If you have a problem finding enough photos of your son or daughter in the school yearbook, you may want their school to switch to TreeRing, a company that offers schools and families a unique personalization capability. TreeRing is a new,
just-in-time publisher of competitively-priced, customizable yearbooks that are designed by customers completely online, a concept known as cloud
computing.
While a school's yearbook team creates the layout for most of the pages in each book, at least four pages are reserved for kids and/or their
parents to fill with their favorite digital photos to commemorate the school year. If more personal pages are desired, they can be included for a
surcharge of about $5 for each set of four additional pages. TreeRing's web site has a great demo video that showcases the company's simple drag-and-drop
design software.
Most yearbooks produced by TreeRing have base prices of $12 to $15, and three binding styles are available: hardbound books, saddle-stitched
(stapled) books, and perfect-bound (square-edge glued) books. Some students opt for as many as 20 custom pages. During its first year, the company
produced yearbooks for all grade levels – elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. Participating schools had dozens of page templates to
select from, and many, many more are being designed for the upcoming year.
In addition to the obvious appeal of having personal pages in each student's yearbook, using TreeRing means that a school (or its PTA) is not on
the hook for a minimum printing order and the cost of unsold books. Each student's book is printed individually as ordered in a pay-as-you-go plan
that, according to the TreeRing management team, is unique for the yearbook industry. The result seems to be that schools that may have abandoned
yearbooks due to the financial hit of a minimum print order and leftover books can now afford to resurrect their yearbook tradition without any
financial risk, and many have done so. In fact, in the tough economic climate of tight public school budgets, TreeRing's business structure of using
cloud computing and just-in-time (or print-on-demand) digital printing technology may forever change how school yearbooks are created and printed.
This past school year was the company's first year of operation, and it was a resounding success. Now its staff of graphic artists and printing
experts are adding lots of new page template designs and clip art files for school yearbook teams to utilize for next year's crop of books. Typically,
the company sets the print deadline for four weeks prior to the school's desired delivery date, an aggressive schedule for any seasonal printer. Based
in Redwood City, California, TreeRing's initial client list included schools from many regions of the country, penetrating a wide geographic range.
Chris Pratt, one of TreeRing's co-founders, was inspired to create this new concept for publishing after he was "underwhelmed" by his daughter's
grade school yearbook. He pointedly explains that there were "one-and-a-half photos" of his daughter: the school photo he paid for and a barely
discernable view of her in the background of a candid photo of her best friend. With his professional background in digital printing, he knew that it
was possible to do much more, and with three other partners – each bringing their own expertise to contribute to the new business paradigm – they
launched TreeRing. Reflecting their environmental and conservation awareness, they promise to plant a tree for each yearbook ordered. To accomplish
this, TreeRing partners with Trees For the Future, an organization that plants trees in emerging nations that really need them.
