Listening to them talking about it, I was of course fearful of him. By hook or by crook, I had to deliver. I was given charge of the programme booklet. I had to make sure that it was 100% correct.
I knew I had taken for granted when I checked it the first time, assuming that most information was correct. After verifying the information, I had the first set of booklet printed.
I photocopied the first set and distributed the booklets to the colleagues. They used it for rehearsal. Meanwhile, I printed 6 coloured booklets for the VIPs. I had to beg the clerk to let me use her printer. Though reluctant, she let me use it. It took me 40 minutes to print the 6 booklets.
After that, came the feedback of the errors - I noted 3 and after that, I begged the clerk for help again. She was kind enough to let me use her printer. I was utmost grateful. I reprinted 6 copies of the 2 sheets which had errors in them.
I thought I was done until I was again given the feedback of a few more mistakes. Darn. How could I have missed them! The co-ordinator claimed that I did not proofread it properly.
So I came home and attempted to print black and white, but correct copies. However, my printer setting was different and the pages printed on my printer were not aligned. By this time, I was already trembling with nervousness.
What were my options for the next day?
1) Use the printed coloured booklets with wrong information and wait to get bombed
2) Retype the whole booklet and risk making more errors
3) Go back to school and beg the clerk for the third time to let me print again
It was then that I received a text message to inform me of another error. Darn. Was there no end to this?
After amending the errors, I drove to the printers. I'd pay. Let the professionals do it. At i-print at Wayang Street, Eric helped me to set and print, cut and arrange and staple. It took an hour. I sat down and waited.
The cost? RM81.60; 6 sets of coloured ones were RM72. 4 sets of black and white ones were RM9.60.
In the end, it's not about the money. It's about allaying my fears.It's about not getting screwed at.
NEXT YEAR :
1) Be meticulous when checking the drafts. Cross check with the coloured forms filled by colleagues.
2) Attend rehearsal and get the errors ironed out.
3) Print only after the rehearsal - probably that afternoon before the event at 3 pm.
3) Print only after the rehearsal - probably that afternoon before the event at 3 pm.
4) Print only black and white copies.
not just programme booklet...anything that deal with documentation sucks too! I have a superior just like that meticulous person...and hard to deal with :-(
ReplyDeletebut well, lesson learnt & u will be working 'smart' in the future.
We have our own blind spots but improving the booklet over and over again is a good learning experience. My school appointed me as the editor of a vocabulary but the moment I pointed out the errors nobody listened to me and had it printed and sold to the students!
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ReplyDeleteThanks for your responses. Yeah, I think that everyone has gone through situations like these. I acknowledge my mistakes and I am certain that I will learn from this lesson. It, however, did not stop me from feeling rather demoralised. I feel that the people in my workplace are very inflexible because they have stuck to the same way of doing things for far too long, and they expect things to be done the same way all the time. Plus, it's really difficult to work with or for people who cannot empathise.
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