By Staff
We barely survived this Horizons season. It was our 25th and most difficult to date.
It's also probably one of our best.
That said, we're really glad to see it end. I'm not sure I can adequately explain to you the work that goes into producing this annual community yearbook. It's a project that begins in October and doesn't end until the last week of February and pretty much consumes us from beginning to end.
Horizons gives us the opportunity to do our best work. It also challenges us physically and emotionally. Toward the end, when we are pushing to meet sales goals and story and production deadlines, things get pretty tense. This year was certainly no exception.
When Horizons arrives in the hands of our readers and we hear from them how much they appreciate our work, that's when we know it's all been worth it.
This year's is my 16th Horizons at Leader Publications and the staff here has never failed to amaze me with their determination and resilience.
I'm tremendously proud of our staff this year. Worth a mention is the work of Marcia Steffens, who against many obstacles, organized and led the editorial effort like a champion. Marcia got lots of help from John Eby, Erika Pickles, Andy Hamilton, Sam Erwin and Scott Novak.
Nancy Remke, our graphics manager, is nothing short of a hero. She and her staff of Sue Wills, Fred Senger and Amy Beth Payne, along with SMC student and our intern Charles Nelson, pulled out all stops to produce some incredibly creative ads that will make our advertisers' cash registers ring.
Our sales leader this year is Sherrie Archer. She personally sold more than $27,000 in advertising in Horizons. That's simply amazing. Sales rep Cathie Doria was right behind her, followed closely by Amanda Jensen and Bruce Duley. What's more, this was the first Horizons ever sold by any one of them.
Dawn Phillips leads our telephone sales crew and she sold more than $12,000 in mostly small-space advertising. That's a record-setter, as far as I can tell. Dawn got lots of help from Heather Schultz and Melinda Baxter.
None of these sales reps could have accomplished anything without a lot of support. Right there with them every step of the way was Lisa Weist, our advertising assistant. Lisa ran proofs, made copies, colored in sales thermometers, held hands, handed out tissues and otherwise got her sales reps through this project.
I personally wouldn't have survived Horizons this year without Dennis Hinsey, Niles retail ad manager, and Tracy Haines, our classified advertising manager. I say prayers of thanksgiving daily for both of them. If I made it through with my sanity, it's because of these two. I can't write enough about the work they did to organize and manage this year's Horizons sales effort.
Tracy's Horizons experience was aided immensely by Donna Knight, our classified advertising sales rep. This year was also Donna's first Horizons.
Rhonda Rauen is our accounting manager. Her accounting assistant is Brandy Hall. Most who know both of them wouldn't for a moment think they would make effective sales reps. They proved that wrong in Horizons 2006! Rhonda and Brandy contributed greatly with sales to our vendors, as well as valuable leads, ideas and much-needed cheerleading.
Bob Bell, our production manager, with the help of pressman Levar Collins and pressroom assistant Clifton Quinn, navigated the stormy waters of pushed back deadlines and missing pages and skillfully printed each section of the edition.
It took literally days for our mailroom, led by Jerry Cross, to compile our completed Horizons package. Our mailroom is incredible. These people are the heart of our company. Many thanks to Josey Barnes, Jenny Boose, Syd Boose, Carol Cole, Corrina Collins, Norm Delay, Dennis Knapp, Debbie Lee, Debbie Sue Perry, Penny Sallee, Arron Michael Sater, Lucille Slater and Miriam Walker.
The final step of Horizons is getting it delivered to the homes of our readers and to our newsstands. Director of Circulation Andrew Heasley ran a smooth ship with the help of assistant circulation manager Don Hall and circulation clerks Deb Whitaker and Laura Fox. And, we very much appreciate the work of our independent-contract carrier crew in making certain Horizons was delivered to our customers on time and in good shape.
Thanks to you all for your incredible work this year.
We're happy to put this project to bed. Mostly, we hope you are pleased with the results of our efforts.
Jan Griffey is publisher of the Niles Daily Star. Readers are invited to submit their opinions for publication. Comments? Jan.griffey@leaderpub.com