Quick links to ...my EAC-BC meeting presentations: Jan 2003 », Nov 2003 », Oct 2004 », Feb 2006 », June 2006 » (also audio)
...my Microsoft Word workshops: May 2004 », Oct 2004 », Mar 2005 », July 2006 »
![[Derek's eyebrow]](../images/eyebrow.gif)
Derek and the Editors' Association of Canada
I joined the Editors' Association of Canada, B.C. Branch (EAC-BC) in early 2002, some years after initially becoming interested. I was on the executive for a year, and now maintain the EAC-BC website. I've made a few presentations to EAC-BC meetings, and also run some EAC-sponsored seminars on Microsoft Word.
This page sums up what I'm doing with the EAC these days.
My Recent EAC-BC Activities
- October 2006: I'm speaking once again to the B.C. branch meeting on October 18, at 7:30 p.m.—I'll be talking about "Writing and Editing in a New Tech World." If you're not an EAC member, the cost is $10, but there's free coffee and goodies.
- July 2006: The EAC held its 2006 annual conference in Vancouver in June, and while I was involved in organizing it and presented a workshop (audio available), so many other things interfered that weekend that I was unable to attend the conference itself. Pity. I'm also running an onscreen editing course for SFU on July 6, though.
- February 2006: The EAC has launched a new version of its website. I was not involved with the redesign, but I did help move the old content over to the new server. I also gave a presentation at the EAC-BC meeting this month about how to build yourself a website in 15 minutes or less. (Actually, it took 11 minutes the first time, and I did it twice more during the meeting, using different software, in less time.)
I'll also be presenting to Simon Fraser University's "What Editors Do" course on February 22, then again on March 2, and revising the EAC's Conference 2006 site in preparation for our national meeting in Vancouver in June. - November 2005: Next June 9 to 11, 2006, the EAC is holding its annual conference, and it's in Vancouver for the first time since 2000. Its theme is "Cultivating Diversity" (one URL for the conference is www.editors.ca/ cultivate), and the keynote speaker is Order of Canada recipient and Jade Peony author Wayson Choy. Our most recent news update is a call for proposals for sessions during the conference. If you're the type of person who has expertise that hundreds of editors might find useful, I'd encourage you to submit a proposal. The deadline is Monday, November 7, 2005.
- October 2005: EAC-BC has resumed its fall meeting schedule, and I continue to work on the Conference 2006 website for our national meeting here next June. In a further attempt to push some leading-edge technology to the EAC, I've turned recent audio recordings from our meeting presentations into a podcast to which you can subscribe for automatic updating to your computer or iPod. The subscription URL is:
https://www.editors.ca/bc/audio/podcast.xml
See the EAC-BC Meetings page for subscription instructions. We'll keep the latest two or three online, with earlier ones removed to save space. - July 2005: Although no longer on the EAC-BC executive, I'm still webmaster (ooh, so very 1997) of the branch's website at editors.ca/bc, and am helping to build the site for the 2006 National Conference, taking place next June in Vancouver. Since I'm too busy to take much freelance work these days, I refer a lot of potential clients to the EAC-BC Hotline, where you can usually find an editor in a day or less if you need to.
- March 2005: I will be running another Editing With Microsoft Word workshop on March 12, 2005, though the Editors' Association. EAC-BC has also now posted the latest issues of West Coast Editor, its excellent newsletter, as well as audio from Leigh MacKay's fine January presentation on using Word in a corporate setting.
- November 2004: At the November EAC-BC meeting, two other former executives and I had a panel discussion about responding to clients asking for editing services. I've digitized audio of our discussion, and you can listen to it if you like (click to listen, right-click or ctrl-click and choose Save As or Download to save to your computer instead):
- October 2004: I'm no longer organizing EAC-BC meetings, but I continue to work on the branch's website. I'm also running another workshop on editing with Microsoft Word on Saturday, October 2, at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island.
- May 2004: The May EAC-BC meeting (May 19) is my last as Programs Chair for the branch. Two people are planning to share the job for 2004-05, and will likely be among those selected during the executive elections taking place in the first few minutes of the meeting. After that, visual artist and book designer Leon Phillips will tell us about his work. Then we're on a break till September.
However, I'm also running a workshop about Microsoft Word's editing features this Saturday, May 15. It is full, but I will be running another in the fall, or maybe sooner. - April 2004: Next Wednesday's EAC-BC meeting (April 21) will include a presentation by literary agent Carolyn Swayze about her work with authors and publishers, as well as discussion about upcoming EAC-BC executive elections.
I'm also asking for suggestions about what topics to cover in my upcoming EAC-BC Professional Development workshop about editing using Microsoft Word. - March 2004: Much to my disbelief, the workshop I'm presenting about onscreen editing with Microsoft Word on 15 May 2004 is now full, with a full room of paying participants, more than two months in advance. If you're interested in taking it, you might want to keep an eye on the registration page to see if anyone cancels in the next few weeks. If there's sufficient demand and everything goes well, I'll try presenting another one in the fall.
Also, the next meeting of the EAC BC Branch is on St. Patrick's Day, and features Ramona Montagnes of the UBC Writing Centre. - February 2004: EAC-BC's next meeting (Wednesday, 18 February) features Anne Pepper, who is living proof that you can make a living as a web writer. Anne also recently had her first baby (who is, alas, unlikely to come along).
- January 2004: The next meeting of EAC-BC takes place on Wednesday, 21 January, and will cover the upcoming certification process for Canadian editors. Once the certification process is in place (probably sometime next year), you'll be able to take a series of exams and be officially certified as a real editor with accredited skills. See the EAC-BC Meetings page for details. Also, I'll be teaching a course on editing with Microsoft Word in mid-May, and you can register online now for that.
- November 2003: On Wednesday, November 19 I talked to the EAC-BC monthly meeting about effective backup strategies for your computer data. I've now posted a few links, audio files of my talk, and some other resources on this site.
- October 2003: Updates on my activities working with the EAC appear on the EAC-BC meetings page. Planned presenters and topics for the 2003-2004 session so far include:
- Jim Sutherland (editor of Western Living magazine) talking about his career in periodical publishing, which he did in September 2003.
- Gary Chomyn (the Sales Doctor) on improving editors' ability to sell our services, in October.
- A session on properly backing up your computer data in November (which I'll probably lead myself).
- Information about the upcoming EAC editors' certification process from Ruth Wilson, in January.
- Anne Pepper's presentation on web writing in February.
- July 2003: A few of my EAC colleagues asked for some guidelines on using Internet e-mail politely, so here they are.
- June 2003: At the May 2003 EAC B.C. Branch meeting, I was elected to be Program Chair for 2003-2004, which means I get to book all the speakers starting in September. Feel free to e-mail any suggestions to me. I've also added the latest audio transcript to the EAC-BC meetings page.
- April 2003: We've put the most recent audio transcript on the EAC-BC meetings page. To save space, each month the transcript gets replaced by the one from the most recent meeting. E-mail me if you want to get a copy of an older one.
- March 2003: I'm helping out with the design and markup of the Association's Conference 2003 website. The conference happens in June in Ottawa, Ontario. I'm not going, since I have other work to do and can't afford to fly to Ontario this year.
- February 2003: There is an audio transcript (which I digitized) of the February meeting at the bottom of the EAC B.C. meetings page. At that session, Dr. Faith Gildenhuys discussed setting editors' rates.
- January 2003: I had such a good time giving a presentation to the January meeting of the EAC's B.C. branch, about how to build and maintain good and useful websites. You can download MP3 audio files of my entire talk from my January meeting page, which also includes a link to my slides, information about a cheap permanent e-mail address service, a discussion about why I used HTML instead of PowerPoint for my slides, and a bunch of links for people new to building Web pages.
Now let me backtrack.
Should I shut up?
In the spring of 2002, a fellow editor asked me, accusingly, "You really love the sound of your own voice, don't you?" She suggested I let other people get a word in edgewise.
She was right. Her jab came at the end of a raucous monthly EAC B.C. branch meeting, at which I had often been cutting in during a long group discussion. I talked loudly and often. Excessively.
The joy of colleagues
The truth is, I don't much like my voice. It's kind of nasal and whiny. But in a room full of like-minded people, I do love to talk. At the time I had only recently discovered the EAC, joining as a voting member years after I'd originally thought about it. Suddenly I had a monthly mob of others who also know the difference between an em-dash and an en-dash, who care about the words we choose when writing and speaking, and who've spent much of their lives instinctively noticing typos and other errors everywhere -- on posters, in magazines, in e-mails, and so on. People like me.
So in subsequent months I toned myself down a bit. But in January 2003 I decided to take advantage of my volubility: I'd be the one at the front of the room. I'm stepping up my involvement all the time, but I'll try not to talk too much. Watch this page for updates.
Quick links to ...my EAC-BC meeting presentations: Jan 2003 », Nov 2003 », Oct 2004 », Feb 2006 », June 2006 »
...my Microsoft Word workshops: May 2004 », Oct 2004 », Mar 2005 », July 2006 »
Page BBEdited on 5-Jul-2006