News, events, tips and updates for members of the Editors’ Association of Canada
In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.
We don’t know about that, Lord Tennyson, but it’s shaping up to be a season full of rewards and fun at EAC. As you put the winter gear away for another year and notice that the crocuses have started to pop up all over the country, your association has been hard at work. Here’s what we’ve been up to.
In this issue:
1. CONFERENCE 2012: Register now for early-bird savings
2. WATERLOO INSURANCE: Win free registration for Conference 2012
3. KWG UPDATE: Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph twig offers seminars
4. TWIGS: Calling all western members!
5. MARKETING & PR: Wanted: Your favourite grammar tips
6. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!
7. PRESIDENT’S AWARD: Tell us about EAC’s stellar volunteers
8. OOPS AWARDS: Send us those slip-ups!
9. PUBLICATIONS: Editing Canadian English now available directly from EAC
1. CONFERENCE 2012: Register now for early-bird savings
Register today for The Landscape of Canadian Language: Word Nerds Gone Wild and take advantage of the $350 early-bird rate for members. But hurry—after April 11, this discount flies the coop (rate increases to $430). The rate for student members is $290. Non-members are welcome, so encourage fellow word nerds to join us in Ottawa June 1–3.
Invest in yourself with three days of professional development. Choose from pre-conference workshops about networking, social media and more. Speed mentoring is back but the offering for senior editors is changing its spots. Stay tuned for more on Birds of a Feather: the unconference session for experienced editors. Check the website often for more details on all the sessions and speakers.
Don’t forget to register for conference buddies, session hosts and the Thursday night dinner, too.
Come for the conference, stay for the experience. Find out about social events and browse the Ottawa Experience for ideas on how to enjoy the nation’s capital. Fox and Squirrel guarantee this habitat has something for everyone.
See you in Ottawa!
Christine LeBlanc and Gael Spivak, Conference Co-Chairs
conference@editors.ca
Fox and Squirrel enjoy some fresh tire—taffy made with fresh hot maple syrup and snow.
2. WATERLOO INSURANCE: Win free registration for Conference 2012
The deadline to participate in Waterloo Insurance’s draw to win a free registration to Conference 2012 is fast approaching! How do you enter to win? Simply call Waterloo Insurance at 1-866-247-7700 for a quote before March 31, 2012, and your name will be entered into the draw. It’s that simple.
Waterloo Insurance offers competitive group rates and quality insurance coverage for your car, home, home-based business, condominium, apartment, cottage, seasonal home, jewellery, fine art and other valuables. A new Second Medical Opinion coverage enhancement is now available for eligible automobile and property insurance policyholders as well. And, as an EAC member, you could potentially save up to 60% on your insurance premiums.
3. KWG UPDATE: Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph twig offers seminars
Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph will be offering its first seminars this spring. The first seminar, Writing and Editing for the Web, will be offered in Guelph on April 21. Next on the lineup is Punctuation and Mechanics, which will be offered in Kitchener on May 11. For more information, visit your local branch.
4. TWIGS: Calling all western members!
Calling all western members: What better time than spring to consider forming a new EAC twig?
Providing services to members who live at a distance from central branch cities has always been a challenge for EAC. As twigs, smaller groups can achieve autonomy in programming for their immediate area, without undertaking the full administrative load of a branch. So far, twigs have been established in the eastern regions of Hamilton-Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph and Kingston, as members in these areas have banded together with a little administrative support to create energetic new groups.
There is plenty of room across the west for members to come together and develop their own twigs. Whether you live in Brandon or Biggar, Calgary or Kelowna, chances are good you’ll find fellow EAC members close to home, ready to connect with you to make the most of their membership through active involvement.
Networking and collegiality are often cited as the greatest benefits of EAC membership: Twigs create the opportunity for members to bring those benefits closer to home.
To begin the process, have a chat with your nearest branch executive and get in touch with your western regional director of branches and twigs, Arden Ogg. For more information, check out the twig online resource.
5. MARKETING & PR: Wanted: Your favourite grammar tips
How do you use a semicolon? When should you use “who” vs. “whom”?
EAC’s Marketing and Public Relations Committee wants your best grammar tips! The committee is developing an English-language poster for sale that will serve as an office reference for writers and editors. Not only will this reference prove useful for years to come, it will also provide fundraising for the association and serve as powerful brand recognition, promoting EAC members as language experts. Members whose tips are selected will receive a free poster.
Send your best grammar tips to Annie Leung at grammartips@editors.ca by April 30. Grammar tips must be your own and not copied from another source.
Please note that while this is an English-language project, we also plan to produce a similar poster in French. Details to follow. Stay tuned!
6. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!
Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe, written by Charlotte Gill and edited by BC branch member Nancy Flight, has won the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction. It was also shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Nonfiction among other awards. In addition, Nancy’s role as Associate Publisher of Greystone Books has just been expanded to Associate Publisher, D&M (both Douglas & McIntyre and Greystone Books).
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.
7. 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)
8. OOPS AWARDS: Send us those slip-ups!
“In those situations where we do have an existing situation, an existing home with two existing entrances, the intent of the bylaw isn’t to restrict those situations because the entrance would already be in existence,” he said. “It would conform.”
Uh, say what? That lovely bit of jargon appeared in The Auroran in 2010 and elicited roars of laughter when presented at last year’s Oops Awards.
Well, get your giggles on because it’s time to send your submissions for the 2012 Oops Awards!
You’ve spotted humorous blunders in advertisements, not-so-scholarly journals, newspapers, bedtime reading, billboards, menus and signs around the globe. Help us recognize the best of the bad by submitting them for this year’s Oops Awards!
Visit the Oops Awards page for submission instructions and entry guidelines.
Online voting for your favourite blunders begins May 3.
9. PUBLICATIONS: Editing Canadian English now available directly from EAC
For years, this indispensable tool has been a staple in classrooms and for anyone who edits Canadian English. With its distinctive red cover, Editing Canadian English may be the first reference book you pull off the bookshelf when considering how to handle a prickly editing problem. While it may have been a little tricky to track down in the past, Editing Canadian English is now available for purchase directly from EAC.
At just $20—almost half off the original cover price—plus shipping, handling and taxes, this one-of-a-kind reference can be yours directly from EAC. The price per copy after shipping, handling and taxes is just $37.95 (this includes delivery anywhere in Canada).
Bulk discounts available
Purchase 12 copies for the price of 9, for a total cost of $217.25 (includes shipping to anywhere in Canada, handling and taxes). Bulk copies are perfect for classroom use and to resell locally.
Order your copy directly from EAC now.
The EAC national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.