I sympathize with deadline problems. Every year, I manage a little project where I collect photos for a calendar. By the third year, I was setting a deadline of a good two weeks before I absolutely needed anything. When everybody misses the deadline, I can say, "Okay, but get them to me within a week, all right?" and then even when they miss that deadline they generally don't do it by much. For something like a ficathon, people are probably pushing themselves to the wire, but it's still hard not to worry when you feel responsible for making it run smoothly.