My Sunday sessions at the EAC conference started with David Friend of Thomson Nelson tackling the question of prescriptive versus descriptive approaches to dictionary making. What sounds like a pretty dry session was quite the contrary -- interesting and thought-provoking. That's what you like to find at a conference, some challenge to ideas you thought were pretty solid.
Next up was Unmasking Grammatical Hobgoblins, which I chose because Warren Clements was on the panel. If only he had been allowed to say more!
Lunch was, well, just ghastly. Reheated spaghetti with nondescript sauce served in the steamy venue of Friday's reception -- the worst incarnation of university cafeteria food I've encountered in a long time.
I stuck it out for the final session, Editorial Training for the 21st Century, featuring a panel apparently put together with a nod to irony. All panelists were well spoken and good representatives of their field, but all four were focused on book publishing. As audience members were quick to point out, book publishing in Canada is in decline and the only growth areas for editing graduates of any description will be anywhere but the book business. When will we lose this infatuation with the idea that editing literature is the only "real" editing, the only kind worth doing?
On balance, I'm glad I went to the conference, but there will have to be more relevant sessions for me at the next one, especially as it requires a cross-country flight. And yes, I will try to put this on the evaluation form.