Carole Edrich Weblog

the best laid plans of..... editors

I had planned to finalise this quarter’s Flamenco News at least a week before I left for Argentina.

I thought I had it covered; the production schedule was in the last magazine, I had reminded all the contributors about deadlines at least twice, had talked to Tim about his availability and the flat plan and we had worked together on the timing. Unfortunately things didn’t go quite as hoped. Part of what I had promised in the last issue arrived so late that I had done all but the finishing touches on its replacements. I also had to hold back on most of the rest of the magazine because of the juggling that might have been necessary and that put pressure on Yo too, as she needed to complete the Japanese section before going to the Festival de Jerez.

(c) Flamenco News, 2006

I’d like to say that the final, important piece arrived just in the nick of time but the truth is it didn’t. Even though I turned everything around as quickly as I could, Tim had to work nights and weekends to fit the work in between his other commitments (commitments which we had originally planned to avoid completely). He was only able to get the proofs to me when I was already in Argentina on the Harrods Press Trip.

All press trips are tightly scheduled, intense, information-rich experiences with little or no free time for those involved. The organisers do their best to present as many opportunities for articles as they possibly can and this trip was really special. Harrods will be promoting Argentine food and wine in its own prestigious, spectacular and professional way in May, and Andre of Harrods and his Argentine associates had pulled out all the stops.

The only time available to review the proofs was late at night when I should have been asleep. Sometimes I had no access to internet at all or it was so unpredictable that Tim didn’t receive my emails nor I his. In the end Vera King; Chairman of the Peña Flamenca de Londres, stepped in to do what she could, for which I am extremely grateful.

Despite all of this, and mainly because of Tim and Vera’s heroic efforts, the magazine was sent out to all subscribers on time and was available for the March Peña. I’ve had a couple of feedback emails already but won’t see this quarter’s Flamenco News myself until I’m back in London next month.

Had I been travelling on my own it would not have been such a production, but I’ve learned an important lesson and won’t try to edit a magazine during a press trip again!

Posted by carole at March 12, 2006 08:56 PM