Big disconnect between senior management and everyone else.
My boss was in Chicago. I was in Dallas. I was suddenly let go because my boss did not require his copywriters to maintain copy decks along side the digital art. I knew this was a flawed process but, I was not the Creative Director.
One day I was asked to clean up a very complex, multi-layered, multi-versioned, InDesign file, because they were about to kick off a new printing of this direct mail piece and they wanted a clean file to start from. This was a file that I had originally designed but it had been reprinted many times and with all the production changes, overtime, it needed some typographical design help. While working with all the multiple layers and versions I managed to make it look nice but, I accidentally transposed one line of copy within an offer box on one version. I asked that the file be reviewed closely before the job kicked off (started). I had nothing to do with the file after kick off. All copy edits were handled in Chicago.
After the direct mail piece was printed and mailed, my boss called me from Chicago and told me about an error on one of the many versions. I asked him how many times it went through copy editing/proofing. His response was: "Nine times but, if copy editing doesn't know what has been changed then, they can not proof it." When he said that, I realized what a flawed idea it was to NOT keep a copy deck consistent with with the art through the entire process. Not to mention there was an additional tenth opportunity to catch an error on a printer proof.
As a result, I was blamed for the error. Management never even asked me what had happened and, within a week, I was fired. I was a Senior Art Director doing my job, not a Copywriter and not an Editor, and I was not the one who decided that Copywriters did not need to maintain copy decks. It was decided by senior management that it was my error without even having a conversation with me.
