And furthermore...

While operating my graphic arts service, I found it amazing that CIGNA would run and re-run galleys of type for a single comma to be added or deleted many times over, causing whole galleys to be re-run. To me, it was the epitome of waste.

For those of you unfamiliar with galleys of type, they are long columns set in preparation for a publication. Each galley must be letter perfect. Think of reading Time Magazine or Newsweek. Typographical errors are infrequent. But editing at the galley stage of a project is impractical and expensive.

Changes were of no concern to the editors at CIGNA. It was amazing. Changes were made over and over with no apparent concern for cost. And, indeed, they never complained of cost, although many times the cost of the changes far exceeded the cost of the initial project. By comparison, other clients would submit copy stamped “final” for setting, appreciating how costly it was to make changes at that stage.