EAC2012 reviews in a hurry

Quick personal reflections from the 2012 conference of the Editors’ Association of Canada. (That means it’s not necessarily what they said, but what the speakers made me think.)

Opening Keynote—Charlotte Gray

  • She is funny! And insightful. And really spoke to the interests of her audience. She also spoke to the interests of the Library Association that was having their conference one floor up. I wish they could have heard it.

Earn a six-figure income without changing careersRon Jette 

  • Get MORE people to pay you MORE, MORE often.
  • Remember to measure what methods of promotion are working for you.

Even comic books need editors!—Janet Hetherington and Ronn Sutton

  • Artists work from staged photos? There’s story development editing. Are there other kinds of editing going on?

20Q: it’s all about the questions and the subtlety of meanings—Robin Burgener 

  • This game is about guessing right—game theory, understanding how people think—not about coding the right facts. BTW, the masses think Dolphins are fish and squirrels are semi-aquatic flying carnivores. Also, you’re probably thinking of a carrot.
  • The system (roughly) taught itself how people think, through user involvement in the free online version. This is why it’s called AI (artificial intelligence).
  • There are versions that deal with themed facts such as the Simpsons and Harry Potter.

To “TXT” or to “text”: that is the question—Ian Capstick and James Harbeck 

  • Is texting killing words? No.
    [IMHO, ultra-short forms have been around since the time of the telegraph. At best, this character limit is making us more succinct writers, which plain language would love. See below.]

Why is branding small business important?—Josef Jurkovic

  • Your brand creates client expectations. Branding well sets clients up for satisfaction.
  • Your brand is the cultural association people have in mind when they think of you. [Visual identity is one tiny part.]
  • Your brand identifies what sets you apart. If you try to appeal to everyone, you will be special to no one. Being special is an excellent way to build success.

Birds of a Feather: the unconference session for experienced editors

  • I should add a slideshow of my book covers to LinkedIn.

From ho hum to humdinger: how to edit a speech—Wendy Cherwinski 

  • Bought the book, which has at least four pages of checklists an editor can use. <3

How SEO and editing can wreck each otherGreg Ioannou 

  • Learn what each other does and try to play nicely.

Freelance editing: the top 10 things I wish I’d known—Elizabeth d’Anjou

  • Too many excellent tips to share.
  • My own: you will gain weight when your commute shrinks to 10 steps.

Plain language in 2012: what’s new?—Dominique Joseph 

  • There has been a lot of legislation” relating to making language accessible.
  • “Plain” means that the intended user can understand the language at first read.

Closing Keynote—Peter Milliken

  • A lot of bad language has been used in the house!

Social time between sessions

  • Boy I met a lot of people I have been interacting with online for years. Adding that face-to-face time solidified our bonding. Tweetups matter. 😉
  • See you on the interwebs!

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