In answer to the question so often asked as to how we are where we are today:

Marcia is the backbone of our yearbook.  The staff could not make it without her.  She is Mother Superior for advice, criticism, what to do next, how do we handle this, good referee, knows know to listen and knows when to say yes/no.  She is an outstanding asset to the book.  She meets with the core editors (editor-in-chief, managing editor, copy editor, photo editor and design editor) at least every two weeks and sometimes every week in the fall as they start up.  She looks at pages and offers advice, is available by email and cell phone 24/7 and calms my nerves when needed.  She takes/escorts the staff to conferences, workshops and holds work sessions. Plus she keeps us on track with deadline and budget.

So you get the picture.  We could not do any of this without our TPC rep.  Marcia is a gem.  Yes, she is a former student of mine.  I taught her in a two-week adviser workshop back in the summer of 1974  at the University of Iowa when I was a high school newspaper and yearbook adviser teaching journalism at A.N.. McCallum High School in Austin, TX.

We like to say I taught her then and. in 1993, when I came back to yearbooks, she taught me. Now we’re a partnership; sometimes good cop – bad cop, sometime mom and dad, but always working toward what’s best for the book, what’s best for the staff.  This past March we had dinner at Patsy’s in NYC with six “generations” of editors and their significant others, all involved in this award-winning production called the Ibis.

Randy Stano
Professor of Practice in Journalism and Visual Journalism
Editorial Adviser to the Ibis yearbook and Distraction Magazine
School of Communication
University of Miami