There's a lot of effort in T+MX
By TMX Archives on 24th Sep 10
With our venerable leader sunning himself in the Balearics, we'd like to remind loyal readers what goes into producing T+MX each week...
THROUGHOUT history, Mr AN Other, Joe Bloggs, Joe Average, Mr and Mrs John and Jane Doe and pretty much every other person you can think of will, at some time or another, have said the immortal words: "It wasn't me!” or "It wasn't my fault!”, or generally passed the proverbial buck on to some other poor unsuspecting schmuck.
Things are no different here in the seaside town of Morecambe, where your beloved weekly paper, T+MX, is thrust together week-in, week-out, in a bustling office in the centre of town.
Now, what few folk will realise is the sheer effort that is put in by the very small team of enthusiasts who tirelessly, sleeplessly and sometimes painfully go above and beyond the call of duty from the comfort of their sleeping bags under the desks to ensure that every reader has something to get their teeth into and enjoy each week.
Few realise just how difficult it can be to sit in the office at two-minutes to midnight, past deadline, waiting for that last shred of all important news to filter through the e-mail system. Words that we've been waiting for for three-days amid a list of excuses consisting of failed internet connection, missed flight, broken computer, the dog ate it, etc. Of course, it is never their fault.
Nobody seems to comprehend the knock-on effect when things are submitted late. Few understand, or care about the processes involved in producing your weekly ‘bible'.
Many of our contributors do a great job.
However, we often get over-written reports with bad spelling, grammar and punctuation! It's very frustrating when text is supplied entirely in capitals, or even when every paragraph begins with the word ‘the'.Some reports arrive in huge clumps of text. Just imagine the time it takes to sort all this out!
Of course, then there are the results. These are rarely supplied in the style and format which we work to.
We at T+MX encourage people to look before they leap – take a look at the reports currently in print to get a gist of what's required. There is little point in sending a link to us for a website to find results. Unfortunately, we just don't have the time go on a treasure hunt.
Then, there are images! Some are sent so small that they can't possibly be reproduced in newsprint. Admittedly we do have a bit of a competition in the office to see who's received the smallest image file.Remember guys and gals that size DOES matter! The bigger, the better!
We also have no mind-readers on staff, although so people may believe we have. We do appreciate informative captions to accompany images.
Some people have only just mastered a fax!
So when the machine in the far corner of the office starts chuntering away, one or two of the ‘in-mates', aka the T+MX team, will glance up to see what's coming out – any excuse for a break from the computerscreen.
As it's a combination of printer and fax, there's often a sigh of relief that someone's finished page is finally proofing out, or that some Regs have arrived for Emma.
However, sometimes what's staring us in the face is a report. A slip of paper, or several depending on the length, bearing half illegible scribbles. These are time-consuming jobs!
So, we've got the words, we've got pictures, now try processing all this information on a ‘new' system that runs so slow that it sometimes stops completely!
Morecambe is in the far north-west corner of England and as such, we're at the end of a long corridor of ‘pipes' that send information back and forth up and down the country; the paper is printed in the south of thye country, in Portsmouth!
So, when someone happens to press a button 20 or 50-miles away which locks up the ‘system' all we can do is sit back, sit tight and wait for the said ‘system' to catch us up.
Apart from reports and articles, another mighty effort by the editorial team comes in the ‘Regulations Available' columns.
This is a FREE service that we provide to all clubs and organisations across the country and even to some clubs in Europe. We rely on people supplying accurate information. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.
The more things are submitted in style, layout etc., the better. All too frequently, though details are supplied back to front, upside down (metaphorically speaking), mixed up, shaken up (in out, in out, shake it all about), and generally looking like a mulch. Tight information is the key, superfluous information is not required.
Club secretaries should bear in mind that websites and e-mail addresses are not included in the free Regs Available lineage – and no amount of bribing will help. More's the pity! Remember too the Friday morning ‘Regs' deadline.
Anything which arrives late is held over.
In the end, it's up to you, and we usually turn deaf ears to those immortal words: "It wasn't me!” and "It wasn't my fault!”
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