There's no need to fear! The rough deadline is here!

Yesterday was another production day for paper, and issue three was the goal. The same amount of people were in the office, myself and the designer, and the same amount of pages needed to be filled. Something was different, however.

Where for the last issue we faltered, we came out with flying colors this time, thanks to a little something I instated-- the rough deadline. I e-mailed, and e-mailed some more, and nagged and nagged some more, all to actual avail. Everyone that turned in their stuff, turned it in on time and close to perfect, thanks to this rough deadline of mine. Moreover, this time around I had not one, but TWO copy editors doing what I was doing last time, all on Tuesday, all by myself.

The rough deadline afforded me two production days, which should've been the case from the beginning. Monday I was able to plow through four pages completely, leaving just three and a tiny bit left on Tuesday. The designer and I were done by 4:30, and I was home before 6.

Quite a change from last production day when I barely got home before 10, and as a result wasn't able to get the paper out on Wednesday. Nothing stinks more than putting forth a huge effort to get something done only to find out that your efforts were not only stupid, but pointless.

So, I'm still learning. There are still glitches, for sure. But at least I know how to get what I want from the staff, and if I don't, he who shall not turn in his/her work on time shall suffer, not me.

Issue two is a success

Issue two of the Arapahoe Free Press came out today. It was better than issue one, but wasn't devoid of mistakes... pretty darned close, though. We made the advisor super proud, and he gave each one of us thumbs up for our work. I'm proud, but want issue three to be better.

I suppose the biggest, most blatant mistake was bad planning for production day, which was Tuesday. The designer and myself were in the office working on issue two until after 9 p.m. that night, and as a result, the paper didn't get printed and delivered to us until Thursday. I was very upset about this, given that I was working my butt off until after 9, but I find that getting upset about things doesn't change them. All I can do is plan production day better, and get stuff done earlier.

For issue three, I've implemented what I've dubbed a "rough" deadline. Writers are to turn in rough drafts of their articles the Wednesday before the final deadline, which is Monday. I hope that by knowing what everybody is doing by Wednesday, we'll be able to start plugging stuff into the layout by Monday, and have production day, Tuesday, just be last minute touches to the paper.

This also will hopefully eliminate the need for anyone to stay in the office late enough to need an escort to get them to their car.