Introducing the BalfourExchange

Our latest innovation brings all things yearbook to one place. We’ve gathered lesson plans, videos, examples, tips and team-building ideas—many crowdsourced from the yearbook community. Jump in and explore, or share your ideas and examples.

When the coronavirus impacted schools last spring, we jumped into action. We shared royalty-free photos for COVID-19, prom and sports coverage. We suggested spreads ideas and created completed layouts to add to your books.

This year, we’ve decided to place all those resources in a more user-friendly location. The Balfour Exchange is our newest creation, a Google Site that gathers journalism resources all in one place. Here are the highlights:

• Digital Resources: This is a comprehensive showcase of lesson plans, blogs and video tutorials. It includes seven different videos series from Balfour, including tech tutorials and videos on writing, coverage, design and more. There are also numerous links to curriculum, tips and posts from the outside journalism community.
• Share Your Ideas: This is the primary reason we created the Balfour Exchange. This links to 2021 Balfour Adviser Resources, our Google Drive to share and crowdsource ideas. Download and share chronological ladders, spreads, and ideas for content, marketing and writing.
• Coverage Ideas: We’ve got ideas! This page features 170+ content ideas, complete with a video you can share with staffers, coverage handouts and spread examples.
• Virtual Bonding & Starter Ideas: A host of videos, posts and ideas for how to connect with staffers from a distance.
  
  

Coming soon
We’ll continue to add resources to the Balfour Exchange and the 2021 Balfour Adviser Resources sites. This includes:

• Academic & sports coverage ideas
• Royalty-free coronavirus-related photos
• Completed spreads on national topics like COVID-19 and the election.

In the meantime, we hope you’ll explore the site and add your own lesson plans, photos and spreads in the share area. Here’s also an informational flyer about the Balfour Exchange with details and link info.