News, events, tips and updates from Editors Canada
In this issue:
1. EDITORS 22: Registration is now open for our virtual 2022 national conference
2. WEBINARS: Training opportunities for diverse interests and experience levels
3. EDITING ESSENTIALS: Introducing a new entry-level test for editors
4. PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION: Show the world you’re at the top of your editing game
5. MEMBER SERVICES: Member fee relief and reduction
6. STUDENT RELATIONS: Let’s talk about websites
7. FEATURED VOLUNTEER: Badou Bousso
8. GET INVOLVED: Volunteer opportunities
9. MEMBER NEWS: Tell the world about your accomplishment
10. EXTERNAL LIAISON: News from The Indexing Society of Canada
11. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
1. EDITORS 22: Registration is now open for our virtual 2022 national conference
Registration is now open for Editors 22: Editing for a Changing World! Editors 22 is a virtual conference that will take place May 28–29, 2022. Early-bird pricing is in effect through April 25.
Although this is the second year we won’t be together in person, we’ll gather online for another weekend of learning, networking and fun!
- Enjoy access to 40 sessions for all skill levels, each led by expert presenters.
- Network with hundreds of editors from a wide range of fields, as well as writers, communication professionals and small business owners.
- Get inspired by our keynote speaker, bestselling author, award-winning poet and disability advocate Jen Campbell.
- Don’t miss a thing! All conference sessions will be recorded so you won’t have to choose between sessions during the conference weekend. Until August 31, 2022, you’ll be able to watch the recording of any conference session.
Visit the conference website to register now!
2. WEBINARS: Training opportunities for diverse interests and experience levels
New to editing? Been in the business for years? Whatever career stage you may be at, we have professional development opportunities designed for your needs and interests—and offered at a 40% member discount! For a start, check out these webinars coming your way in April:
- April 5: Dousing the Man on Fire—Going from “How You Write a Poem” to “Listen to How The Poet Writes” (Peter Midgley)
- April 12: Révision et accessibilité du Web (Louisane LeBlanc)
- April 20: 10 Strategies for Growing Your Editing Business (Erin Brenner)
- April 28: Bien enchaîner ses idées (Carlos Séguin)
Visit our webinars page to register and see the full list of upcoming sessions. And don’t forget to have a look at our recordings of past webinars, too!
This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada.
3. EDITING ESSENTIALS: Introducing a new entry-level test for editors
Editors Canada Editing Essentials is coming!
Next month we’re launching a new test to assess knowledge of the basics of editing and to provide a qualification for entry-level editors. Editors Canada Editing Essentials evaluates basic competence in the areas of structural editing, stylistic editing, copy editing and proofreading, based on a selection of standards from Professional Editorial Standards.
Unlike Editors Canada Professional Certification, which recognizes highly experienced editors who are already the masters of their craft, Editing Essentials is intended for editors at the beginning of their careers.
Keep an eye on your inbox for the launch announcement in April.
4. PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION: Show the world you’re at the top of your editing game
You’ve worked at mastering the craft of editing; now earn a professional certification to demonstrate your experience and expertise to employers, clients and peers, too. Editors Canada Professional Certification can open professional doors, serve as a powerful marketing tool, and may allow you to command a higher salary or higher rates.
This year, Editors Canada is offering the Copy Editing and Stylistic Editing exams.
Exam date: Saturday November 19, 2022, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., local time
Visit the Preparing for Certification page for resources to help you get ready. Editors who have successfully passed the exams suggest the following ways to prepare:
- Taking Editors Canada seminars and webinars
- Forming a study group
- Reading about grammar, punctuation, usage, proofreading, editing and publishing
- Writing tests and quizzes online
- Purchasing the Copy Editing and Stylistic Editing test preparation guides
The test preparation guides include an overview of the certification testing program, preparation advice, practice tests for you to try, a copy of Professional Editorial Standards and completed example tests. For more details, visit the Certification Test Preparation Guides page.
5. MEMBER SERVICES: Updated Membership Fee Relief and Reduction Policy and Guidelines
Did you know Editors Canada may provide fee relief to members who encounter extraordinary hardship? Since 2019 we’ve had a policy in place to consider offering relief to members who request it so they can stay within the Editors Canada community.
Earlier this year, the national office received a query regarding the application process for membership fee reductions for new members on the basis of disability, chronic illness or marginalization. Since the existing Membership Fee Relief Policy and Guidelines were due to be reviewed this year, the national executive council (NEC) decided to do a substantial revision of those documents to include a category for potential new members.
We’re happy to report the Membership Fee Relief and Reduction Policy and Guidelines are now updated. You can find detailed information about eligibility and conditions by downloading the policy and guidelines from our Bylaw, policies and procedures page.
6. STUDENT RELATIONS: Let’s talk about websites
The student relations committee is hosting a new Facebook discussion series for May and June—and it’s all about websites. We’re inviting editors to share thoughts about planning a website. What did you consider when building your site or having someone else build it for you? We’ll also talk about platforms: which one you chose, what you liked, and what, if anything, was challenging.
If you’d like to contribute your thoughts about websites for this series, please email agoldric@sfu.ca as soon as possible. We’ll collect responses in April and post discussions in the Editors Canada Student Affiliates Facebook group starting in May.
7. FEATURED VOLUNTEER: Badou Bousso
Which Editors Canada member speaks five languages, volunteered with Translators Without Borders and hosted an award-winning radio show?
Who else but Badou Bousso, Editors Ottawa–Gatineau’s multi-talented co-chair of francophone relations! As a child in Senegal, Badou “fell in love with English.” He completed a BA in Langues Étrangères Appliquées (foreign languages for business), an MA in translation and PhD work in francophone studies at the University of Kansas, where he helmed the radio show All Things African with Badou. After moving to Montreal with his family, he worked as a teacher, freelance editor and translator, bringing to bear his knowledge of English, French, Wolof, Spanish and Arabic.
In 2015, Badou began in-house work at the Canadian Nurses Protective Society in Ottawa. He joined the association as a member of Editors Ottawa–Gatineau, becoming co-chair of francophone relations in 2019. “My mandate is to create French content and activities for our francophone members,” Badou says. “This is important as we’re in the nation’s capital and serve a bilingual audience.”
In 2020, Badou helped to create la Vigne des reviseurs, the French equivalent of The Editors’ Vine virtual meeting of members. A national gathering, la Vigne regularly welcomes guests from the United States, too. “I’m very proud of what it’s turned into,” Badou says.
Badou currently works as a content management coordinator for a not-for-profit healthcare organization. He also freelances in editing and translation, including movie subtitling.
A self-described “news junkie,” Badou is also a fan of world music and cultures. “I love meeting my peers from all over the place [through Editors Canada],” he says. “I have grown so much professionally since becoming a member.” He only wishes he had more time to dedicate to Editors Canada. “I feel like there is so much more I can do!”
~S. Robin Larin
The featured volunteer recognizes the contributions of our dedicated people who keep Editors Canada going. Volunteers are the backbone of the association, and we are grateful for the many members and affiliates who answer the call when help is needed.
8. GET INVOLVED: Volunteer opportunities
Updates to VolunteerConnect
The volunteer management committee is pleased to announce some changes to VolunteerConnect, our resource for matching volunteers to tasks.
- An Instructions tab has been added for those who aren’t comfortable in Sheets or Excel.
- New columns include Date Added, Language Requirements, Source and Role Title.
- The sheets have been formatted with alternating colours so rows are easier to read.
- A drop-down menu highlights opportunities that are vacant. This allows the tables to be filtered by these fields.
- Instructions and column headings are featured in English and French.
Looking for volunteer opportunities?
If you want to volunteer for Editors Canada, you can use this searchable tool to
- find opportunities of interest to you, or
- list yourself as a potential volunteer.
Listing yourself as a volunteer will showcase your skills, identify skills you would like to learn and provide other relevant information to people searching for volunteers.
National call for association ambassadors: A great opportunity to educate others about editing
The marketing and communications committee is developing a plan to raise the profile of the association as an authority through in-person outreach to emerging writers and editors. Our goal is to promote the editing profession and the benefits of joining Editors Canada.
Part of that plan is to have ambassadors of Editors Canada speak at libraries, writers’ circles, and post-secondary institutions about what editors do and what it takes to become an editor. We plan for these presentations to start in fall 2022.
We’re looking for members to become local ambassadors for our national association, particularly members who live on the East Coast or in the Central provinces. We will provide a generic presentation for you to tailor to your own experience, as well as details about Editors Canada you can include. As an ambassador, you’ll help to promote lasting awareness of the editing profession.
We’re looking for
- members with some work experience and a willingness to share their enthusiasm for the profession to act as ambassadors; and
- suggested contacts at libraries, writers’ circles or post-secondary institutions.
If you’re able to help, please get in touch with Merel Elsinga.
9. MEMBER NEWS: Tell the world about your accomplishment
Editors Canada Member News is where we share information about members and affiliates who win awards, publish books and make their mark in other important ways.
Do you have an achievement you’d like to share? Are you excited about a new project or opportunity that has come your way? Let us tell the world all about it! Please send your stories to the member news coordinator.
10. EXTERNAL LIAISON: News from The Indexing Society of Canada
ISC/SCI 2022 Virtual Annual Conference registration is open
With Dennis Duncan, author of Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age, as keynote speaker, the ISC/SCI 2022 Virtual Annual Conference, May 12 to 14, will be an event to enlighten and inspire. Please join us. Registration at the early-bird rate is now open. #indexcancon22 #djbduncan
11. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
The national executive council met on Sunday, February 13, and discussed several topics, including the following:
- We continue working to implement the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) recommendations put forward by the EDI task force in June 2021: we revised the existing Membership Fee Relief Policy and Guidelines to include allowing for potential members to request a membership fee reduction based on disability or marginalization; the training and development committee is looking to contact other organizations to find webinar presenters on diverse topics; and the MarComm committee has a francophone volunteer who is writing a guidebook for other francophone volunteers to refer to when asking their committees to consider francophone perspectives in their initiatives.
- Sara Caverley and Sara Fowler from Editors Ottawa–Gatineau joined the meeting to update the NEC on branch news. They also asked several questions of the NEC and thanked the office staff for the speed and thoroughness of their communications with the branch.
- The website task force is continuing its work and currently has volunteers preparing content to be ported to the new website. A request for proposals (RFP) will soon be sent out to hire a company to create the new website.
The next e-news update will include notes from the March 6 NEC meeting.
Heather Buzila
President
The national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.