I have the best job at WMSTR

jsiirila

Mega Poster
WMSTR Lifetime Member
Alright Mark, here you are....

I’ve received excellent pictures from several members. The book would need to be 500 pages to get all the good pictures and interesting stories in it. :bump:

In Sept and Oct I label the pictures. I use my notebooks to put the names of the people on them. I place them in computer folders for each area. At this point I burn a disk. Then I crop them, lighten or darken them, take out pimples, pop cans and “iron” some dresses…yes, I do take out wrinkles. :bannana: Then I burn another set of disks. Next I grayscale the pictures, adjusting light and dark areas. Then I burn another set of disks.

I really, really appreciate the people who send me their pictures right after the Show as I can burn these pictures in with my own as it saves time when I need to pull up a picture for someone later. I’ve had requests for pictures several years later. With this system of file folders, it’s fairly easy to find them. ;)

How do I choose which pictures to use? I add the initials of the person who took them to the picture label. Then I choose the clearest pictures, ones that don’t have distracting items such as pop cans or cell phones in them unless I can crop them out, ones that have the people identified in them, and ones that will fit on the page with the story. Vertical pictures take up a lot of extra space so I use very few of these.

I look through the pictures and decide which stories I would like in the book and contact people at the fall meeting and by email.

Next I contact the people who are on the committee for that year’s feature or Expo. They need to get pictures and info for their section of the book. I meet with them several times and hopefully most of them will have email so we can shoot pictures and text back and forth several times until it looks right.

Now the real work begins, putting the pictures and text on the pages. I have a few people who will proof stories for spelling and punctuation. There is never enough time or eyes so, if you find errors, you need to be on my proofing team.

Every once in a while I’ll burn more disks just in case the computer crashes. So far, so good. And I’ll call and email people who I’ve asked to send me articles or label pictures.

Finding the names of the people in the pictures is the hardest part of the book. I print pages upon pages, showing them to the board, committees, emailing them to people, putting them on the forum and at the Steam Up.

I look thru the colored pictures to find the most colorful pictures and bring them to the board to choose the front and back cover pictures. I have them look thru what I’ve done to identify names in the pictures and approve the layout.

I go through the mail and email, trying very hard not to miss any of the pictures or stories people have sent in to me. I place them in one pile before I scan them and on another pile before they go in the book and a third pile when they are placed in the book. I’m not perfect, but I sure do try to get things straight. There are about 5000 pictures to wade thru to get about 1500 in the book. Captions are not the easiest thing for me to do. This is where I’m at this year in the book. I have about 250 pages full and trying to fit in the pictures and stories I've just received.

Working full time doesn’t leave me as much time as I’d like to work on the book and still have a normal life. For a couple of years I kept track of the hours it took to do the book. It averaged out to about 400 hours per year. Fortunately I broke my leg in the summer so by fall I could get down to the Rollag computer room to start this year’s book. :eek:...

Next I put the final touches on the pages. The clip art, the stories and gems I can find here and there.

I email and call and write to people again to get their pictures and stories in…over and over and over again. Time is running out. Some stories won’t be in the book because people haven’t responded. :confused:

Now it’s time for more proofing and more proofing. I print a final copy for Knight Printing and check with Jamie at Knight Printing for schedules. He takes it from there and his staff use our pictures to design the covers. They print a draft copy and I proof it again and sign off on it. It takes about a month to get the book printed, cut and bound.

The big day has arrived; the Knight Printing truck pulls up to the admin building with the load of books…and wouldn’t you know it, on the first page I open to, I find another mistake that we missed.
:hide:
The best part about doing the book is meeting new and long time friends and learning about all the areas of the Show. From riding on the 353 or the rail motor cars to trying my hand at Morse Code at a depot to making soap or trying out a new skill in the ladies building, I think I have the most interesting and fun job of any member of the Show. Getting to hear the stories first hand and seeing each project from an insider viewpoint; I dare anyone to say their job at Rollag is anymore fun than mine. :bannana:
 
Good heavens Jean!

Do really think that all that sounds more fun than punching flues in the rain at 6:30 in the morning?

Or working inside the firebox of the 353 from 10:00pm to 3:00am so it will be ready to run the next day?

Or standing in the pit of the Pabst Engine pressure washing out the 'gunk' that forms down there?

Or cleaning the stalls in the horse barn?


Later,
Jerry Christiansen
 
Jean,

Wow, what can we say.

I bought my first showbook in 2004. The stories and photos are very interesting. They offer a glimpse of the people and the work that goes on behind the scenes, to make a great show like this tick. The show book had a lot to do with my decision to become a member.

If any of you that are reading this have visited the show before and have not purchased one of the showbooks. You will not be disappointed. I have enjoyed the books so much, that I have bought all of the back issues that were available also.

You are one of the devoted individuals that toil behind the scenes to make the show what it is today.

Thank you so much!
 
jsiirila;3648 said:
Alright Mark, here you are....



:biglaugh:

You must have seen my "request" in the video thread!

Jean and her crew do one heck of a job on the show book. It is another one of those very visible parts of the show, that has a lot of "invisible" people behind the scenes putting in countless hours of work! I know what she is talking about having to bug people for articles, because a lot of them procrastinate! I am guilty of that myself... but Jean doesn't get mad (at least not to my face!) She just "nudges" us all along, and the book turns out to be a masterpiece every year!

Thanks Jean, Kathy, Dawn, and everyone else involved!
 
I have the best job at WMSTR

Thru the years everyone that has been in charge of the year book has done a excellent job with the book, We must thank them also for thier contribution to WMSTR.

In the bussiness world those that like thier job are good employe's and it makes the job easier when you like your work.

Thanks to Jean and her staff and to all the people that have worked on the year book thru the years.

Jim out west.:):)
 
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