By Amy Haagsma and Maggie Clark

Behind Editors BC’s programming is a team of amazing volunteers who make it all happen. Our volunteers put on our branch meetings and professional development seminars and support our participation in blue pencil sessions and events like Word Vancouver. We would like to express a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributes to our branch and tell you a little about the people behind the scenes.

Unsurprisingly, most of our volunteers love to read, with 80% preferring fiction and 20% choosing non-fiction. Collectively, our favourite genres are literary fiction, science fiction, and fantasy, with an honourable mention for mystery/thriller. We may be a little too fond of the semicolon, with 37% of us choosing this pleasing symbol as our favourite punctuation mark. As Emma Caplan says, “I often use the semicolon; it is quite useful.” We have similar feelings about proofreading marks, with 33% of us choosing the delete symbol as our number one. Also mentioned were the caret and the transpose symbol, with the latter noted for the enjoyment of “drawing that fun little curve.” Chocolate ranked high among our guilty pleasures, and most of us are quite content with where we live, choosing a location in BC as our favourite place in Canada.

Please click on the names below to learn more about each of our volunteers!

Executive:

• Amy Haagsma (professional development co-chair)
• Anne Brennan (website coordinator)
• Erin Parker (professional development co-chair)
• Eva van Emden (hotline coordinator)
• Heather Ross (member services chair)
• Jesse Marchand (volunteer coordinator)
• Lana Okerlund (programs chair)
• Lynn Sackville (secretary)
• Maggie Clark (publications chair and managing editor of West Coast Editor)
• Marianne Grier (branch chair)
• Roma Ilnyckyj (past chair)
• Tiffany Sloan (treasurer)
• Wendy Barron (communications and social media chair)

Committee members:

• Carl Rosenberg (communications and social media committee member)
• Charlene Wood (professional development committee member)
• Ellen Michelle (professional development committee member and West Coast Editor contributor)
• Emma Caplan (programs committee member and West Coast Editor copy editor)
• Fiorella Mauro (professional development committee member)
• Frances Peck (West Coast Editor contributor)
• Joanne King (West Coast Editor copy editor)
• Joel Bain (professional development committee member)
• Karen Barry (West Coast Editor copy editor)
• Katie Heffring (West Coast Editor copy editor)
• Lindsay Vermeulen (refreshments coordinator and West Coast Editor contributor)
• Meagan Dyer (communications and social media committee member)
• Meagan Kus (West Coast Editor copy editor)
• Nancy Tinari (West Coast Editor contributor and copy editor)
• Naomi Pauls (member services committee member)
• Rebecca Coates (West Coast Editor copy editor)
• Susan Grant (West Coast Editor contributor)

Event volunteers:

• Daphne Sams
• Dascha Saville
• David Dressler
• Donna Kaye
• Ellen Michelle
• Emma Caplan
• Erin Parker
• Esha Whitlam
• Jesse Marchand
• Joanna Gould
• Joanne King
• Kate Juniper
• Katlyn Hebert
• Kiki Yee
• Kitty Elton
• Lindsay Vermeulen
• Lynne Melcombe
• Maggie Clark
• Marianne Grier
• Meagan Dyer
• Micheline Brodeur
• Morgan Chojnacki
• Roma Ilnyckyj
• Sheila Cameron
• Susan Grant

Amy Haagsma is a communications professional and a graduate of SFU’s Editing Certificate program.

Maggie Clark is a post-secondary student whose goal in life is to work as a professional editor. On her way to achieving that goal, she has earned a Professional Writing Diploma from Douglas College and a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication from Royal Roads University. Her next step is to complete her studies in SFU’s Editing Certificate program.

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