News, events, tips and updates from Editors Canada
In this issue:
1. 40th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE: Registration closes Friday, May 31
2. WEBINARS: Train online with Editors Canada
3. FRANCOPHONE CONFERENCE: S’inscrire dans le changement : une profession en prise sur son temps
4. PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION: Your questions answered (and a question for you to answer)
5. VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH: Leslie Saffrey
6. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!
7. EXTERNAL CONFERENCE: Editorial Freelancers Association
8. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
1. 40th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE: Registration closes Friday, May 31
Editors Canada’s 40th anniversary conference takes place June 7–9, 2019, at the Westin Nova Scotian hotel, right near the boardwalk in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia.
This year is our 40th anniversary so we’re going to take the opportunity to celebrate this milestone with a weekend packed with learning, networking and fun.
If you’ve been putting off registering for the 40th anniversary conference, be aware that time is running out: registration closes on Friday, May 31, at 11:59 p.m., PDT. Registrations received after that time will be accepted only if space is available.
Invest in yourself
Still on the fence? Here are a few reasons to join us for the 40th anniversary conference.
- Boost your skills with incredible conference sessions.
- Learn from inspiring speakers.
- Get editorial or career advice with speed mentoring.
Enjoy a full weekend of networking opportunities, with Conference Buddies, the welcome reception and the awards banquet.
Check out the conference schedule.
Thursday night dinner
Start the conference weekend off with our pre-conference dinner at Ristorante a Mano, a six-minute walk from the Westin Nova Scotian.
Speed mentoring
Need editorial or career advice? Speed mentoring offers editors with all levels of experience an opportunity to receive advice and feedback from some of Editors Canada’s most highly regarded editors. Send a request to speedmentoring@editors.ca with “Speed Mentoring” in the subject line before Monday, June 3, to reserve a spot.
Don’t delay
Register now while there’s still time! Visit the conference website for more information. See you in Halifax!
2. WEBINARS: Train online with Editors Canada
Are you looking for training opportunities online? Check out our current season’s remaining webinars.
Don’t forget: Editors Canada members and student affiliates save 30% on the registration fee.
Upcoming webinars
- May 21: Strategic Pricing and Persuasive Estimating with Jake Poinier
- May 30: Creating Clear Online Content: Connecting with Online Clients with Kate Harrison Whiteside
Catch up on demand: Webinar recordings are available
Did you miss an Editors Canada webinar? Many of our webinars have been recorded and are now available for purchase (and some are even free). When you buy a webinar recording, you’ll receive a video file to watch at your leisure on your computer or mobile device. The file is yours to keep, so you can watch it again and again.
Visit our webinar recordings page to see what’s available now. We’re adding new recordings regularly so be sure to check often.
3. FRANCOPHONE CONFERENCE: S’inscrire dans le changement : une profession en prise sur son temps
[Château Frontenac illustration]
One-day conference
S’inscrire dans le changement : une profession en prise sur son temps
Quebec City, Laval University
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Mark Saturday, September 28, on your agenda because you won’t want to miss this one-day conference that will welcome 100 participants and quality speakers.
What’s in store?
- Conférence spectacle de Communication futée
- Panel answering the question « Écrire correctement en français, est-ce encore important à l’ère numérique? »
- La révision linguistique, juste linguistique? with Anne Fonteneau, co-founder of Plurielles and Singulières and instructor at Laval University
- Digital marketing with Gregory Borelli, founder of Catalyseur numérique
Registration will open in later this month. Keep an eye on your inbox, social media and the Editors Canada website for more information as it becomes available.
For more information, to volunteer or to express your interest in the event, contact the organizing committee.
4. PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION: Your questions answered (and a question for you to answer)
We’re limbering up for the 2019 Copy Editing certification exam! If you are too, try your hand at the sample exam question below. And if you’re planning to attend the Editors Canada conference in Halifax in June, come to the “Preparing for the Editors Canada Certification Exams” session!
On Saturday, June 8, Jess Shulman, Certified Professional Editor and co-chair of the certification steering committee, will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about the Editors Canada certification exams. Along with receiving valuable tips on how to prepare for the exams, you’ll have the chance to test your mettle with sample questions and discuss your answers with other editors. Jess will also be available at the association table to answer your questions about certification. Our updated test preparation guides will be available for sale, too.
Try a sample copy editing question
Highlight the statement that correctly identifies the chief problems in the following sentence:
Bring 2 cups (250 mL) of water to a boil.
Add 15 mL of salt.
a. The correct abbreviation for millilitres is ml, and the conversion for 15 ml should be given.
b. The salt should be added before bringing the water to a boil, and the conversion for 15 mL should be given.
c. There should be periods after the abbreviations, and the conversions should be made consistently.
d. Two cups does not equal 250 mL, and the conversions should be made consistently.
5. VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH: Leslie Saffrey
Leslie Saffrey served on the Editors Canada certification steering committee from 2016 to 2019, where she helped to administer the annual exams and worked on long-term planning, development and enhancement of the professional certification program. Leslie also helped to produce two new test preparation guides: Stylistic Editing (2017) and Proofreading (2018).
Leslie has been a member of Editors Toronto since joining the association in 2009. She has been a professional editor for 14 years, the last 9 of which have been freelance. She edits and proofreads non-fiction books (mostly academic) and reports. Having benefited from other volunteers’ efforts when she was pursuing her Certified Professional Editor credential, she decided that volunteering for Editors Canada would be a fun way to give back and an opportunity to learn.
What was the biggest volunteer challenge? Keeping up with the other stellar committee members. “I was working with extremely talented, energetic, creative people, and I was constantly in awe of their ability to stay on top of the fast-moving, very detailed process of administering the tests year after year,” she says.
The volunteer of the month highlights the dedicated people who keep Editors Canada going. Volunteers are the backbone of the association. We are grateful for the many members and affiliates who answer the call when help is needed.
6. MEMBER NEWS: A round of applause!
Tim Green, an Editors Edmonton member who represents a significant portion of the Editors Canada members in Yukon, has started a podcast series as an outlet for his writing. “On the Marge” is a series of short stories narrated by the members of a family who run the fictional Walnut Crescent Bed and Breakfast in Whitehorse. The parents, their precocious six-year-old daughter, and their golden retriever take turns telling about quirky (quirky, by Outside standards) situations that make life in Yukon so interesting.
“On the Marge” is available on Tim’s website or through iTunes.
If there are other Editors Canada members interested in creating or editing podcasts, Tim would be glad to help get them started. You can contact him through the website above.
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.
7. EXTERNAL CONFERENCE: Editorial Freelancers Association
Editors Canada members are invited to register at the Editorial Freelancers Association member rate for the EFA 2019 conference, which takes place August 21–23 at the Swissôtel Chicago.
To register, visit the conference page and use the discount code EC-mem2019. Register by Monday, May 20, to take advantage of the early-bird discount.
8. NEC: Notes from your national executive council
In my message to members about the March meeting of the national executive council (NEC), I told you that directors had talked about rethinking how the association works.
That was a result of months of various directors saying “This aspect of our work needs a rethink.” But each of these smaller conversations happened as individual issues came up. On May 1, 2019, we sent a comprehensive rethink document to members.
We want everyone to talk about the ideas in this document. Talk about what might work and might not work. Talk about ideas we didn’t think of. Talk about how we might achieve some of the things in the document.
We’d like branches and twigs to talk about it as groups. We know that we missed many of the last meetings of branches and twigs before the summer break. The document was just a concept document at the end of March, so we had to do some work to get it into shape to send to members (including translating some associated documents). That delay meant that we missed many of your pre-summer meetings. But the association won’t be done talking about this even by September, so there will definitely be time for branches and twigs to get together to discuss it.
Members can talk about it in the other places we suggested in the cover email. And we’ll be setting up some roundtables at the June conference to talk about it.
Please send in your comments and ideas to the email address we set up for this. Even if you don’t have time to send in comprehensive or analytical comments, do let us know what you think. Because in our member-run organization, it’s essential that everyone has a chance to provide input.
Gael Spivak, president
Correct answer
d. Two cups does not equal 250 mL, and the conversions should be made consistently.
The national e-news update is produced on behalf of the national executive council by the national office.