there are deadlines and deadlines

Our lives are made up of one deadline after another: creative deadlines, work deadlines, financial deadlines, project deadlines, registration deadlines, submission deadlines, notification deadlines - and on and on and on. This has been a year when I have been overcome by deadlines - and it's not over yet. I figure the deadlines I set for myself are moveable. They are not published and nobody else has to adhere to them but me. So if I change my mind, I can change my deadline to make life easier for myself without inconveniencing another soul. On the other hand, deadlines others set for me are immutable unless they notify me in advance that they are moving the deadline. If a magazine needs my article by a certain date, they'll have it because there are consequences if I don't get it in on time. A relative of mine almost didn't graduate from high school because his term paper was not in by the deadline. Consequences. Show entry deadlines are immutable. Must be received by. Must be postmarked by. And god help you if you miss those deadlines; your artwork is not even considered. Those of us entering juried shows respect those deadlines because we know the consequences. But what about notification deadlines from those same shows? Every prospectus publishes an date when entrants will find out whether their work has been juried into the show. The recent entry form for a national show said October 29, 2007 Notification of Acceptance. But lo and behold, notifications of acceptance showed up in people's mailboxes on October 19 - ten days earlier than the published date. As if that were not bad enough, the show organizers did not have the courtesy to send out notifications of non-acceptance at the same time. As a result, people whose work did not get in could have entered it in another show with an October 20 postmark deadline if they had only been notified at the same time as the winning entrants. Unprofessional? Inconsiderate? Or just a clerical error? There is no earthly reason not to send out ALL notifications to ALL show entrants at the same time.