Not everything worked out 100 percent like I’d planned, but that’s to be expected. So far we’ve run into significantly less problems than the last print issue.

Most of the problem last print cycle was the fact that the writers didn’t have the Friday and Monday they usually do to work on stories, and many things were being done the day of. Also, without naming names, there were several writers who simply flaked on their assignments, which didn’t help anyone.

That, combined with unclear deadlines and a lackluster sense of responsibility, meant everything was done in pitifully sluggish form. That led to working late, and that led to layout being started several hours later than it was scheduled to start. All in all, we were lucky to even get the issue on the stands on time.

This time, however, we have fewer of those problems. There’s an absolute deadline set – anything not written by a certain time is simply cut, no exceptions. That’s set at a time I hope will be early enough that we’ll have ample time to copy-edit and do layout as our deadline for the paper marches steadily closer.

So far the section editors have been fantastic about taking the initiative and getting stories assigned, as well as having a hand in designing their sections instead of leaving it all up to the production team.

It’s not all the editors, however – our writers, both in 300 and 302, have been great so far about getting their assignments done as soon as possible.

Hopefully this can all culminate in not only making deadline with no problem, but perhaps even – gasp – submitting the paper to the printer before we’re toeing the “late line”.

So far, all seems to be going well. If only there were a way to block people from watching videos on the internet, our productivity would positively skyrocket.