randy Pfizenmaier
M3 | "The Internet's completely over." Wrong.
While Prince may believe the Internet is, well, passe, the rest of the world doesn't agree. Yearbook staffs need to embrace technology, everything from developing content-oriented websites to utilizing social media like Facebook. Staff members should also be putting content on Twitter and Flickr and blogging, just like our friends in the newspaper world do. Come brainstorm some ways yearbook staffs can jump on the information superhighway.
Instructor – Bradley Wilson
M4 | Second Opinions Needed
Want an objective critique on what your yearbook is doing well and what can be improved? This session will provide that chance. Those who sign up for this mini-course will be asked to send page PDFs (new or old) in advance as well as bring a copy of some spreads to the conference.
Instructor – Andrea Watson
M5 | Interactive Design using InDesign CS5
Wouldn't it be great to have that printed document come alive as an interactive document -- with buttons, rollovers, movies and animation? That's a lot of work, requiring you to write lines of software code, right? Not so. A good deal of that can be done straight from InDesign CS5, so that you can put it on your school's website or make it work on a mobile phone. We'll take a look at the basics in this fast-paced introduction to interactive design using InDesign CS5. (Prerequisite: basic experience in using InDesign.)
Instructor – Mike Richman
M6 | Typography 101
Selecting type can be an easy task when planning your yearbook. This session gives the novice designer an overview of type and teaches you to avoid the common mistakes that designers often make.
Instructor – Bruno Ruggiero
8:30-11 a.m. – 2.5 hrs.
M7 | Conquering Your Fear of Adobe Illustrator
No longer will this vector-based software be confusing and intimidating! Illustrator is a wonderful tool for manipulating type and generating graphics, but it's totally different from any other program in The Creative Suite. Bring a laptop with an attached mouse or tablet (those laptop track pads are tricky to draw on) and by the end of this session, you'll be cruising through Illustrator with confidence.
Instructor -Stephen Williams
8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. – 4 hrs.
M8 | Studio Works
Balfour® Publishing Company's On-Line Publishing Solution. During this session we will learn basic Editor functions, including all of the toolbar icons and Inspectors. We will learn how to use Templates and create Section Masters. We will show how to import the PSPA CD (photographer CD) and the different ways to import content and which files are acceptable for upload. Lastly we will show how to flow portraits and have a question-answer session.
Instructor – Balfour® Tech Rep
10 -11:30 a.m. – 1.5 hours
M9 | Leadership 101 for Editors
This session is designed for Editors-in-Chief ONLY to provide you with leadership skills. The focus will be on motivating your staff and making sure you have a successful year.
Instructor – Frank Ragulsky
M10 | Color correct flesh tones in Photoshop like the pros
You will learn a prepress technique that provides great looking flesh tones when reproduced in off-set printing. Bring your laptop with Photoshop.
Instructor – Randy Pfizenmaier
M11 | Automation with InDesign
Design consistency is important in your book. Making that happen can be a tiresome chore or a breeze so that you can focus on the creative things that attracted you to this process in the first place. Learn how investing 90 minutes in this course now can save you hours or days of tedium later. We'll cover using InDesign's powerful styles features, templates and maybe even some Grep, so that you can do the work once, do it right and move on. (Prerequisite: basic experience in using InDesign.)
Instructor – Mike Richman
M12 | Color Matters!
It is hard to use color effectively. The ability to use colors is difficult to learn and comes with lots of experience and a good eye. This class is structured to give beginner designers an overview of color theory and to teach them how to avoid common mistakes when choosing color palettes for their yearbook.
Instructor – Bruno Ruggiero
M13 | "Don't Feed the Photographers."
Photojournalists are a different breed. Motivating them to work on the team involves more than pizza. This class is for designers, reporters, editors and photojournalists who want to learn how to critique a photo, how to organize the photography staff and how to motivate photojournalists. As part of a hands-on exercise, bring a digital camera if you have one so we can practice critiquing.
Instructor – Bradley Wilson
M14 | Second Opinions Needed (REPEAT)
Want an objective critique on what your yearbook is doing well and what can be improved? This session will provide that chance. (Those who sign up for this mini-course will be asked to send new or old page PDFs in advance as well as bring a copy of some spreads to the conference.)
Instructor – Andrea Watson
1:30-3 p.m. – 1.5 hrs.
M15 | Leadership 101 for Editors (REPEAT)
This session is designed for Editors-in-Chief ONLY to provide you with leadership skills. The focus will be on motivating your staff and making sure you have a successful year.
Instructor – Frank Ragulsky
M16 | Marketing Forum
Producing the book is only part of the battle. Getting people to know the book even exists and why they should spend $60 or more for something they've never seen is something all staff members should have a stake. Panelists in this forum will discuss ways to market the book in print, online, using social networking and in other ways that have been successful. Come prepared to think outside the box and to share your own ideas that have worked.
Instructor – Bradley Wilson
M17 | Covering Sports
Covering sports for the yearbook has to go beyond game recaps and highlights. In this session we'll examine ways to cover the sports on your campus that will be reader-friendly and relevant ones, five or 10 years from now. We'll look for feature angles and profiles and ways to create cohesive, comprehensive packages.
Instructor – Andrea Watson
M18 | Beginning Photography (REPEAT)
This session is for beginning photographers or any others who want to learn the basics, from composition to exposure. Digital photography issues will be addressed as well. If you're new to photography or just want to know more about it, this session is highly recommended. Bring your digital camera.
Instructor – Randy Pfizenmaier
M19 | Typography 101 (REPEAT)
Selecting type can be an easy task when planning your yearbook. This session gives the novice designer an overview of type and teaches you to avoid the common mistakes that designers often make.
Instructor – Bruno Ruggiero
M20 | Advisers' Roundtable
FOR ADVISERS ONLY
The Advisers' Roundtable, a popular feature from many previous workshops, allows veteran advisers to meet with new advisers and discuss similar issues. (Mini-course fee is waived for those advisers who have attended previous College Media Consultants, Inc. workshops.)
Moderator -- Lesley Marcello