seminar

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March 28, 2020: Writing Effective Web Content

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What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, March 28, 2020, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Room 400, 4th floor, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: $165 for Editors Canada members ($135 early bird), $230 for non-members ($200 early bird), and $100 for student affiliates. Advance registration required. Registration closes March 25; early-bird rates are in effect through March 10.

Capture reader attention and engagement with web content that attracts visitors, boosts click-throughs, and converts readers into customers. Crafting compelling web content requires an understanding of reader expectations, an application of best practices, and a commitment to experimentation. This seminar will give you an understanding of what readers want from your copy, how to apply the latest web-writing best practices, and how to optimize for search.

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Meet the Instructor: Frances Peck

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Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Katie Beaton

Frances Peck

On Saturday, February 29, Editors BC will present a full-day seminar by Frances Peck on usage woes and myths. For anyone intent on preventing (not avoiding) word errors and avoiding (not preventing) usage myths, this seminar will be of great help. People attending will get an up-to-date look at some of the most misunderstood and contentious points of English usage, and identify helpful guides and other resources. 

Frances Peck is a Certified Professional Editor (Hon.) and writer who has worked with words for nearly 30 years. She has taught at the University of Ottawa, Douglas College, SFU, UBC, and dozens of organizations across Canada. She prepared the Canadian edition of The St. Martin’s Workbook, a university grammar exercise book; co-authored the popular HyperGrammar website; and wrote Peck’s English Pointers, a collection of articles and quizzes available on the Language Portal of Canada. Frances lives in North Vancouver and is a partner with West Coast Editorial Associates.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Frances about her work and forthcoming presentation.   

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Rows of desks face a projection screen in a classroom-like environment.
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February 29, 2020: Usage Woes and Myths

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What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, February 29, 2020, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Room 400, 4th floor, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: $165 for Editors Canada members ($135 early bird), $230 for non-members ($200 early bird), and $100 for student affiliates. Advance registration required. Registration closes February 25; early-bird rates are in effect through February 11.

You’ve sorted out imply and infer. You know it’s not all right to use alright. Hopefully, you accept impact as a verb (not to mention hopefully as a sentence adverb). But what about more troublesome usage points, like the difference between may and might? Or such commonly misused words as dilemma and fulsome? Do you always have to change though to although, till to until? For anyone intent on preventing (not avoiding) word errors and avoiding (not preventing) usage myths, this seminar will help. 

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January 25, 2020: The Art of the Query and Style Sheets with Substance

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What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, January 25, 2020, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Room 555, 5th floor, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver | map
Cost for both seminars: $165 for Editors Canada members ($135 early bird), $230 for non-members ($200 early bird), and $100 for student affiliates. Advance registration required. Registration closes January 21; early-bird rates are in effect through January 13.

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Event Review: Lana Okerlund’s “Do the Work You Want: A Guided Strategic Retreat for Editors”

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Written by Janice Love; copy edited by Emma Caplan

Does your editing career need an edit? Are you doing the kind(s) of editing you want to do? Are you gaining the value, whether monetary or otherwise, you want from the editing work you do?

These are all questions I had, and so Lana Okerlund’s offer to help via her guided strategic retreat for editors was worth the winter trip to Vancouver from Vernon!

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Meet the Instructor: Lana Okerlund

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Written by Carl Rosenberg; copy edited by Lydia du Bois

A smiling Lana Okerlund faces forward, wearing a grey cardigan, pink sweater, and silver hooped necklace.On Saturday, November 30, Editors BC presents Lana Okerlund’s professional development seminar, “Do the Work You Want (and Earn More Doing It): A Guided Strategic Retreat for Editors.”

This six-hour seminar is designed as a guided strategic retreat to help you envision your ideal editing career, understand your current situation, and develop a plan to close the gap. Through stimulating discussion and hands-on activities, you will:

  • Establish a strategic vision for your editing business or career
  • Set objectives for the clients you want to work with, the projects you want to do, the amount you want to earn, and the work practices and professional development you want to invest in
  • Figure out how to gauge your progress toward your objectives
  • Learn how to analyze information about your business or career so you can adjust or develop new strategies to meet your goals

Whether you’re an experienced editor or new to the editing world, you will come away from the seminar with a draft strategy for taking charge of your business or career so you can steer it in the direction that you want it to go. Freelance editors will find this seminar most useful, though in-house editors can also benefit from thinking about career goals in a more strategic way.

For this seminar, Lana draws on her experience as a freelance editor and as a former business consultant, when she spent nearly a decade working with clients on strategic visioning, business planning, performance measurement, and other business improvement projects. She has found tremendous value in applying these business concepts while building her own editing career. A partner with West Coast Editorial Associates, Lana edits, indexes, and writes non-fiction books and teaches editing and business writing courses.

Carl Rosenberg, a volunteer on Editors BC’s communications and social media committee, spoke to Lana about her forthcoming seminar.

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Rows of desks face a projection screen in a classroom-like environment.
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November 30, 2019: Do the Work You Want (and Earn More Doing It): A Guided Strategic Retreat for Editors

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What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, November 30, 2019, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Room 481, 4th floor, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: $165 for Editors Canada members ($135 early bird), $230 for non-members ($200 early bird), and $100 for student affiliates. Advance registration required. Registration closes November 26; early-bird rates are in effect through November 12.

As an editor, are you doing the work you want (or do you know what that is)? Are you satisfied with what you earn? Are you working as much, or as little, as you wish? Are you keeping up with professional standards and work practices? Do you ever have the time to properly think about these questions, let alone figure out what to do so you can say “yes!” to them?

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Rows of desks face a projection screen in a classroom-like environment.
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October 26, 2019: Plain Language from Start to Finish

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What: Editors BC professional development seminar
When: Saturday, October 26, 2019, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Room 840, 8th floor, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver | map
Cost: $165 for Editors Canada members ($135 early bird), $230 for non-members ($200 early bird), and $100 for student affiliates. Advance registration required. Registration closes October 22; early-bird rates are in effect through October 9.

Being able to convey information clearly and succinctly is an essential skill for editors, especially those who work on documents for the public. In legal, medical, and emergency situations, having clear communication may be a matter of life or death.

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Event Review: Ruth Wilson’s Seminar, “Advanced Proofreading”

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Written by Nancy Tinari; copy edited by Katie Beaton

Ruth Wilson’s “Advanced Proofreading” seminar provided us with a wealth of information, tips, and exercises derived from Wilson’s decades of experience. The hours flew by as we learned, worked, and occasionally became sidetracked by those minute issues that editors love to debate.

Though the other participants and I had wildly divergent proofreading experiences, I’m confident that all of us found Wilson’s seminar to be valuable. Her material was extensive and broad enough to help near-beginners as well as those more experienced in hard copy markup, online markup, or both.

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Event Review: Editors BC’s Seminar, “Getting the Message Across: Clear Writing Tips”

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Written by Joanna Vandervlugt; copy edited by Maggie Clark

On Saturday, February 23, 2019, I attended Frances Peck’s seminar for Editors BC, “Getting the Message Across: Clear Writing Tips.”

Despite coming over from Vancouver Island, I found this seminar’s location convenient. The seminar was set up in Vancouver at the BCIT Downtown Campus. This place was an easily accessible one for those who were familiar with the SkyTrain routes like myself.

After reaching my destination from the SkyTrain and settling in, I got to know a bit more about the other class participants. We introduced ourselves, and it seemed that the seminar participants ranged from proofreaders, editors, writers, and academics. Many commented that they were a fan of Frances, and I soon learned why.

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