The staff at Trains occasionally receive calls or letters referring to the "current" issue of Trains magazine. We work on three or four different issues at a time and each one is in a different stage of production or editing. So, if the letter writer or phone caller does not refer to a specific month, we have to pause and look up the right information in a calendar.
Everyone on staff has at least two calendars. I use three: the one built-in to the company's email system, to keep track of meetings and immediate deadlines; a cheap paper one for doctor's visits, family birthdays, anniversaries, and other personal stuff; and a third for everything else.
In fact, we're already planning 2015 "Technology" content for Trains and I've decided to use the official Trains 2015 wall calendar to keep everything straight. As an example, I'm writing this blog post on Nov. 3, 2014, but in May 2015, Trains will cover a rail conference down South. We're looking at content suggestions and...
Wait a minute. Is that a sunset shot near Rochelle, Ill., in the calendar? Who took this ...? Oh, Tom Cerwin took that one, on BNSF's Aurora sub. Hmm. Good shot.
Sorry, got distracted.
So. Long before that conference, I need to coordinate with an author. He has agreed to submit an article in January for review. The review will involve a few phone calls, an exchange of emails, and a light first edit that happens to coincide with a Linn Wescott pacing shot of Santa Fe E unit No. 15 at Kansas City Union Station.
Perfect. E unit.
If you haven't noticed, it's my first opportunity to look through this calendar and the images are a little distracting.
But about the article for the conference.
That article will appear in the June issue to preview the conference. It will be my job to report on the conference once we're there. The hardest part about covering a conference that will be reviewed soon afterward is finding the right materials to cover and making sure that you don't get distracted by a topic or a concept that will take time to turn around and will be of little value to readers until then. In this case, we need to carefully select and interview on the topics that we can easily explain to readers in time to make the August issue deadlines. The rest will get bumped to September where there is another Tom Danneman shot on Montana Rail Link. How does he do it?
But this time with loaded raw-timber cars. Oooh, different.
Oh dear. You might think I could accomplish more if I used a bland calendar without photos that was devoid of personality. The truth is, this year's Trains calendar provides the occasional excuse to daydream and, in my mind, stand next to Wescott, Cerwin, Danneman, and others, when they take these great shots of railroading in action.
Don't believe me? Try a calendar for yourself.
Unfortunately, I've spent too much time explaining our calendars -- I mean our editing process. I've got to get back to planning - the rest of 2015 Technology content.
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