News, events, tips and updates for members of the Editors’ Association of Canada
In this issue:
1. CERTIFICATION: Stand out from the crowd
2. VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH: Betty Anne Benes
3. MEMBER COMMUNICATION: Social media volunteer positions available
4. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT: Aiming for the small screen
5. AWARDS: Help us celebrate editors
6. CONFERENCE: Travel discounts for the first global conference of editors in 2015
7. PROMOTE YOURSELF: Tell the world about your achievements
8: EXTERNAL LIAISON: EAC members invited to attend DesignThinkers Conference at special rate
9. NATIONAL OFFICE: Changes in the national office
1. CERTIFICATION: Stand out from the crowd
Thinking about becoming certified?
September is an ideal time of year to set professional development goals. Considering becoming a certified editor? Commit to hitting the books and writing the proofreading or structural editing certification tests this fall.
Last chance until 2016 to take the proofreading and structural editing tests
Registration is still open, but only until October 24. These tests won’t be offered again until 2016 (the copy editing and stylistic editing tests will be offered in 2015), so don’t miss your chance to flex your editing muscles, test your skills and boost your career.
The proofreading and structural editing tests will be written on November 15 in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.
See how certification can help your career and register today.
2. VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH: Betty Anne Benes
An EAC member since 2000, Betty Anne Benes serves as seminars co-chair of the National Capital Region branch and has recently coordinated an exciting lineup of seminars to be delivered on-site in Ottawa this fall, meeting the needs of editors, government departments and businesses. In the past year she’s truly “gone the extra mile,” says branch chair Tom Vradenburg.
Betty Anne says, “I’m a firm believer in professional development and had attended quite a number of EAC seminars before volunteering to host some of them.” Her role as seminars co-chair was a logical progression from attending seminars, to hosting them, to deciding to step up to this position.
“I quickly discovered that seminar attendance had been low for the past few years due to government cutbacks. It was challenging to find ways to get the numbers up and it was quite rewarding to see the results of our efforts at the end of the year.”
She adds, “One of the most important things I enjoy about volunteering for EAC is the social aspect. As a freelancer (for over seven years), I feel it’s important to avoid isolation. The position offered opportunities to interact with other editors on a regular basis.”
The Volunteer of the Month highlights the dedicated people who keep EAC going. Volunteers are the backbone of EAC, a member-run organization. We are grateful for the many volunteers who answer the call when help is needed. Visit the Members’ Area for more information about volunteering for EAC.
3. MEMBER COMMUNICATION: Social media volunteer positions available
Are you a social media savvy editor? Do you have a penchant for exploring communications platforms? If you answered “yes” to either or both of these questions, the member communication committee has been looking for you!
The member communication committee is looking for volunteers to
- engage and respond to EAC members in online discussions (via the listserv, LinkedIn discussion group, Facebook and Twitter) about what facets of EAC matter to them, and
- keep track of recurring discussion themes on these various communications platforms.
Ideally, we’d love to have both English-speaking and bilingual (French and English) volunteers to help us out.
We’re also looking for a committee member who is tech-savvy about various online communications platforms. The committee member would be happy to look into some of these platforms (and explain them in non-tech talk) to the rest of the committee. If you’re interested in volunteering, contact member communication committee chair Susan Chambers.
4. TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT: Aiming for the small screen
Thanks are extended to volunteers who are coming forward to assist the training and development committee in developing an approach to online training. Your work is bringing good results! EAC now has a list of training offerings categorized by topic. This useful list is available for branches and committees.
Another result is that we have some principles to guide us. Recently, after a potluck dinner in Ottawa, several members of the NCR branch met with me to address the question “What elements would make for a successful online training program delivered by editing trainers to members of our association across Canada?” Group wisdom is apparent in the five delightfully succinct categories: technology, content, trainer, e-experience and marketing. Under “content,” for example, some success elements are quality of content (error free), engaging, selection, professionally relevant, up to date, modules/chunks and best practices.
I hope to facilitate other discussions with members as we develop a proposal that works for both trainers and members. Perhaps we’ll even use a trial webinar software, to get a sense of the potential and fit. Who’s in?
Christine Hastie
Chair, Training and development committee
5. AWARDS: Help us celebrate editors
Who better to celebrate the achievements of editors than EAC? Each year we honour stellar editors with the Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence, the Claudette Upton Scholarship, the President’s Award for Volunteer Service and the Lee d’Anjou Volunteer of the Year Award. We also recently established the Karen Virag Award. We’re looking for volunteers to work on these important awards. Tasks include recruiting judges and overseeing the judging processes, to assisting with promotion of each award and following up on the recommendations (133.82 KB) put forth by the awards task force 2014.
If you’re interested in raising the profile of our profession, EAC’s awards committee needs you. Contact executive director Carolyn L Burke to get involved or for more information.
6. CONFERENCE: Travel discounts for the first global conference of editors in 2015
EAC Conference 2015: Editing Goes Global
June 12–14
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Plans are under way for the first global conference of editors. Editing Goes Global will feature speakers from the US, the UK, Ireland, India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Join us for opportunities to connect with editors from around the world and to take part in professional development sessions with international communication professionals. Meet the international editing community and hear speakers you’ve connected with online. This is an unparalleled opportunity to expand your network and client base.
Travel and accommodation discounts
Ready to plan your trip to Toronto next spring? EAC has arranged airline and hotel discounts for conference attendees. Check out the Editing Goes Global website for more information.
This is one EAC conference you won’t want to miss. Registration opens in November 2014.
7. PROMOTE YOURSELF: Tell the world about your achievements
EAC member news is where we share information about EACers who win awards, publish books and make their mark on the communications world in other important ways.
Do you have a recent achievement? Let EAC tell the world about it on EAC’s member news page. If you have member news to share, drop our member news coordinator a line.
8: EXTERNAL LIAISON: EAC members invited to attend DesignThinkers Conference at special rate
DesignThinkers 2014
November 6–7
Toronto, Canada
Join the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) and over 1,500 visual communicators for the 15th annual DesignThinkers Conference, a celebration of creativity and strategic design thinking.
The event welcomes a star-studded line-up of 25 international speakers, including
- Charles Adler, Co-founder, Kickstarter
- Irma Boom, Netherlands-based book designer
- Henry Hobson, Film Titles Designer, The Walking Dead
- Wesley Grubbs, Founder, Data Visualization Studio Pitch Interactive
- Aaron Draplin, Founder, Draplin Design Co.
- Sybille Hagmann, Type designer
- Ellen Lupton, Author, educator & curator
- Karen McGrane, Author, Content Strategy for Mobile
- Debbie Millman, Author & host, Design Matters
- Paula Scher, Partner, Pentagram
- Erik Spiekermann, Author & Creative Director, Edenspiekermann
- Richard Turley, Senior VP, Visual Storytelling, MTV
- Jessica Walsh, Partner, Sagmeister & Walsh
- Todd Waterbury, Executive Creative Director & Sr. VP, Marketing, Target
- Willy Wong, Chief Creative Officer, NYC & Company, New York City’s official marketing organization
Early-bird rates end September 26. EAC members receive special pricing. Travel and accommodation discounts are available. Learn more on the DesignThinkers website.
9. NATIONAL OFFICE: Changes in the national office
We’re pleased to announce that Sébastien Koch has been promoted to the role of professional standards manager. The promotion recognizes his increasing experience and the fact that the professional standards portfolio is expanding with the work being done on certification and agrément.
The EAC national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.