diff --git a/montage/rdb.py b/montage/rdb.py
index c8bd6338..1aa01996 100644
--- a/montage/rdb.py
+++ b/montage/rdb.py
@@ -1194,6 +1194,9 @@ def create_round(self, name, description, directions, quorum,
         jurors = [self.get_or_create_user(j, 'juror', campaign=self.campaign)
                   for j in jurors]
 
+        if type(deadline_date) is not DateTime:
+            deadline_date = js_isoparse(deadline_date)
+
         for (k, v) in DEFAULT_ROUND_CONFIG.items():
             config[k] = config.get(k, v)
 
@@ -2174,6 +2177,13 @@ def edit_series(self, series_id, series_dict):
 
     def create_campaign(self, name, url, open_date, close_date, series_id, coords=None):
         other_campaigns = self._get_campaigns_named(name)
+
+        if type(open_date) is not DateTime:
+            open_date = js_isoparse(open_date)
+
+        if type(close_date) is not DateTime:
+            close_date = js_isoparse(close_date)
+
         if other_campaigns:
             raise InvalidAction('A campaign named %s already exists' % name)
         if not coords:
diff --git a/tools/_admin.py b/tools/_admin.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5cd5b628
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/_admin.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+import os
+import sys
+
+import fire
+
+CUR_PATH = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+PROJ_PATH = os.path.dirname(CUR_PATH)
+
+sys.path.append(PROJ_PATH)
+
+from montage.rdb import (make_rdb_session,
+                         UserDAO,
+                         MaintainerDAO,
+                         OrganizerDAO,
+                         CoordinatorDAO,
+                         lookup_user)
+
+
+"""Generating a command line interface with Python Fire.
+
+
+It's (mostly) functional, but may be daunting if you're not familiar
+with the DAOs in ../rdb.py. I haven't tested the full campaign flow,
+so you may encounter a few operations that still can't be done via
+CLI.
+
+
+Usage:
+    _admin.py user ...
+    _admin.py maintainer ...
+    _admin.py organizer ...
+    _admin.py coordinator --round-id=<round_id:int> ... 
+        OR
+    _admin.py coordinator --campaign_id=<campaign_id:int> ...
+    
+    (ignore the other options)
+
+Tip: try _admin.py <command> -- --interactive if you want to explore
+or use the results in a REPL.
+
+It would be nice to decorate or list the functions that I want Fire
+to expose. There are a lot of internal functions that we can ignore.
+""" 
+
+
+class AdminTool(object):
+
+    def __init__(self, user='Slaporte', echo=False):
+        rdb_session = make_rdb_session(echo=echo)
+        self.rdb_session = rdb_session
+        user = lookup_user(rdb_session, user)
+        self.user_dao = UserDAO(rdb_session, user)
+        self.maint_dao = MaintainerDAO(self.user_dao)
+        self.org_dao = OrganizerDAO(self.user_dao)
+
+    def commit(self, func):
+        def wrapper_func(*args, **kwargs):
+            retval = func(*args, **kwargs)
+            self.rdb_session.commit()
+            return retval
+        return wrapper_func
+
+    def add_commit(self, cls):
+        for attr in cls.__dict__:
+            if callable(getattr(cls, attr)):
+                setattr(cls, attr, self.commit(getattr(cls, attr)))
+        return cls
+
+    def user(self):
+        return self.add_commit(self.user_dao)
+
+    def maintainer(self):
+        return self.add_commit(self.maint_dao)
+
+    def organizer(self):
+        return self.add_commit(self.org_dao)
+
+    def coordinator(self, round_id=None, campaign_id=None):
+        if round_id:
+            print round_id
+            coord = CoordinatorDAO.from_round(self.user_dao, round_id)
+        elif campaign_id:
+            coord = CoordinatorDAO.from_campaign(self.user_dao,
+                                                 campaign_id)
+        else:
+            raise Exception('need round_id or campaign_id')
+        return self.add_commit(coord)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    fire.Fire(AdminTool)