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Saturday, December 13, 2008

TRYING TO WORK AHEAD

Steve Cole reports on 13 December:

As I said in the designer's notes for Captain's Log #38, we completed all of the projects for this year without storm or drama by "working ahead" on them. (When we started this program in the fall of 2007, there was a gap in the release schedule -- and cashflow! -- as we "worked ahead" on several products instead of just focusing on whatever was next in line.)

We continue to do that. Steve Petrick never had any problem doing it without the arcane work management systems I use, and he continues to work (every day) on several products due for release up to a year in advance.

My own system is called the STACKS REPORT, so called because the theory is to do the top item in 30 different (metaphorical) stacks of stuff to do on my desk. Let's see how I did this week.

Star Fleet Alert is our marketing press release. I know we need to do marketing, and I have to do it, and I hate doing it. But I force myself to do a press release every week and I have done the one for next Monday.

I finished Communique #36 and Hailing Frequencies for December and had Eric send them on time (the 10th).

I got Leanna to stop working on mail orders for one afternoon and get the files to reprint Captain's Log #1 ready.

I have a list of "short jobs" and this week I got the Captain's Log #38 Supplemental File ready for hard copy sales.

I sent a ton of website upgrades  to Eric, who did them.

I reviewed the art schedule with the artists.

I updated one of a dozen website pages that are scheduled to be reviewed once every three months.

I didn't do a good job of reading the military intelligence files I use for research, reading only one (while seven more came in).

I exchanged memos with Gorilla Games and VBAM and sent memos to Starmada and Iron Crown.

I did half of a Ship Card for Hydran Attack and half of a Ship Card for War & Peace. I finished the FC Reference Rulebook and gave it to Leanna; it goes on sale Monday the 15th.

I got nothing done on Briefing #2.

I did a new index for G3, although Petrick sees no point in publishing it. I formatted all of the reports on the SFB Master Starship book so I can start the final "F" draft next week.

I sent a memo to the head of F&E about ISC War, and did a little work updating the Fed SIT. I also told the FEAR that I had already processed all of his Q&A files and asked for more.

I discussed the project to do new PD20M versions of Klingons and Romulans with Jean and Leanna.
I read and edited the seventeen-page Fed politics file.

Jean and I jointly sent a major memo to the PD staff.

I talked with the sculptors about new starships, ordered more minis from AoG, ordered the one ship we need for Border Box #8, and sent a memo to Ninja Magic.

I did six pages of CL #39, but only two of them have been sent to Jean.

The project (not part of the stacks) to make our website host stop complaining about Discus has moved forward, and we have (to date) cut 100,000 obsolete posts from the BBS.