TreeRing: Personalized yearbooks are coming to Pasco County

It happens at the end of every school year.  Yearbooks arrive and children immediately begin flipping through the pages hoping to see themselves on a page other than their yearly posed head shot.  Some are excited to find themselves at a band performance or dressed up for Halloween, others are lucky if they come out in the background of a group photo.

This is what inspired TreeRing co-founder, Chris Pratt.  Being in the digital print business, Chris was unimpressed with the quality of his daughter's yearbook.  This father of four could not understand why parents should pay for a book  that only featured their child an average of 1 ½ times.  Chris decided that using the latest digital printing technology, it was entirely possible to create personalized books for each child, and include as many custom photographs as they wanted.  Chris, an Indiana resident, rounded up a few business associates from across the country to help him bring his idea to fruition: Kevin Zerber, from California, a father of three, and an internet technology veteran; Brady McCue from St. Petersburg, FL with many years of sales, graphics and digital printing experience; and Aaron Greco from California, an internet Product Management and Marketing executive.  Together these gentlemen created TreeRing.

So, what exactly is TreeRing?
From a July 30, 2009 press release: "TreeRing creates yearbooks for the Internet generation. The Silicon Valley, CA.-based technology company combines the efficiency of just-in-time digital printing and the collaborative power of online social networks to create personalized printed yearbooks that commemorate each child's unique school experience. The process reduces the yearbook creation and financial burden for schools and invests in our planet's future by planting a tree for every yearbook printed.

Parents are given a password-protected account that allows them to begin exploring TreeRing's social community.  Parents and students can immediately upload and share photos and review dozens of templates and personalization options available for building their yearbook pages. Photographs used in the creation process can come from school, home, family or friends. No training is required, as the online tools are drag-and-drop simple and self-explanatory."

This fall, Sanders Memorial Elementary School, in Land O' Lakes, will begin using TreeRing to create it's school yearbook. Jill Middleton, principal at Sanders, is excited about the introduction of digital media into the classroom and their community, "Our school is very impressed with the approach TreeRing takes to streamlining the yearbook-building process. We sincerely believe that our families will prefer to have a school yearbook that includes more memories of their child's activities and accomplishments, rather than a book that features just one or two head shots among 700 images of other students. By allowing families to add personalized pages for their child, TreeRing has solved this problem in a creative and simple way. More than pleasing in our arrangement with TreeRing is the fact that the school is not required to put any money up front. Nor are we required to purchase books that may go unsold. This not only increases our profit margin, but also helps prevent waste! Finally, we are passionate about going green at Sanders so the allure of TreeRing planting one tree for every yearbook produced helped to seal the deal!"

Currently TreeRing is actively working with dozens of schools in Pasco County and across Florida. Some are still evaluating the service for launch this fall while others prefer to communicate directly to parents and staff prior to announcing publicly. The typical cost for an elementary school TreeRing yearbook ranges from $10-$25.  Each book includes 4 free customizable pages and additional pages can be added for a few dollars per page.  Students will have their custom yearbooks bound and delivered to the school just a few weeks after the personalization deadline, which allows events that occur later in the school year to be included in the yearbook.

Not to be forgotten, TreeRing plants one tree for every yearbook sold. The trees are planted all over the world where they are needed through TreeRing's partnership with non-profit, Trees for the Future, a highest rated, 4-star Charity Navigator organization that has planted millions of trees around the world.

Wondering if your school will be using TreeRing this year?  Think this is a concept you can't live without?  Want to help keep your school green?  Take a moment to forward this article to your school's principal or yearbook coordinator!

For more information please visit: www.treering.com, www.treesftf.org