News, events, tips and updates for members of the Editors’ Association of Canada
What have you done for me lately?
In 1980s pop music and film, it was a question one might ask a less than satisfactory romantic partner. In this season of candy hearts, flowers and boxes of chocolates, we’re reminded that healthy relationships are mutually beneficial. What’s more, lasting relationships require effort and they’re only as strong as the work you’re willing to put into them.
The same holds true for your EAC membership. Benefits abound for members of the association, but so do opportunities to take your membership to the next level. In this edition of the e-news update, we’ll take a look at some of these opportunities, invite you to step outside your comfort zone and, perhaps, introduce you to a world of benefits you didn’t know existed.
In this issue:
1. CONFERENCE 2012: Be wildly stylish at Ottawa’s premiere conference venue
2. TWIGS: Meet fellow local editors
3. EXTERNAL LIAISON: Become an affiliate member of CHRC
4. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!
5. PRESIDENT’S AWARD: Tell us about EAC’s stellar volunteers
6. WEBSITE: Volunteer profiles and badges
7. ONLINE DIRECTORY OF EDITORS: Your online brag sheet
8. FRANCOPHONE AFFAIRS: Member services survey results
Q: Editing can lead to long periods of solitude. How do I get out of this rut?
A: Commit to stepping outside of your comfort zone and expanding your network by meeting other editors and communications professionals.
1. CONFERENCE 2012: Be wildly stylish at Ottawa’s premiere conference venue
The new Ottawa Convention Centre plays host to EAC Conference 2012 June 1 to 3. Early bird conference discounts are available to EAC members until April 11: $350, or $290 for student members. Registration opens February 23. Click here for more registration details.
The Ottawa Convention Centre is steps away from Parliament Hill, the historic ByWard Market, and many world-class restaurants and boutiques. Browse the Ottawa Experience web page for tips on where to eat, where to shop, what museums to visit and much more. See suggested hotels, bed and breakfasts, and other accommodations. Billeting with local EAC members may be an option—check www.editors.ca/conference/conference2012/index.html for details on this, plus the conference’s vendor fair (EAC members with side businesses may be able to sell their wares there).
Four pre-conference workshops and an evening reception with live entertainment kick off the conference with something for everyone in 35 sessions.
And Conference Buddies is back! If you’d rather travel with the pack than forage independently, this is for you. Lastly, consider volunteering: we still need on-site volunteers plus another photographer.
The countdown to Conference 2012 is on!
Christine LeBlanc and Gael Spivak, Conference Co-Chairs
conference@editors.ca
The beautiful new Ottawa Convention Centre, home to Conference 2012 June 1-3.
2. TWIGS: Meet fellow local editors
Do you live outside an EAC branch city? Do you plan meetings with other editors in your community?
If you meet with editors in your community, but have not yet considered obtaining official EAC twig status for your group, we want to help ensure that your meetings and events are promoted. Chances are other editors in your area are also looking for local networking opportunities. For more information about starting a twig or to have your community event on EAC’s Events Calendar, contact Micaela Hardy-Moffat at branchservices@editors.ca.
3. EXTERNAL LIAISON: Become an affiliate member of CHRC
Did you know that, as an EAC member, you’re entitled to affiliate Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC) membership? CHRC is a national arts service organization committed to strengthening Canada’s cultural workforce, and that strives to be at the centre of vision and forward thinking in the area of cultural human resources development. CHRC publishes research, manages youth internship programs and produces career development tools. Among its tools, it has charts and profiles of competencies for many occupations in the eight cultural sectors, online courses, The Art of Managing your Career—which helps self-employed artists and cultural workers develop their business skills—and the engaging and interactive, Careers in Culture Online, which leads you through what you need to know and what skills you need for a career in the vast and diverse arts and culture sector. CHRC also hosts an online job board for artists and cultural workers, Cultureworks.ca.
A CHRC affiliate membership entitles you to:
- CHRC’s e-newsletter, which will keep you up to date on HR issues in the cultural sector and on CHRC’s many related activities,
- 25% off all CHRC publications,
- 25% off a membership upgrade and
- voting privileges.
To register for your CHRC affiliate membership, please go to www.culturalhrc.ca/membership/index-e.asp.
Q: Why can’t I find editing work?
A: We often talk about the importance of making valuable career connections through networking (see above). Beyond networking, there are other ways you can take advantage of EAC to set yourself apart from the crowd. But first you have to cast aside the notion that editors are just supporting actors and prepare to grab some of that limelight for yourself.
4. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!
QAC branch member Maryann Hayatian has opened a publishing company called Flower Press. She invites EAC members to submit their manuscripts along with a query letter including details (i.e., title, subject, synopsis and number of pages) to info@flowerpress.ca. For more information, go to www.flowerpress.ca.
Toronto branch member Dawn Hunter has received a 2012 USBBY Outstanding International Books Award for her contribution to Beyond Bullets: A Photo Journal of Afghanistan (Annick Press). Written by Rafal Gerszak with Dawn Hunter, the book features stunning photos of an Afghanistan we rarely see. The USBBY Outstanding International Books List is published each year by the United States Board on Books for Young People.
Congratulations to Deborah Lawson, Prairie Provinces branch member, who recently signed a contract with Frontenac House, a Calgary-based literary press, for the publication of her first book of poetry titled Voice Lessons. The book will be published in 2013 as one of four volumes in Frontenac’s highly regarded Quartet series. Frontenac, which won the Alberta Publisher of the Year award in 2006, is particularly known for giving special attention to developing new and previously unpublished writers.
Dr. Peter J. Roccia, Prairie Provinces branch member, is presenting two academic papers this spring: one at a communications conference in Lille, France, and another at the Canadian Communication Association’s Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Waterloo, Ontario. Peter is a full-time continuing faculty member at MacEwan University in Edmonton.
Do you have a recent achievement? Let EAC help tell the world about it on EAC’s Member News page. If you have member news to share, contact member news coordinator, Marguerite Watson.
5. PRESIDENT’S AWARD: Tell us about EAC’s stellar volunteers
EAC does some pretty amazing work. Among other things, we publish standards and books on editing, administer a professional certification program and host an annual conference. From chairing committees to staffing registration desks, it’s the volunteers who keep things running from start to finish.
The EAC President’s Award for Volunteer Service is one way we thank our volunteers for keeping this organization functioning. We’re really proud that this association is run by volunteers, and that many of the services we provide wouldn’t happen if people didn’t pitch in to do the work.
We’re now accepting nominations for the President’s Award. From the nominations received, one outstanding volunteer will receive the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award.
Any member of the association can be nominated for the award. To nominate someone for the President’s Award, send a letter (200 to 500 words—short is good) describing the candidate’s volunteer service. The letter must be signed by at least three EAC members. For complete guidelines, please visit the President’s Award page.
The deadline for nominations is April 15, 2012.
Send nominations to
EAC President’s Award for Volunteer Service
505–27 Carlton St.
Toronto, ON M5B 1L2
Fax: 416 975-1637
Email: president@editors.ca (subject line: Nomination, EAC President’s Award for Volunteer Service)
6. WEBSITE: Volunteer profiles and badges
There’s another bonus to volunteering for EAC: You can find yourself featured on EAC’s home page and earn volunteer recognition on your Online Directory of Editors (ODE) entry.
Home page feature
Last July we gave www.editors.ca a facelift to shine a spotlight on some of EAC’s stellar volunteers. In an effort to encourage volunteerism in the association, we outfitted the home page with volunteer photos and profiles. Each time you refresh the home page you’ll meet a new volunteer and find out about their career and the great work they’ve done for EAC.
President’s Award nominees are prime candidates for these home page profile spots, so make sure you get out there and participate.
ODE badges
In 2011, we created a “Volunteer Participation” section in the ODE. Member volunteers whose names are put forth by committee chairs and team leaders for the volunteer section in the Annual Report automatically receive recognition on their ODE profiles as well.
7. ONLINE DIRECTORY OF EDITORS: Your online brag sheet
If you have a profile in EAC’s Online Directory of Editors, don’t forget to keep it up to date. Including your volunteer work tells potential employers you’re an active, well-rounded editor who is committed to professional development and to promoting and maintaining high professional standards of editing in Canada.
Be prepared to sing your own praises as well. We have often said that a well-written ODE profile can pay for itself several times over. The ODE is a prime marketing tool with results that rank high in Google searches so don’t sell yourself short. And remember that the first 20 to 25 words of your personal statement are key. These are the words that appear in the ODE search results—they may make the difference between an employer choosing to click on your profile or passing it over in favour of someone else’s.
Don’t have a profile in the ODE yet? Visit the Members’ Area to learn more about purchasing a profile in the official advertising directory of association members.
Q: I work in French. How do I get the certification credentials and professional development that would give my career a boost?
A: There’s plenty of energy behind creating these programs, but we need your help.
8. FRANCOPHONE AFFAIRS: Member services survey results
EAC’s English-language certification program for professional editors was the first of its kind in the world and it’s quickly gaining recognition and respect in the industry. It’s also the result of more than a decade of hard work and dedication by member volunteers. But what about editors who work in French? In December, members who work in French were invited to participate in a survey on the possibility of creating French-language certification and other services. Here are the results of that survey.
Nearly 70% of francophone members speak out about French activities
An energizing breeze has been blowing through the francophone membership since the survey was conducted. With this strong response we foresee great opportunities to advance our language community.
In short, the survey results reveal that
- 93% of members want to create an accreditation program in French,
- 88% would take part and
- 32% expressed willingness to collaborate to create it.
Members believe a French certification program would increase the value of our association. Priorities identified by survey respondents are as follows (listed in order of importance):
- creation of an accreditation program,
- creation of virtual activities,
- increasing the number of activities in French,
- promotion of the editing profession and
- increasing the number of francophone members.
From the responses, the Director of Francophone Affairs, Sandra Gravel, was quick to draft a plan that reflects the needs of EAC members who work in French. The plan was enthusiastically received by the members of the national executive council at its first quarter meeting on February 11 in Toronto.
More details will follow in the coming months. For more information about developing French-language certification and other association services for members who work in French, please contact Sandra Gravel at Director_Affaires_Franco@editors.ca.
The EAC national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.