MADISON, Wis. – The monumental task of putting together a daily newsletter on all the happenings at CUNA's GAC or Future Forum conference for the team of staff writers who cover the sessions, file the copy and meet production deadline, all so that attendees can have their fill of news by 6:30 a.m. the following day can only be described in one way. "Adrenalin rush," says Judy Weidman, CUNA's managing editor. "We have to be ready to switch gears fairly quickly, but once we get into the swing of things, we're flying." The process of assembling a 20-page newsletter complete with color photos on the cover actually starts weeks before the conference when a team of reporters start gathering preliminary research on guest speakers and timely industry topics, said Weidman. A week before the conference starts, her team of five or so writers and two graphic designers will receive their assignments, "try to get over the initial shock of it all," and prepare for the whirlwind of activity waiting for them at the on-site meeting. "We do a rough layout and try to leave holes for everything we know we're going to cover," Weidman said. "A number of things can pop up each day and we account for those too." Once on site, a designated room there turns into a mini news hub complete with computers and digital photography equipment. Writers cover sessions all day and race back and forth to the newsroom to file stories. Weidman becomes an editing machine, rushing out to take photos of sessions at breakneck speed. Each day, her team works until 11:00 at night to ensure that all the digital photos and electronic files arrive to the printer in time to print out the 1,000 copies that will be stocked in strategically placed news racks throughout the meeting center by 6:30 a.m. each day. "Technology has improved the process so much," Weidman said. "We used to work 24 hour shifts. The manual print setter was another story." For more than a decade, attendees have received their daily conference news at the Future Forum (then called the CUNA Symposium & Annual Meeting) and next year will mark the seventh year for the GAC. "We have such talented and skilled writers, we've never seen a meltdown," Weidman said. "Everyone rises to the occasion." She compares the camaraderie among the writers to one of the tenets of this year's Future Forum – teambuilding. "You get to work closer with staff you normally don't work with on a daily basis, sometimes under stressful situations," Weidman said. "It's a good teambuilding experience." -

[email protected]