[ST] Publications Division Report

[Skip Morris]

Publications Division Report

Summary
  Overall publications was a success. There were a number of
problems, but almost none of them visible to the attendees.  Gripe
session feedback was almost universally positive (The problems
that were mentioned were mostly minor and easily fixed).
  Publications continues to not have enough staff.  The huge job of
putting together pubs just burns people out and takes too long.
  Info, resources and other things needed from other departments or
people within Arisia usually comes late or in marginal shape, which
makes the publications job all that more difficult.
  Things just barely getting done at last minute; when problems do
develop it's difficult to fix except by throwing money at them. Some
of this is due to ripple effect of publications getting info or resources
late, the rest is of our own causing.
  People are each using their own tools (some use PC, others MAC,
for layout people used InDesign, Ragtime, Word, WordPerfect, and
Illustrator). The difference doesn't seem to matter much.  The final
PDF files still work, although some tools are better then others for
processing data.
  Publications is EXPENSIVE. Even minor problems can have huge
budgetary effects, much more so then any other area.

Major Problems:

Budget:
  We went way over budget (mostly due either to Pocket Program,
  plus an advertising vendor cancelling); it all happened at the very last
  second when it couldn't be allowed for by adjusting page counts or
  press runs. (Had it happened a day earlier it could have been delt with.)
Pocket Program:
  Late to press and with wrong layout. Printer had to fix.
Repro Counts:
  Press runs set for attendance of 2200, not 2000. Could have saved $500.
Zambia (Programming) Access:
  Pubs access to Zambia not granted until December 18th (despite
  my asking since June).  Really slowed down publications which
  contributed to pubs being late (but was not primary factor).
Congo (Registration Database)/NCOA Issues:
  Database in bad shape, took four weeks to be fixed by hand before
  the NCOA (National Change of Address) process (required by the
  USPS) could be performed and MassMailer sent. No negative impact
  other then attendees had shorter lead time before rate went up.
At-Con Office:
  The room switched at last minute (from the basement room to 238),
  plus didn't pick up the room until Friday morning which delayed setup,
  the first issue of the newsletter, and other things like getting printers
  configured with the proper drivers.
Masquerade Program:
  Didn't get printed due to a number of issues; primarily overworked staff
  at both Masquerade and Publications; communications issues between
  Pubs, Masquerade, and Ops; unrealistic expectations of what was
  possible; plus elevators holding people hostage making it difficult to
  travel between upper and main floors.

Major Successes:

Souvenir Book:
  It was wonderful! Didn't get many comments, but it was one of our
  best efforts.
Pocket Program:
  Was a big hit. People didn't notice the pages that were hard to read.
  All the required information was there and easy to find.
Grid:
  Was a smashing success.
Dealing with a 3D Artist:
  The challenges of doing justice to a 3D artist were more then met.
Print Production Runs:
  Production runs were well matched to expected attendance.
Color Newsletter:
  It was a lot of work but worth it.  Very well received, although this
  year very few comments since people have come to expect it.
Newsletter Photography:
  Photographs in Newsletter are well liked. Vast improvement from past.
Data Integration:
  We're doing a better job of downloading Zambia (Programming) data
  and turning it into something that can be published.  We actually had
  time to proof things this year.
Souvenir Book Material:
  All submissions for Souvenir Book were tracked and managed via a
  Google Spreadsheet that multiple people had access to.  This made it
  much easier to keep track of what the current status was and what was
  still outstanding.
Restaurant Guide:
  We had a complete guide of the entire area (second year in a row).
Newsletter Printing:
  Used borrowed plus rented printers this year instead of Kinkos.  Was
  better, cheaper, and faster!!!

Detailed Area Report (+ means something that went right, - means a
  problem, and ~ is neutral or just a comment):

Budget:
- Pubs went way over budget, primairly caused by Pocket Program
  although other areas had issues.
+ Seven days before con we were about $500 under budget; The copy
  count for the Souvenir Book and Program Guide were even raised so
  we wouldn't run out.
- Six days before con we lost $550 in advertising revenue when Prairie
  Games pulled out. (In retrospect, I should have realized something
  was up when  they wanted to wait until arriving at-con to deal with
  payment.  This isn't unusual for the professional publishers, we deal
  in purchase orders and post-con payment all the time, but the way it
  happened was unusual and at least could have raised warning flags.)
- Monday before con the printer called in panic saying that the layout
  size for Pocket Program was wrong.  The printer had to fix it which
  cost us $720 in layout charges. This was too late to adjust by
  changing page counts or other things. This caught us all by surprise
  because both Skip and Paul Selkirk had been doublechecking the
  Pocket Program; we both checked the layout and both of us missed
  the problem.
- Pocket Program being late to press (5 days including a weekend)
  resulting in a late charge of $200 (they had to push back other
  customers jobs). This was in addition to the $720 in layout charges.
~ Restaurant Guide didn't sell any advertising ($500 budgeted). We
  adjusted by cutting the page count, reducing the copy count, and
  then only handing them out at the Info Desk.
~ Restaurant Guide ended up $250 cheaper then final plan since the
  printer didn't have time to bind it due to late submission (we did on
  Friday night).
~ Pocket Program quote was wrong, printer quoted 52 pages plus
  covers, what was requested was 52 pages *including* cover.
  Difference was one signature of 16 pages, the cost about $230 in
  our favor.
+ Use of detailed budget spreadsheet helped control costs and allow
  us the maximum flexibilty. Impact of problems was minimized.

Circulation Counts/Distribution:
- Souvenir Book, Program Guide, and Pocket Program print runs
  sized for an attendance of 2200 (which was the high limit number
  that was tossed around.) Actual attendance slightly over 2000.
- Had we known that the real attendance limit would be 2000 then we
  would have cut the copy counts of all the pubs by 200, estimated
  savings about $500.
~ Newsletter circulation counts down from prior years.  Distribution
  was better on main floors except for Info Desk, Upper floors only
  had distribution every other floor this year.  Distribution racks with
  pockets helped a lot.
- Better publicity or info is needed as to what info is published and
  where it was available.  Not everyone knew to look for a Restaurant
  Guide, Large Print Pubs, or Braille Program at the Info Desk.

Zambia (Programming Database) Issues:
- Pubs access to Zambia wasn't available until December 18th,
  (despite my asking since June). This really delayed publications
  work and availability.
+ Zambia has vastly improved, downloading data and formatting into
  pubs went quicker.
~ Track and type definitions don't match publications, they need work
  to better fit into publications.
- Data quality from Zambia is very poor, requires much work to put it in
  shape for publication.  Pubs staff did excellent job editing and proofing.
- Programming ignored the requirement for short descriptions, most
  other departments didn't. Pubs staff shortened them for Pocket
  Program and no one complained.

Mass Mailer Database (Congo/Registration DB) & NCOA Issues:
- Database was/is in very rough shape.  Not possible to just download,
  NCOA, then send off mailing.  Took four weeks of work to deal with.
- Access to database very difficult. Had to kludge it (more delay).
- Some fields appear to be missing from older records (ie, sharing).
+ New field for "access method" added this year.  In future we can
  do more electronic (email) marketing and fewer hardcopy mailings.
~ Need to buy copy of DBVisualizer to get better access to Congo.

Souvenir Book
+ Final book very nice, one of our better efforts. Paul keeps just
  getting better-and-better.
~ Lots of extra work and complications due to 3D artist.  Over 800
  photos were taken of artwork.
+ Written material no major problems, most available early.
- Problem with cover scans, redone when 1st vendor results marginal

Program Guide (Insert to Souvenir Book)
- Slightly later then preferred due to Zambia access issue.
+ Process almost entirely automated, Zambia download to final
  product in minutes.
+ Semi-Automated proofing process, completed easily.
~ May not be able to do in future years due to budget and longer con
  (or may only do a limited run for participants only).
~ Request (at Gripe Session) to print the crossreference list by
  time instead of track.  (Makes sense actually.)

Pocket Program
- Way, way over budget ($920 total extra charges).
- Was started way too late plus wrong tool used causing late
  submission to printer and additional $200 rush charge.
- Wrong page layout sized used resulting in $720 layout charge when
  printer had to fix (no time for us to do it.)
+ Totally new format this year, was very well received. Lots of
  thank-you's, compliments, and suggestions at the Gripe Session.
+ Use of Code Wheel got positive comments at Gripe Session.
+ Cover card stock (instead of paper) was nice, made book a little
  stiffer and fit into a pocket better.
- Need better way to differentiate information (visibly), not always clear.
  Possibly simplify the TOC (Index bleed tabs) with fewer ones, or
  maybe group them, or possibly make the background of some
  sections greyscale.
- Quick Reference format needs work, hard to read.
- Some departments didn't respond to mail (asking to check the Quick
  Reference), then later complained at-con when listing was wrong.
- Track Listing Format needs work, hard to read as well.
- Floor directions on pages reversed (to allow 3rd floor to be on same
  page as dealer list), was a bit confusing.
- Fonts not used consistantly, plus resizing of fonts by printer hurt
  readability.
- Space not used to best advantage, art thrown in at last minute.
~ Should add participant cross-reference to end of book as well.
- Bleed tabs weren't lined up very well, also due to last minute rush.
~ A blank page for notes is needed at the end (Gripe Session Req).

Grid (Insert to Pocket Program)
+ Very useful and universally popular.
+ Automated creation, takes 15 minutes from Zambia download to print.
~ Still lots of room for improvement, primairly in title length, dealing with
  item overlap and overflow, size of grid, cells and rows. (Mostly a First
  Year Syndrome, will be improved in future years.)
- Printing extra copies of the grid was overlooked in the rush, the lack
  of them was noticed, however not much of an effect since Info Desk
  was well hidden.
+ No changes to schedule, didn't have to reprint new version of grid.
  Programming really on the ball there and it made life easier for pubs.
- Several errors in grid; two from Zambia that were not detected. Others
  still being debugged.

Maps
~ Big maps needed a "you are here".
- Big maps/grids required extra effort to print (thanks Rick).
- Original maps didn't fit into Pocket Program, had to be redonw.
- Upper Floors map page, change order in maps (16, 3, 14) to (3, 14, 16).
~ Maps should be redrawn in Illustrator (not Powerpoint or other tool).
- Should use body font for room names and functions, not headline font.
- Some areas missing from map listing (ie, Fast Track).

Restaurant Guide
+ Jet and her team did a fantastic job gathering info from a totally
  new area.  A huge effort that succeeded.  Thanks guys.
- Late submission to print, printer unable to bind. We had a stapling
  party in Ops on Fri night (but we saved money on binding).
~ No advertising sold, looks like different market in Cambridge (vs the
  Boston convention market) makes advertising not really feasible,
  had to compensate by cutting size and copy count. (Only available
  at Info Desk).
- Original size was 20 pages plus covers and insert, original press run
  was to be 1000 copies to be made available at registration with the
  other publications. Actual size 16 pages plus covers and centerfold
  map, actual press run 400 copies handed out at info desk only.)
- Insert (map) printed slightly wrong size, caused by late submissions
  and limited time for printer to complete (with no proof). Should have
  been 8.5x16, instead was 8x16.5. Not big deal but looked unwildey.
+ Printed with slightly different cover layout plus colored stock, made it
  very visibily different from Pocket Program so there was no confusion.
- Imported GIF/JPEGs on maps fuzzy, needed higher resolution and
  better map base.
+ Long list and positioning of restaurants on map excellent.
- Needed proofing, a number of misspellings (ie, Asmara, and others).
- Harvard Square map blocked out Trader Joes, Micro Center and the
  Supermarket, should put Harvard Square map on same page as
  Kendall Square.
~ On big map, should have outline boxes to show where detailed map
  coverage is.
- Display fonts in maps not great, should have used different font.
~ Better cover for next year, use glossy paper or card stock.
~ Lot of feedback from mailing lists, but not all was useful since it
  included restaurants from entire region.
~ Should add Royal Sonesta/Cambridge Galleria Mall/Museum of
  Science area to map.

Newsletter
+ Lew did his usual quiet but reliable job. Thanks!!!
+ Jet stepped in at the last minute to fill in and edit the Color Issue
  (and had to forgo attending a bunch of parties.)
- Circulation counts down for all issues except Color Issue.
~ Better distribution on main floors *except* for Info Desk.
- Info Desk needs a rack and easel just like everywhere else.
- Upper floors only had racks every other floor.
- Would have preferred issues out a bit earlier. The Friday/Saturday
  evening issues were late.
- Office not being ready (room 238) delayed setup and first issue.
  We really need office ready Thursday night, not Friday.
+ Photography good selection with three photographers working con.
+ Rented high-speed printer worked out great
- Drivers on Samsung printer crashed system, had to download new
  drivers over network, not installed until Sat night. (Delay basically
  caused by getting room late and having SysAdmin services only
  available on Thursday night.)
- Ops didn't pass on message that printer had arrived, caused some
  confusion when vendor was called and they said it was already there.
- Staff shortage Saturday afternoon.
+ Having two good printers worked (instead of using Kinkos), also was
  cheaper, better, and faster then Kinkos.
- Color issue could not read watermark with issue number, should
  have removed.
~ Color issue normally takes all night. Distribution started at 4AM.
  This should be planned for and not catch people by surprise.
- Some corrections/other info wasn't published or lost in email.
- The "newsletter at arisia.org" alias should have been forwarded to
  GMail account.

Large Print Pubs
- Were done at Staples instead of in-house as planned. Extra cost.

Braille Program
+ Found reliable (and cheap) vendor this year.
+ Had feedback from blind attendees allowing improvement to data.
- Too many copies printed.  Probably only five needed.
- Need additional info (Quick Reference, etc) added to data.

Mass Mailer
+ Down to single page this year, no forms or extra info.  Minimal
  impact except for saved money. Val did an excellent jobs in layout
  and squeezing everything onto one page.
- Main body font used was a bit hard to read.
- Went out several weeks later then preferred due to ripple effect of
  NCOA. No real effect except attendees had less time before rates
  increased.  (Note: Sending out mailer late seems to increase
  attendance for many cons.)
- Foreign/Canadian mailers got lost in shuffle by printer, never sent.
- Single page mailer didn't handle folding/sealing very well by printer,
  many got crumpled in process. (Discovered when stopped by the
  South Boston Postal Annex when looking for foreign/canadian
  mailers.)  It may be better to switch to a large postcard format.

Office (At-Con)
- Room switch from basement to 238 just before con, no real impact.
+ New location worked very well, would want to go back even if
  basement available.
  Had internet access, bathroom, easy to access.
- Picked up room late (Friday instead of thursday), really slowed down
  setup. In future need to get room on Thursday.

Advertising
~ Sales above budget (good), last minute pull-out of Prairie Games hurt.
- Rates for Semi-pro/Fan wrong, ended up using something close to last
  years rates.
- No ads from Esther (WGoH) publisher since we asked too late.

TShirts
+ Nice design for Volunteer Shirt from Erika, many good comments.
- Suffered from "too many cooks" syndrome.
- Design on Sales T-Shirt marginal, lower sales then expected.
+ Test for polos and denims, very well received, sold out (but only
  just barely) at con.  Attribute this mostly to nice art.
~ Test for ladies designs, results still awaiting feedback.
+ Offworld did a great job for production. (And very tolerant of us
  jerking them around.)

Voodoo Message Board/Party Board
- Moved from originally planned place.

Palm Schedule
- We didn't do one this year due to lack of time/resources.
- Beam station wasn't put out either, but didn't matter since the
  Info Desk was way-too-small anyway.

Printing Vendors
+ BFS as ususal did an excellent professional job.
+ They bailed us out *again* by fixing the Pocket Program layout.
  (In the past there have been problems with Souvenir Book.)
- BFS continues to have difficulty providing quoted and detailed
  breakdown of charges on the bill. Not sure why and seems to be
  industry wide.
- Saltus does a decent job of mailing, however a small operation like
  ours doesn't get their full attention. Things get overlooked or delayed.
- Final publications (Pocket Program, Restaurant Guide) only just
  available on time from Printer. Delivered to Registration only 10
  minutes before Reg opened Friday afternoon. (We normally pick
  them up Thursday afternoon.)

Other Comments:
~ Headline font looked good, but overused in a few spots.
+ Consistant fonts and art across all publications looked real nice.
- Lack of a "branding" font across entire con (web site, etc.) was
  noticed and could be improved. (But difficult due to political issues.)