Checkin', Tweakin', Meetin'

Jim Nieman and Scott Ryan checked out a QR code in the proof to see if it was readable.

Next week we give the June issue of ChristianStandard to the printer, and today we invited Scott Ryan, our art and design consultant, to come look at the proof of the whole issue to suggest any tweaks or changes he'd suggest to make it look better. He had already given us good advice, and he (and we) are pretty pleased with the way it's turning out. 

I spent much of the morning finishing reading the proof. (I had spent about an equal amount of time with it yesterday, suggesting some repaginations and a couple of other changes to the layout that Jim completed yesterday afternoon and this morning before Scott arrived.) Late copy--some cover copy, the "coming next month" copy, and a couple little changes here and there--all that was part of the day yesterday afternoon and this morning. This afternoon I worked on the editorial for the issue, getting all the way to a draft I'll read in the morning to see if it makes sense.
Shawn McMullen and I attended a meeting with Stephanie Woeste and Jared Alexander this afternoon to talk about the possibility of a monthly presentation to readers and potential readers via a service on the web called BlogTalkRadio. We'll see if we'll be hosting guests on the Internet sometime soon!

Find the Mark

Took two carloads of my coworkers to lunch today--all of them colleagues in our magazines work at Standard Publishing. Forgot to ask the waitress to take our picture, but I got the folks to pose for a picture outside the restaurant, Ferrari's Little Italy in Madeira. Then one of them, our Creative Services Director, Mark Haas, told me to jump into the frame and he snapped a second picture. He offered to Photoshop me into the first picture, but it's easier just to post both pix here. :-)

The lunch was a fun and tasty interruption to a productive planning day Paul and I enjoyed. Tomorrow I'm going to try to follow up on all of the ideas and assignments I've jotted down as a result.

The Best Part of Christmas?

Don't you love Christmas gifts? Especially when they arrive in the mail in a BIG styrofoam box? And when you open 'em, they're full of FOOD?! Steaks and pork chops and twice-baked potatoes and stuffed sole (and, oh yeah, there were hamburgers and "gourmet franks" in there too!).

Evelyn's brother and his wife sent us these goodies for Christmas, and we're having fun deciding when to eat them.

Needless to say, this was the most exciting part of the day. But the rest of the day was fairly productive. My desk is straight, and I have a long list of decisions to make and plans to finalize with Paul Williams when he shows up in the office tomorrow.

I'm taking the magazine people out to lunch, along with Mark Haas and Jared Alexander and Matt Lockhart--it's a Christmas celebration. And like the best Christmas celebrations, it's going to involve wonderful food!