I'm speechless now because my speech is done. I presented my piece on dealing with office clutter this afternoon to a receptive and appreciative audience at the Editors' Association of Canada's national conference. I was glad to be presenting after other sessions, because they were informative and diverting enough to keep me from getting too nervous before my turn. Several people came to me afterward to ask questions or thank me, saying how they planned to go home and try out some of my ideas -- that's the best thanks I could have hoped for. I have lots more to say on the subject -- yeah, you can't shut me up now. It will become fodder for my new site (in development, but live in an alpha version). And now I've got to work on a better version of my speech.

Posted by lynda at 06:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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.

Posted by lynda at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Toronto continued to sizzle today but we kept cool for the most part for the day's EAC conference sessions. The highlight without question was Margaret Mahan's delightfully witty keynote on the Chicago Manual of Style. As the main editor of the 15th edition, she had lots of inside secrets to share -- who knew there was so much personality influencing the choices made for each edition? She even had a replica of the 1906 version to show us. And yes, she acknowledged the 12th had the best section on hyphenation (see yesterday's quiz). I've always been a fan of CMOS, but now I'm a fan of all those who labour to produce it, quirks and all, thanks to Margaret's enthusiasm.
Next up for me was Beatrice Baker's presentation on style guides, an excellent exploration of how to approach a client and sell this as a profit item, especially when other editing work is hard to come by. After lunch, Sally McBeth's session on plain language was completely full, so jammed in fact that there were many people without a handout. This isn't always a tragedy for conference sessions, but it was in this case because Sally wanted us to refer to the handout during her presentation. Furthermore, she had about a dozen items to pass around the room, but they went every which way and I only saw two.
The AGM followed eventually, continuing until after 6 pm. It was well organized and without bloodshed.
For dinner we trekked south by car, transit and on foot to the venue for the banquet, a trendy looking restaurant with bad acoustics. The meal was very fine, but the conversation was the main reason I'm glad I was there. Oh yeah, and the ladies' room. Olive described it as post-modern Italianate.

Posted by lynda at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The EAC conference got off to a sweaty start this evening with a reception in one of the older buildings of Victoria College. Lots of architectural ambience but no air conditioning. Still, nobody hesitated to add to the hot air; the buzz of conversation was continuous, punctuated occasionally with raucous laughter. I was told that the pre-conference session this afternoon led by Rosemary Shipton was a sellout, as expected, with lots of intelligent questions. My informant for last night's pub dinner was politely complimentary (I swear she stifled a yawn), but provided no details.
Just in case you think editors don't get up to much, or that your correspondent is too much of a snob for gossip, here's a quiz for you.
1. What Toronto editor was lamenting the fact that she had to miss Coronation Street for tonight's chatfest?
2. Who heads straight for the goat curry place when she's in town, ever since she moved to the land of white bread and red wine?
3. Who goes directly to CMOS 12 for hyphenation advice and was brazen enough to say so to the editor of CMOS 15?
More tomorrow.

Posted by lynda at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I hope to contrast the deafening silence here with several posts in the next few days from the Editors' Association of Canada (EAC) conference, beginning tomorrow evening. I asked if there was wireless access from the venue, Victoria College at University of Toronto, and was assured that it was available, but later discovered I actually have to be booked into residence overnight to get it. So I'll be cruising the neighbourhood looking for hotspots or, worst case, posting when I get back in the evening.
This will be my first EAC conference in many, many years -- I've been lazy, or busy, or indifferent -- never mind, this time I signed up with enthusiasm. My editing career has been the foundation of my information design career and I continue to find the company and conversation of other editors enriching or at least comforting. Yes, even those who wax poetic about cat names or rant at length about typos in the Globe -- these are my people.

Posted by lynda at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)