Concentration is key...
Almost one hundred years ago (I’m really not kidding when I say that) The Outlook newspaper was shipped out to the readers on a Thursday. As the years went by, that day of the week changed. For a while it was on a Friday. That changed eventually to a Monday. And Monday is the day that it was put on the stands up until now.
Going over page layouts...
Monday was a fine day to pick up the paper. Start of the week, you could get your paper and begin the week with news and events around the community. There was just one problem. Even in today’s world with computer technology and being able to create individual pages in one file and upload all the pdf files to one central printer, the paper was still produced on a Friday. That meant all the events that happened on Sunday and Saturday would not be in Monday’s paper. Instead, you couldn’t read about them until ten days later. In the next Monday paper.
Getting the final product...
Now, the paper has returned to a Friday run. By Friday morning the paper is available for readers at the newsstand. And in their mailboxes. Granted, it won’t be there right away at communities not right in Outlook, but it will actually get there earlier than it usually would. Let’s face it, most small communities like Outlook have most of their events happen on a weekend. This allows us to get that information out as quickly as possible. But there also is a production date change as well.
Due to this change over, we have to look at our days differently than before. The week used to go like this; Monday was the delivery day, pretty slack and not much happened out of the ordinary. Tuesday, preparing ads and getting things ready on pages. Wednesday, more of the same. Thursday, layouts and final changes. Friday, mad rush to the finish line to get the paper out the door.
Now, the week looks a lot different. Monday, layouts and final ad approvals. Tuesday, finalizing layouts and getting the last ads in. Tuesday afternoon is cut off for ads, so by then we have a good look at what the paper looks like for the coming Friday. Wednesday is production day. At least in the morning. Pages are completed and uploaded to our central printer. Wednesday afternoon we begin tear down and start all over again. Thursday, ads come in and are prepared, pages laid out. Friday, more of the same.
So, the way things are now; Monday is the new Wednesday, Tuesday is the new Wednesday and Thursday, Wednesday is the new Friday, Thursday is the new Monday, and Friday is the new Tuesday while still being Friday. If you can figure that out, you get a cookie.
This is the way it is from now on at the paper. I think it’s a good change, it may take some getting used to, but in the long run it should go over very well.
Until next time…
…keep ’em flyin’!
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