Everyone in the shop counts on Traffic to keep them up on what's going on. Whether it's one person or many, the Traffic Department is the brain of the agency. It coordinates so much activity and keeps everything flowing smoothly. So who helps Traffic?

Traffic milestones do! Milestones remind traffic managers of what must happen, and in what order, so jobs proceed. Milestones are based on Job Type because the events that they represent are the same or similar based upon the type of work being done. The things that change are the different dates entered for each job on each milestone.

You select jobs listed on milestone reports by entering a status code range. You sort jobs based upon client, account executive, or any one of the traffic assignments--the creative/production people most responsible for getting work done.

Milestones provide an overview of job development but also delineate important individual events. It's a traffic manager's "tickler" list--deadlines that they must meet personally or events that need to happen to keep work moving.

Here are some example milestones and their abbreviations:

Client Presentation ("CL PRES")

Internal Creative Meeting (" INT MTG")

Estimate Approval Due ("EST OK")

Copy Approval Due ("COPY OK")

Photoshoot ("SHOOT")

Press Check ("PRESS C")

Tearsheet ("TEAR")

Follow Up Calls ("F CALL")

File Art ("FILE ART")