Virtual Engagement Toolkit

Collaborative Projects

Community Photo Album how-to guide

Create a photo album for your alumni community to strengthen a sense of community and shared history. You can create a themed photo project and invite your alumni community to share their photo memories.

Step 1: Set up a Google Photo album

Setting up a Google Photos album is quite simple and the Alumni Relations team can help set one up to get you started. For more information about how to set up a Google Photo Album check out these guides:

About Google Photos

How to create and share collaborative albums

Step 2: Identify a volunteer (or 2 or 3!) who will coordinate the photo album

Responsibilities would include communicating/sharing the album theme, sharing the link via email or social media and either assisting with or uploading photos for community members. The process is simple but it may prove tricky for some. The photo album coordinator must have a Google account.

Step 3: Pick a theme. Some suggestions include:

College Hill Memories

  • Your first-year dorm friends

  • Favorite study spots or academic buildings you spent the most time in

  • Fun on the main green

  • Student activities: sports, dance, music, Greek Life

  • Important events/Brown traditions: Convocation, Spring Weekend, Campus Dance, Commencement.

Then and Now - College era photos side-by-side with current photos across themes like:

  • Hairstyles

  • Fashion

  • Technology

  • Favorite activities (sports, outdoor adventures, crafts, music, dance)

  • Reunions through the years

General

  • Family: children, pets, grandchildren or anything you define as family

  • Favorite activities

  • Your favorite place you have lived

  • A favorite place you have traveled

  • Books you are reading

Step 4: Promote the photo album and start uploading pictures:

Once the album has been created, there are multiple options for sharing it:

  • Send an email through the Google Photos application by individual email address

  • Sharing a link with your alumni community

  • By posting it on a class Facebook page

It is important to note that anyone who has the link can share it with anyone, meaning that it could be shared widely. There is no ability to screen people or stop them from viewing or uploading photos (if they have the link). If you prefer not to share a link with your alumni community you can ask alumni to send photos to a volunteer coordinator.

There are two options for uploading photos:

  1. If a classmate has a Google account, they can follow the link, log into their Google account, and start uploading. Google Photos is very intuitive but if they need help, here is a guide they can reference or search Google for the How-To that they provide.

  2. If they do not have a Google account, photos can be sent to the volunteer photo album coordinator for uploading.

We recommend in your email communication that you let alumni know that photos shared will be viewable by anyone who has the link to the Google Photo link or the website where the photo album is housed.

Step 5: Enjoy the show!

Class members can scroll through the album, make comments and enjoy! No Google account required!