Last week, Amy and I were both out of the office on vacation. We couldn’t help it — Amy and her daughter were camping, and I was on vacation with my in-laws. And let’s just say that I didn’t have much choice in the matter of dates.
But all was OK — because we had backup.
Many things have been rewarding about working with our editors and writers over the past few years. One of the best has been seeing each individual rise to the occasion when asked to do something outside their normal scope of work.
That includes Amy, who took a crash course in writing case studies and became a key contributor on our writing project for KeyLogic.com. And Jeni, who in a few short years has become a lay expert on urology. She now manages our team of five editors who copyedit European Urology, one of the world’s top journals in that field.
Last week, several folks stepped up to the plate.
Diana served as the single point of contact for our client Booz Allen, handling multiple concurrent projects with aplomb. Diana smoothly coordinated the work of multiple editors, negotiated scope of work and schedules, and made sure all our projects got done on time and to spec. Thank you, Diana!
Magi had a curveball thrown her way when I asked her to handle an unexpected project from a client who she had never worked for — and probably didn’t even know was on our roster! Despite this, she dove into the project with her usual professionalism and good cheer. She took in the client’s requirements, quickly put together an editing team, and returned the documents on time. All this despite the fact that the Word files were some of the “crashiest” we had encountered. The clients were impressed with Magi’s work and thanked us for doing so much for them with so little notice.
Our good friend Erika, on loan from her own Church Street Editorial, also managed a number of fire drills. Everything from coaching an inexperienced designer, to guiding a fellow writer through three challenging assignments, to calming a nervous client — Erika did it all. Thanks, E!
And Amy, just getting back from a week in the woods, volunteered to work a full day on Sunday — even though she surely would have preferred to relax in her air-conditioned apartment and catch up on laundry and groceries. Amy’s dedication and desire to contribute has been and continues to be remarkable.
And in the background, so many of our staff — Michelle, Lex, Lisa, Josh, Jess, Anne, Julie, Ellen, Mary Ann, Jill, Kevin — continued to do what they do for us every day. Provide careful copyediting and clear writing, always with a cheerful attitude and a great deal of care.
I’m proud of the team we have, and I value everyone’s dedication so much. Thanks for letting me go on vacation last week, guys! You’re the best.
Love, Sam
