News & Events

Mid-America News
Show Calendar
State Event Calendars

Regular Features

The Antique Detective
Antique Detective Q&A
Antiquing in Colorado
Common Sense Antiques
Editor's Notebook
Helpful Hints
   for Collectors
Is This An Antique?
Reflecting History
Refurnished Thoughts
Traveling with Ken
Good Eye
Discover Mid-America
  Marketplace

Directories & Classifieds

Auction Block
The Finder: Unique Shops
Lodgings Directory
Heirloom Recipes
Museum Directory
  Aviation Museums
Wineries in the Heartland
Books for Collectors

Classifieds

Web Links

2005 Best Of Winners

Discover Mid-America — August 2005

Yes, that was me on the phone
by Bruce Rodgers, Editor/Publisher

The other day proved it once again. I suffer with V.B.P.E.A.D. (pronounced: “v-b-ped”)

Some “new disease?” you may ask. “An outdated printing technique?” “An unpopular category of collectibles?” “A computer virus?”

No, pray tell, none of the above. V.B.P.E.A.D. stands for Very Bad Phone Etiquette Around Deadline.

It strikes me periodically. Not every month. Sometimes, I can go months with it under control. Little do people know I struggle with it. Yet, sometimes, I don’t even know when it’s not under control.

This past month — concerning the issue you’re holding — V.B.P.E.A.D. took hold of me. Not severely, not enough to incapacitate the process of producing a new issue of Discover Mid-America. Not even close. But still, it was a trying time.

Our usual deadline of the 10th of the month seemed more illusive than usual. New advertisers and old advertisers both were slow in getting their ads and ad changes to us. Maybe it was the weather, the heat bringing on lethargy and the tendency to procrastinate. I was perplexed and with each day beyond the deadline date, I fought against the beginnings of V.B.P.E.A.D.

We worked the phones, sent emails galore and closely monitored the fax. I repeatedly asked Al, our senior advertising rep, “What’s going on? Why are we so late?”

He only shook his head and shrugged, in the manner of some old wise advertising sage beaten — but never defeated — by the demands of deadlines.

Sam, our art director, remained stoic, showing little outward sign of stress. Then, he came to me with real bad news.

“The printer is down,” he said.

Our big laser printer, the one we use to print out galley proofs of the issue, was on the fritz. Without the printer, we couldn’t adequately proof ads or editorial — proofing from a computer screen just doesn’t work at catching errors. I began making a furry of calls to find a technician to fix the problem.

Then, an advertiser called and I answered the phone.

An hour or so later, Al forwarded an email from her saying that “the man who answered the phone was rude.” I responded with an apology.

Please, for the sake of me battling V.B.P.E.A.D., remember our deadline — the 10th of the month.

* * *

If you use eBay to buy and sell antiques and collectibles, how does it work for you? Let me know. We’re researching a possible future article or column on the eBay experience.

Contact Bruce Rodgers at
publisher@discoverypub.com

> Editor’s Notebook Archive — past columns