Written by Lucy Kenward; copy edited by Maggie Clark

Welcome to a new executive term with Editors BC. As the executive’s newly elected member services chair, I’m looking forward to connecting with many of you over the coming months. I’d like to hear your ideas about how we can improve your Editors Canada membership experience in this province.

We all have different reasons for joining a branch of Editors Canada. In some cases, we might join to make contacts in the editing world, gain work experience through volunteer editing, learn about editing and business best practices, or connect with potential clients.

Whatever your reason, an Editors Canada branch can likely help you fulfill it. Joining a branch offers you many opportunities to strengthen your skills and your reach as an editor.

But perhaps the most immediate reward of membership is discovering a community of peers who can answer your questions, understand your professional challenges, and share your compulsion for spotting and fixing language errors. As the sports executive Phil Jackson once noted, “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” And I like to think of editors anywhere as being members of the same team. We are stronger when we share our knowledge and our ideas, and we raise the profile of editors and editing in our communities.

As a branch, we’ll continue to support this community strength by providing opportunities to network with professionals and to promote both editors and editing. We’ll schedule speakers to keep you up to date on the latest language and editing developments (singular they, anyone?!). We’ll host seminars and workshops to encourage your professional development, whether that be broadening your knowledge or preparing for certification. And we’ll keep you informed about volunteer opportunities.

If you’d like particular opportunities, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at bcmembershipservices@editors.ca. Let me know how Editors BC can support you, whether you’re a new member or a long-time one, living in the Lower Mainland, on Vancouver Island, or elsewhere in the province.

If you’re in town on the third Wednesday of any month, please join us in person at 7:30 pm. Currently, our monthly meetings are held at a beautiful new space on the ninth floor of the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library. If you’re not able to make it, consider joining us on Zoom.

Also, in the coming season, we hope to hear from more members outside the Lower Mainland. We’ll be reaching out to you to learn about editing opportunities and challenges in different parts of the province. We hope you’ll share your experiences on the blog.

Keep your eye on this space for regular updates on Editors BC news and events. And welcome—or welcome back—to the team.

Lucy Kenward is a freelance non-fiction editor and an editorial associate with Greystone Books. She’s passionate about books, bicycles, and backpacking off the beaten path—and can often be found poring over maps and plotting her next adventure.

Maggie Clark is a professional writer who enjoys editing work and creating digital art on the side. Throughout her career, she has worked hard to accumulate knowledge about the many different aspects of communication. Part of this work included earning a professional writing diploma from Douglas College, a bachelor of arts in professional communication degree from Royal Roads University, and an editing certificate from SFU. Currently, she enjoys using her years of experience and education to manage Editors BC’s blog.

Image by Pixabay