Change comes to the newsroom

A spirit of change swept through the newsroom last week, and it affected all of us.

Voices were raised. Tears were shed. Victories large and small were celebrated.

No, I'm not talking about THAT change.

I'm talking about our new computer system.

Last week, reporters and editors on the Deseret News business and city desks began using a new word-processing, editing and page-design program — following on the heels of people in our editorial, features, Mormon Times and Church News departments, who started using the system late last year.

I'm sure almost anyone who works in an office has experienced the fear, angst, frustration, anger and — if you're lucky — joy associated with changing computer systems.

For us, it was definitely time for a change. We had been using the old system for almost 10 years, and it was being kept alive solely by the genius of our tech folks. (I hear generous quantities of duct tape were involved, but that's an unconfirmed rumor.)

The process of buying, installing and training to use the new system took more than a year. In fact, we waited so long for the new software that I dubbed it "the unicorn." You know, a mythical creature that few have seen, but which promises wonderful rewards if captured and tamed.

I got my first glimpse of the unicorn last summer, when I was one of a handful of staff members who took two weeks of training as part of the site support team.

My boss referred to my time in training as a vacation, and it definitely was a break from my everyday job. But it wasn't all fun and games. My head was spinning by the end of each day as I tried to absorb a completely new way of thinking about my job.

Those feelings were exacerbated by the certainty that I would forget much of what I had learned in the months that would pass before we actually implemented the new system. Turns out I was correct.

Luckily, the rest of the Deseret News reporters and editors were trained during the two weeks before we went "live," giving me a chance to relearn everything.

Even so, I was dreading "go-live" day. As a support team member, I was expected to know more about the system than the average guy, and to be prepared to answer the questions of other editors and reporters.

To my great relief (and surprise!), I could answer many of the questions that came my way during the first few days. And if I didn't know the answer, I successfully pawned the questions off on Brian West, another editor who was on the support team, or our tech guys. Nothing like passing the buck to get through a tough week!