How to be a Steeldog: Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Dealing with the Print Material

In the first six years of Steeldogs football, our publications left much to be desired. Our media guide was a joke, hardly any design qualities, little information…not representative of the fine department from which it came. During those years, we sent the little information we place in the media guide to a local designer, who cut and pasted it into a pre-established pattern which hardly changed from year-to-year and stayed the same size from 2001 to 2005.

In my final season, we scrapped all of that. All major team publications: media guide, fact and record book and game programs all originated from my computer. We purchased Quark Xpress design software and published an 8.5X11 behemoth media guide, full of vibrant color and pictures and everything. We produced the league’s first “Fact and Record Book” which is a scaled down, pocket media guide. And we took over the programs, except for the covers, which the designer designed for us once again. Here’s how it works:

What we print

One media guide: If you decide to let the designer have it again, and break my heart in the process, then you will have to have a 5.5 X 8.5 media guide. She will handle everything. Just take an old copy from my desk and give her the information contained within. Make sure all the records are up-to-date. Take last year’s media guide stats and add 2006 stats to it.

Eight game programs: Everything stays the same with the program week-to-week, with the exception of the change pages (the two centerfold pages) and the front cover. Same deal as before. You could update it, or the designer could take the job. Just pick some pictures for the program covers and be sure to collect all the ads before print time.

OPTIONAL: One Fact and Record Book: Use the example of last year’s book that should be somewhere on or in my desk. Again, just a pocket reference. The designer has never seen this book, so this would have to be done by you or nobody at all.

How it gets done and how you fit in

Last season’s media guide was not printed as a hard copy, it was burned onto mini CDs by RME Shaped CD of Tuscaloosa (Scott has the number). Whether or not you guys will do that this season remains to be seen. It is cheaper and the league doesn’t seem to mind.

Program change pages, if they are done by you, will be done on Quark Xpress and should be emailed to Commerical no later than the close of business on Monday of the game week they will be printed. (i.e.: if the change pages are due to be in this Saturday’s game program, they need to go out on Monday.)

The change pages include game notes for the upcoming game, updated rosters for both teams and a preview of next weeks game with updated league standings. A copy can be found at the back of this book.

Commercial will fax you a proof of the change pages as they will appear in print usually by Wednesday of game week. Search for problems and correct them (if there are any) and fax it back with your signature. They should arrive late Friday afternoon before game day.


What the league expects and what we expect

Like everything that originates out of this office, there are high expectations for the media guide and game programs. They are very visible aspects of your department and they reflect the effort by which you do your job. Make them sparkle. The league requires what is laid out in the PR manual. I don’t think they have ever fined or reprimanded a team on their media guide, but work on it as if your job depended on it any way. In my day, I have seen some crappy looking media guides from other teams, and it really does lower their standing amongst the league brethren.

Lessons from my experience

Two words: start early, before the end of 2006. These deadlines sneak up on you like a panther in the jungle. When they pounce and you’re not ready, it is a bloody mess. Mistakes will happen, that’s the way it is. Please fact check, spell check and trouble check everything at least ten times. Last season, I included the wrong copyright information for the Showsteelers team photo in every one of the eight game programs. By the time we found the mistake, it was too late. For the rest of the season, I had to spend my Friday afternoons placing white stickers with the correct info over the incorrect info printed in the program. Not fun, especially when there are 400 programs to be stickered per week.