Welcome to my online museum of LGU program invites (September 2016 to date).

Welcome to my online museum of LGU program invites (September 2016 to date).

Docent's Note

Behold six years' worth of mass-produced invites.

There are crude xerox copies that remind of elementary school mimeographs. There are copies that were laser-printed.

Some of the cards used thin and flimsy paper (coupon bond). Some made use of a thick and durable material like 'worxboard.'

Some are matte. Some are glossy. There are black-and-white copies. There are full-color ones.

Some were produced by specific departments or agencies. Most were produced by the ICT Office and their new counterparts at Information.

Some were done by amateurs. Most were designed by professional graphic artists.

Those that went through my eyes did not escape my prying. There were typos that raised my BP a bit -- like public becoming pubic and Republic becoming Repulic, and Philippines becoming Philipines.

Not the slightest jot and tittle would pass muster until I have inspected them. Or so I hope. A perfectionist streak is, after all, better than complacency in narrowing the margin of error ...For all of us without exception are only too human.

Each invitation card carries the details of the program inside or at the back. This means someone worked on conceptualizing the flow. Someone else contacted each person involved in the program and gave an advanced word. Someone prepared purchase requests and made follow-ups on the convoluted paperwork. Someone else canvassed the market for the needed materials and services.

Much later, another guy would distribute the cards. An internal LGU event would have roughly 40 departments/units/attached agencies as recipients. An event open to the public would require so much more, and this means so much more footwork.

Each event, of course, has a story behind it. In the actual staging, a host of other people are behind the scenes. They take care of hidden things, from the budget to accounting, planning and scheduling, HR concerns, disbursement of funds, LED, audio, computer set-up, carpentry and electrical concerns for the stage and venue, hazard assessment, security, transport, decor, other logistics concerns, up to waste disposal.

And then there's, of course, the implicit official approval prior to the event, from both the executive and legislative branches of local government (and even national).

Everyone prays that no cog in the wheel malfunctions in the lengthy cycle of steps needed to be taken.

Pity the one whose responsibility is to attend to the thousand and one details. Seemingly small matters could create an unforeseen and unwanted impact. Emcee? Check. Table skirting? Check. Handouts/Powerpoint presentation? Check. Refreshments? Check. Venue, ventilation, air-conditioning? Check, check, check. Corsages, token gifts, honoraria? Check, check, check.

But what my office handles is the news coverage. We never organize events (with a few exceptions). We report on them. We are duly informed beforehand if there is one. That's how we ended up having all these cards.

Each coverage would require a reporter and a photographer -- plus a team of videographers if big. And the output is an article published on the official Facebook page, website, and newsletter (print).

Not readily seen, and not to be sneezed at, is the editor's hand much later. And the hundred and one writing concerns he has to deal with. Content, accuracy, grammar and mechanics, angle, tone, style, flow, cadence... Oh, many times, there are the back-and-forths with key informants just to make things right.

With the execution of each event come the stories of how each participant experienced it. For sure, each one has his or her own version of the story. There are, as expected, big events and small events. There are exciting events. There are boring ones. There are events on both the sublime and mundane -- events on history, culture and arts, or women's and children's rights, and events on how to make candles, or how to complete an IPCR form, and how to keep your office clean and orderly. But nothing is so small in significance. And no matter how big the event may be, it is just another event to us. Another event is sure to be held the very next day, as though nothing major just happened.

Each invitation card is thus a mosaic in the elaborate sketch of the local government's daily grind.

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95You, Rommel Odon, Jaye Lana and 92 others

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