Editor's Notebook April 2024

Craig Mongeau - Editor in Chief - April 2024

I have OCD when it comes to e-mails. I receive around 200 hundred or so a day and while a little fewer than half are ones I know I can delete right away, the rest require some kind of action on my part.

The OCD part comes in when I have around half of my inbox viewing window occupied by e-mails I can do nothing about at the moment. If the number gets up to approximately five or six, I get stressed. This means that throughout any given workday, I stop what I'm doing when I receive any e-mail and try to deal with it right away so as to not make the list even longer. As a result, in addition to OCD, I now contend with a sort-of ADHD because I rarely focus on anything (like this column) for very long.

All of you must deal with a lot of e-mails, too, I imagine and it's not easy. My problem is rooted in the fact that I know procrastination causes even more stress and I feel that allowing unresponded to e-mails to accumulate, fester, if you will, is a sure-fire way to "bury" yourself at a job. I still remember when I was young (before the advent of what e-mails are today), the technology was billed as a way to make your work life easier. It didn't then and it doesn't now.

But not all e-mails are created equally: I love to receive e-mails from those whom we have Profiled and they are writing to tell me they're pleased with how their story turned out. And of course (as you all know) I love getting e-mails from people who are nominating someone to be Profiled.

And we, at Superintendent's Profile, also love to receive e-mails about the N.Y.S. Highway & Public Work Expo, particularly from people who want to attend and exhibit, which is why we're actively requesting e-mails (and even a good old-fashioned phone call).

Registration for booth space is now open to past exhibitors: April 15 is the deadline to keep your previous booth space for the 2024 N.Y.S. Highway & Public Works Expo. We have already had some new exhibitors register in anticipation of our 30th annual show! If you have any questions, please e-mail or call Teddy McKeon at tmckeonjr@cegltd.com or 215/260-8709. You also can register online at www.superintendentsprofile.com/nys-expo. And please check out page 62 of this issue for details.

Some e-mails just showed up, so I gotta' run. Thank you. P