Ad Production Consolidation to RTC

[Guest]

its already been painful at all NJ sites...

[exgannettoid]

It's been painful everywhere. For a long time, newspapers were reluctant to change, even as the world did. Now, instead of spreading this pain out over a decade,Gannett, Tribune, Cox and every other publisher must make ten years worth of change happen in as little as 18 months.

That's the painful part. Such a condensed timeframe.

[Guest]

Ahem...the NJ sites have already ridded themselves of most ad builders. All thats left is a bunch of managers, a few "designers" to outsource to India and the Harris team who puts the ads on the pages. So exactly what would change with the NJ Group?

[Guest]

ExGannettoid:

Thank you for all the helpful information. Why can't corporate speak to the staff at the various sites and be as articulate and factual as you are. It really would make people feel better, that at least management was being honest and not pretending everything is ok. Sure, it's never easy to hear bad news about your employment but at least people have time to prepare financially.

[exgannettoid]

In NJ, the various ad production department heads jumped too fast and assumed the 2AdPro outsourcing project would be a success. I know in the East and Interstate Groups, there was more hesitancy in eliminating staff. Expenses were saved in other ways, without reducing staff right away.

As for why GCI managers can't be direct, some honestly don't know. Others have either been told to keep their mouths shut or just can't face the fact that the departments they've built are going to be shutdown. It's not a pretty time, and the plan to consolidate is on its way. I don't believe it can be stopped, nor does Corporate want the train stopped. The payroll savings are just too great.

[stargazer]

NJ may have deleted most if its ad builders but why do they still need so many managers directors and a VP for production? Maybe the NJ Group would be the best candidate to utilize the new RTC for production consolidation. Does anyone know when the next site will go live?

[exgannettoid]

stargazer:

Do you mean when the consolidation is scheduled? If so, the first site is planned to go live in January, 2010. There is a lot of work to do between now and then. Don't worry, though, New Jersey won't happen until spring at the earliest. The payroll savings are not as great in Wisconsin and New Jersey as in other parts of the Empire.

As for why the managers / directors ... who knows. Perhaps they have yet to reach anyone's radar. When was the last time your Publisher walked around Ad Production? In the pressroom? I know from experience that this is not a Publisher's haunt.

Stay tuned ...

[stargazer]

One of the first sites to go live should be NJ. They are already pared down and ready to go. All those super duper and all-knowing so-called managers can expedite the change as quickly as all of the other changes in their group - if they so choose. I'm sure they will drag their feet and come up with excuse after excuse as they realize they will be out of a job. Tough crap.

[exgannettoid]

Well, NJ being down to next-to-nothing and ready to go is exactly the reason those sites won't be first in line.

The other sites, those that did not par down the staff, still have lots of payroll dollars to be saved from consolidation and they are first on the list.

This will be a way to shore up profits in Q1, 2010 without "mass" layoffs.

[meow]

Does anyone know for sure what site or sites will the ad production hubs? Since RTC is in Des Moines, will that paper be one of the sites?

[Guest]

ExGannettoid,

Once again, I am impressed with your candor. I am sure you will find another job very soon because you appear to have been an excellent supervisor/VP, with plenty to offer a company.

What I find disturbing is when I approach my VP about various things that are mentioned on this blog she automatically becomes defensive. I am not asking her these questions with that reaction in mind. I am hoping she would clear the air and actually tell me what is fact or fiction. She has nothing to do with Advertising, so it is nothing personal.

Do you think the larger East Group papers will be hit before the smaller ones, such as NJ and NY?' Some papers on the east coast are going to be scheduled to scale down to the 44 inch web in January. But it appears some ads are already being down sized prior to the web change. Do you think the ad production consolidation and the web change will happen at the same time?

[Guest]

What about The News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware?
Curtis Riddle is the East Group Publisher. When will ad production
consolidation hit this site?

[exgannettoid]

No, honestly, no one would subject a staff to a 44 web width reduction and a consolidation at the same time. I know the papers scheduled for the first several months and it's not in the East Group.

The reality is that you need an onsite staff with a web reduction. There are just too many moving pieces that require it. So, the staff will feel really burned -- having done the tremendous amount of work required for a web reduction and then, well, sorry, but your job's being consolidated. Sadly, it's not fair, but will happen I'm afraid.

Also, all, please remember that your Publisher's are pawns as well. They are told when various things happen and that's that. There is no further discussion. They only execute the instructions they are given. Many don't like what they have to do, but they are following their orders. Everyone has a boss.

As for Wilmington, right now, I'd say second half of the year.

[Gannettoid]

More on this has been posted here: www.Gannettoid.com/dm0811.html

[Guest]

ExGannettoid,

Thanks again for your honesty. It is so refreshing to have someone tell the truth. That is all we really wanted! We all know Gannett has to cut costs and we as adults, can deal with that. We just wanted the truth. Now we know we have until the middle of the next year to find new jobs. Now we can cut our budgets, save money and look for new jobs. That is all we wanted from our local managers and VPS – the truth! I applaud you once again for this information.

[Guest]

the memo mentions "DPS" which is AdTracker. like someone said earlier ad tracker will replace employees at alarming numbers, as it already has and will continue to do. gannett will not buy anything unless it can make a higher return on its money. one good thing is that ad builders and production people have some clue this time about department elimination.

[Guest]

Involving DPS (AdTracker) in this project is an amazingly bad idea - I
use their software - it's sloppily organized, suffers from feature-bloat and has all kinds of problems
(just one example: the AdTracker production software has the ability to use
as much memory as your OS will allow - thereby causing it to hijack the rest
of your system until it completes its task - I'm sure that the the leaders
of the consolidation project are all fully aware of this problem and others
like it). I'm assuming that Gannett must have some investment in the company
because I see no reason to continue with that piss-poor excuse of a software
company. BTW, someone ask Zeke from DPS at what point he's going to start
selling us bridges.

[guest]

what I find most disturbing is that I am a designer at the arizona republic. we have something like 35 artists. I have expected the production hub for over 2 years. I was hoping our paper being one of the largest with the most ad production artists would become a HUB. has anyone heard anything about how many hubs and where?

[Gannettoid]

From: http://www.gannettoid.com/dm0811.html

This week's meeting focused on such centers being at The Des Moines Register and The Indianapolis Star.

[Guest]

hey arizona, nj was like too a year or so ago, probably more though. many of us were thinking that would be a good idea to turn this place into ad hub, it just made sense. But, with outsourcing and the help of inside sales, we were eliminated to just four of us now, gannett does not need designers as it is proving over and over again, just clerks to push paper around