Why Elite Weekend Matters for Your Yearbook

Imagine this: You sit down with your editors and top yearbook students to discuss what your yearbook theme should be. The ever-growing list contains at least 10 different themes with absolutely no commonalities. The tension in the room mounts because no one can agree, and strong personality types begin to clash. Meanwhile, you sigh because everything you hear feels so repetitive. It’s all been done before, either by your school in previous years or other yearbooks, and your students just can’t seem to figure out how to make the theme their own – something unique to your school – because they just want a carbon copy. What do you do? You need fresh inspiration, but no one seems willing to budge. How can you make your yearbook even better journalistically when you already feel stuck this early in the year? I have two words that will change your yearbook life and your book’s trajectory: Elite Weekend.

What is Elite Weekend?

If you have not heard of Elite Weekend before, allow me to explain. Elite Weekend is a training event hosted by Walsworth Yearbooks for yearbook advisers and top staff members to refine their yearbook publication and theme. Staffs arrive with an idea (if they have even gotten that far) and leave with a fully developed theme package, a plan for how to incorporate it and the feedback of some of the greatest yearbook minds in the industry to help polish the presentation. You and your staff will learn about the latest trends from journalism experts who will offer feedback during one-on-one critiques. Best of all, they can lay down the hard truths so you don’t have to be the bad guy. That’s a win for everyone.

“There’s so much good that Elite Weekend can do for your book and your staff,” Walsworth Key Accounts Specialist and Sales Representative Sabrina Schmitz, CJE, said. Schmitz plays a pivotal role in facilitating Elite Weekend as a frequent instructor. “When you’re working on something, you get too close to it. That makes it hard to see what’s working and what’s not. Elite Weekend allows you to work with professionals and experts who can examine your work with fresh eyes and push you to make adjustments and changes that will wildly elevate the quality of your book. There’s nothing more effective in taking your book to the next level than attending an Elite Weekend. What you get done in two or three days at Elite Weekend could take months in a classroom.”

Who Should Attend?

Elite Weekend will put your staff to work and develop your blueprint for the entire year on an accelerated timeline, so bring the key decision-makers on your staff who will put in the time and effort to improve the quality of your publication. They should be able to handle constructive feedback. Elite Weekend is for yearbook enthusiasts hyper-focused on journalistic excellence. It proves especially valuable to schools who dream of winning awards. In fact, over 90% of Walsworth customers who won a CSPA Crown or NSPA Pacemaker attended Elite Weekend. It’s that important.

“I call Elite Weekend a business trip,” T.R. Robinson High School yearbook adviser Joanie Webster said. “We come up with the theme and the visual/verbal at summer camp, and then the editors refine it at Elite Weekend. I only bring the key editors and the ones who I know will work. It’s all work the whole time, working on spreads and refining. We get a lot done and the theme is polished after.”

Where Will Elite Weekend Be?

Elite Weekend has four weekends and locations across the country to choose from:

• 6-8 – Kansas City, Missouri
• 13-15 – Orlando, Florida
• 20-22 – Anaheim, California
• 27-29 – Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

The curriculum highlights include design trends, theme copy, leadership, headline design, secondary coverage, specialty design, photography and more. Walsworth Journalism Specialist and National Accounts Manager Mike Taylor, CJE, developed Elite Weekends for Walsworth over a decade ago because of a training void he saw in the yearbook community as a whole. Now he works to build the curriculum, organize the event and bring in the best yearbook trainers to participate.

“What makes Elite Weekend stand out is the outcome. The outcome is amazing, and I have an office full of very special yearbooks as proof that stand out and are beautiful who all attended Elite Weekend. They have unbelievable coverage. What really stands out in November or December is the number of [CSPA] Crowns and [NSPA/ACP] Pacemakers our schools win,” Taylor said, referring to the fact that Walsworth works with more national award-winning yearbooks than any other yearbook publisher for the second year in a row. “People are excited about going! I warn them that it’s tough. It’s a rough two days, but it’s worth it. Walsworth will train the staff to do all of this themselves – not the advisers, not us – the kids. Once they buy in, it’s magic. Walsworth doesn’t put on workshops just so we can get together and have a good time – we do this to develop the next generation of journalism leaders,” Taylor said.

Beyond the educational value of Elite Weekend, yearbook staffs who attend come away more cohesive and on the same page, with a bond that forms during their time there. The experience promotes better communication and a unified front from your leadership team for the rest of your staff. They come back excited to share their vision and what they learned.

So now, imagine this: You’re sitting in your first post-Elite Weekend staff meeting, more of an observer than a participant. Your editors are all on the same page, excitedly sharing what they learned and their final theme presentation. Their enthusiasm is infectious, and the whole staff is soon on board, eager to incorporate the theme and bring it to life. Your editors now have the confidence and enhanced training to guide your staff and catch common mistakes before things come to you. One month into school, you have a complete theme package, color scheme, font selection, theme copy and design elements nailed down, and those who attended Elite Weekend work directly with staff members to train them. You’ve come away with less pressure on you and an entire support system behind you, from the other advisers you met who gave you great advice on staff management to the trainers you connected with who made everything feel more manageable with the advice they provided. You have contact information for a whole team of people who understand your unique yearbook life who you can go to with questions. You take a deep breath, forever grateful for the time you gained back by investing one weekend into Elite Weekend. You know you and your students are better because of it.

Don’t wait. Sign up today at elite-weekend.com. Your future self will thank you.