Deadlines

With the inevitable arrival of December comes many things. They range from holiday songs filling the airwaves at most every shopping mall throughout the country and the solidifying of travel arrangements by those planning to visit relatives over the Christmas and New Year's breaks to reflections on a year that has only weeks to go before it is over and an escalation of fretting as to what presents to purchase for loved ones. These, of course, are only a few of many other examples of what is ushered in with December. As someone who teaches at a university, I see it also means crunch time for students as they begin putting the finishing touches on final projects and preparing for final exams.   

If all this and more could be summed up in one word, then that word would be "deadlines." While they are not unique to December, they do seem to take on a higher level of urgency when the end of another calendar year appears over the horizon. For professional communicators, deadlines are an occupational reality. They come with every assignment and campaign. Hardly a work day passes without mention of a looming deadline. They are viewed, at best, begrudgingly. At the same time, it is nearly impossible to find any one sad when they go away. If deadlines were people, then they would be among the least popular segment of the population on the planet.

But while deadlines may not be liked very much, professional communicators, generally, do their best to honor them each and every day. If the communicator is not meeting them, then they are working toward them. Deadlines are a constant in the communication business. It is they, as much as anything, that helps determine the success of an outreach effort. Deadlines represent timing and timing, as has  been said by many others, "is everything." They can spell the difference between success and failure or adhering to a budget or not, to cite just two of many consequences. So, with the end of 2012 now only weeks away, this entry serves as a begrudging tribute to that which impacts the lives of so many: deadlines.