Yearbook staff hosts distribution day event

April 25, 2016 | Communication |

The Petit Jean yearbook staff distributed the 2016 book on the front lawn Thursday, April 28.

“Few would say we are the same as we were the day we walked on campus,” Petit Jean Editor-in-Chief Maeghen Carter said as she began her introductory speech for this year’s yearbook in Thursday's chapel. “Through the years, yes, we change, but even in our day-to-day lives and roles, we change.”

Carter explained that despite the different hats we wear and roles we fill, we are ourselves at the core. Seeking to utilize this idea in the yearbook, Carter selected the theme “Multitudes” from an excerpt from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.”

This year, the distribution day entailed more than handing out yearbooks. The staff will host an event that includes a photo booth, stickers and music. Carter teamed up with public relations and marketing director for student publications Samantha Shepard to create an event that would draw more attention to distribution day.

“My freshman year I didn’t even know there was a yearbook until the day it came out,” Carter said. “That was something I wanted to prevent this year and even brought up in my initial interview for the position. The staff and I work so hard for well over a year. It’s definitely a marathon pace job with a huge reward. But because we’ve been working so hard for so long, I wanted to make the reward even greater. I wanted to do an event so the yearbook could be something people look forward to and get excited about. I want people to remember an event surrounding the book, that way they have even more memories associated with it when they look back at this book years down the road.”

Shepard kept a countdown of the event on social media platforms using #pjyearbook16, and the countdown started with a video in chapel that featured Chancellor Emeritus Clifton Ganus.

“We did a 16-day countdown for 2016 to the distribution day in which we promoted both the book and the day,” Carter said. “We had pictures of the staff for each countdown day going on Instagram and posters everywhere. Our biggest promotional piece was a spoof recreation of Grant Dillion’s ‘Legacy’ video for the Lady Bisons. It was so fun to make and went over so well. I wanted to do something big and funny at the beginning of the countdown to get people excited.”

The creation of the yearbook takes an entire team composed of the editor-in-chief, assistant editor, copy editors, layout editors, photographers and section editors. Carter said she will miss working with those on staff the most.

“The hours spent in the office have turned some of these people into my closest friends, and I’ll miss working with them every day,” Carter said. “It is so fun and encouraging to be a leader.”

Carter said the hardest part of her position as editor-in-chief was telling her peers what to do, but this was also one of her greatest learning experiences.

“It is so hard to discipline and crack down on a staff of my peers and friends,” Carter said. “I love all these people but sometimes it was really hard for me to say, ‘No, you can't leave early’ or ‘Hey, I needed these pictures last week.’ Being a boss is always tough, but I learned a lot about confidence and tough love by doing so.”

Through this position, Carter feels as though she has gained professional experience, and she will carry the lessons learned into her career.

“The hardest part of this job was balance,” Carter said. “Balance in every aspect. Balance between being friends with the staff but also being able to be tough. Balance between being professional with the publishers and any leadership on campus but still being myself. Balance between pouring my heart and soul into this book and also having a social life, internship and school. Balance between having control but not taking control. Each one of those elements taught me incredible lessons I’m sure I’ll use in my everyday life after graduation.”