Some Down Time, Perhaps?

With two of my big projects with the clients for approval, I think I can afford to blog early in the day. However, it looks like I have to build six print ads in simplified Chinese, which Wendy is now confirming with the Asian newspapers the correct sizes.

I think there's something going on with Julita. She was here yesterday morning, but she was nowhere to be found before lunch. (She works at home Tuesdays and is off Thursdays.) Two weeks ago, she was "sick." Last week, she was on vacation. I guess there's not much to do when you're the HR/office manager and there are only four employees to manage.

I also managed to stick around two months since Rob left for greener pastures, thanks to my skills in desktop publishing and graphic design.

Bite Me, It Did

As expected, work came right after lunch yesterday.

There were already two voice mail messages on my phone. One was from Jim, the other from Stephanie. They were regarding the artwork for the mailer. He had several revisions, but none were drastic. Stephanie called in to check if I received Jim's instructions, which were cut short because his voice mail was so long.

Then there was Nina and Shelley's DM project with the client's single change to the mice (the fine print on the ads). I also had to digitally package the materials used in the DM for the printers. Nina also asked me to proofread online banners and create a PDF of them. On top of those, there were Charlene's client requests for a graphic and a logo. And Wendy's being bitchy didn't help either.

Amazingly, with all that work, I only ended up working 15 minutes overtime.

Today wasn't so bad. The major task I did today was proofing French online banners and converting them into PDFs. In fact, work is so light today that Wendy could afford to go home early this afternoon "for a visit to the doctor."

A Slow Week?

Three hours into Monday and I have yet to work on a project. I've heard through the WIP meeting this morning that Jim has at least two "tweaks" in the artwork, but he still has to receive the InDesign files, which I am currently transferring to the N drive as I type. (The files are more than a gig and they're taking an hour to copy from the Mac to the N drive.)

I don't like being idle because all this free time will come back at the end of the day or week to bite me in the ass. I don't like this feeling at all.

Aah, Friday ...

Finally, it's the weekend!

This week has been the busiest, thanks to this DM mailer for a client's promotion in the fall. It's huge and comes with a die-cut. I've been working on it since Wednesday and have finally tweaked it and e-mailed it to Jim in Toronto for review.

I just don't know what to expect from it, but I haven't heard from him since sending it more than two hours ago. I hope the revisions are minor; but with the difficulty of the project, I'm sure there'll be several. Anyway, the layout and typesetting part are over.

By the way, Brooke, our former studio manager who was laid off early this year, dropped by on Wednesday to gather stuff for her portfolio. She said to me that I should be getting two salaries with the way I was doing things around here. She also said that I made things look easy when I singlehandedly did all the Chinese posters for a client.

It wasn't easy at first, but I learn fast.

Good Riddance, Jennifer

Today was Jennifer's last day in our office. She dropped by while we were having our WIP meeting and was accompanied by someone (a male with salt-and-pepper hair). She came to pick up the rest of the stuff and packed them in moving boxes. Then she was off to the city that never sleeps.

Everyone said their heartfelt goodbyes and exchanged hugs except me. I didn't bother because I never liked her, especially after that branding incident. I simply waved goodbye and Jennifer said to me in passing, "Don't make any spelling mistakes." I replied, "I won't."

That was the last time I talked to her. I have never felt so relieved.

She's in a New York State of Mind

It's been months since the last agency meeting. We had one today at 11:15 a.m. It was for Jennifer's announcement that she's moving to our New York office effective immediately. Of course, I already knew that.

They say that it's business as usual, but people, usually those who aren't affected in any way, always say that. And the truth is, we don't know what will happen next to those whom Jennifer leaves behind.

For now, we had informal drinks in the office and talked about stuff like the upcoming U.S. presidential elections and how it is hard to look for an apartment in the Big Apple. Afterward, Jennifer started packing her belongings. She'll be back on Monday though.

As for me, I'm having second thoughts about my tenure here again. Better pay due diligence in my job search once more.

Now for Something Different: Static Banners

I reported for work 30 minutes early because I needed the half-hour head start to begin on an entirely new thing: static banners for an electronic newsletter.

At first, the task looked daunting because I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Besides, I didn't have any background in banner creation. However, since these banners were in JPEG or GIF format, I built them in Photoshop. Like Shelley and Nina who were handling this project, I was amazed with the results.

I Saved My Ass This Time

It's been days since I sent ad materials to a Chinese newspaper for a client's print ad and I hadn't heard from them if my files were printable or not. I thought to myself that maybe everything was okay and that the newspaper people would call me up if they weren't good.

However, there's one important thing I learned from this trade: Never assume anything. So, I sent an e-mail to our contact person in the newspaper this morning, asking if he received our files in good order. And to my surprise, he called me up, saying that he hadn't received them.

This ad is supposed to be out on Monday to coincide with the client's contest. If I hadn't followed up with the Chinese newspaper and the ad didn't appear on one of its pages, then that would spell big trouble for me.

It's always a good thing to check and not assume everything.

I Saved the Day

It wasn't quite hectic for me yesterday. So, any unscheduled project that came my way, I could easily tackle for as long as it could be done before 5 p.m.

First, there was the resizing of a client's ad in a newspaper. With a little help from Wendy with outlining fonts, I was able to adjust its size and send it to the newspaper as soon as I was done.

Second, there was this issue with another client regarding a DM mailer. Earlier in the morning, Shelley and Nina were having a very lively discussion with the guys at the Toronto office, particularly Gord, who was having an attitude problem because of Jennifer's last-minute changes to his copy.

Because Shilling, the freelance art director in Toronto who designed the mailer, wasn't around to do the revisions, Shelley asked me if I could do them. Of course, I said yes — only if they could find the files in the server or locate where Shilling was. (They were in her flash drive and had to be picked up by a courier!) Shelley had to reschedule her presentation to the client because of the delay. An hour later, I was revising the copy and printed and PDF'd the file.

Needless to say, I stepped up to the plate and saved their asses.