The conference was the annual Editor's Association of Canada (EAC) Conference. I had attended a EAC seminar a couple months prior and enjoyed myself, and the senior editors at my company seemed excited about someone going to the conference as they were unable to go.
The schedule seemed interesting, with a variety of sessions that ranged from pure fun to pure business. I chose a couple of the first and a couple that approached the second.
Day 1
The first session that caught my eye was "Effective manuscript queries." I have a hard time getting across in email what I really mean when I'm talking to authors. Either they don't answer all of my questions or they miss the question I was really asking due to my own wordy-ness which hides the real question or their own busy schedules. Elizabeth d'Anjou had several great tips for communicating with authors which basically boils down to "helpful, clear, brief, and tactful." This was probably the most useful-to-my-job session I went to over the whole weekend.
The next session was "Spin me a yarn, tell me a tale." The two storytellers, Liz Newkirk and Steve Vernon, were amazing performers and I was captivated by their stories and their description of what storytelling really is.
The schedule seemed interesting, with a variety of sessions that ranged from pure fun to pure business. I chose a couple of the first and a couple that approached the second.
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Opening Keynote Speaker
Opening Keynote Speaker
I'm going to admit that I had no idea who Robert MacNeil was when I heard he was going to be the keynote speaker. I don't read a lot of non-fiction and I'm really bad with remembering names.
Mr. MacNeil was an excellent speaker and listening to an author of many genres talk about his experience with editors was enlightening. I was sad to see him leave the stage.
Day 1
The first session that caught my eye was "Effective manuscript queries." I have a hard time getting across in email what I really mean when I'm talking to authors. Either they don't answer all of my questions or they miss the question I was really asking due to my own wordy-ness which hides the real question or their own busy schedules. Elizabeth d'Anjou had several great tips for communicating with authors which basically boils down to "helpful, clear, brief, and tactful." This was probably the most useful-to-my-job session I went to over the whole weekend.
The next session was "Spin me a yarn, tell me a tale." The two storytellers, Liz Newkirk and Steve Vernon, were amazing performers and I was captivated by their stories and their description of what storytelling really is.
My last session on day one was "Truth in non-fiction?" David Swick was a great speaker and the audience was really engaged. He presented several sides to scandals in publishing/journalism and where he sees non-fiction heading.
Note: I heard Copyright Changes in Canada was an excellent session from everyone who went and although I have the presenter's email address to request her PowerPoint slides I know it won't be the same.
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Day 2
The first session I went to on the second day was "Shortening text." One of the biggest issues editors have is word count or preserving white space. To hear how Elizabeth Macfie tackles cutting text was really helpful. She gave a great list of "waffle words" to look out for and explained how to make proper cuts. This was an excellent companion session to "Manuscript queries."
"Editing magazines in a digital world" was not what I was expecting. They tried to cram too much into one hour and it got muddled. I don't feel it was worth my time and I kind of wish I had gone to "Clear communication" instead.
"Editing by number" was a standing room only session. Rosemary Tanner presented numbers in a new light. Her examples of numbers and how to edit them opened my eyes to how editors deal with all number issues and not just accuracy.
The last panel I went to was "Editing social media." The presentations were short but the discussion was engaging. It was an interesting mix of people firmly entrenched in the social media realm and those just taking their first steps. The biggest result of the whole conference was the realization that I need to participate more in the social media world and move beyond just Facebook and the occasional tweet.
The closing keynote speaker was Donna Morrissey, who's book we received in our goody bags. She didn't talk much about editing except for an anecdote at the end, but her stories about growing up and becoming an author were engaging.
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All in all I enjoyed my first work-related conference and I look forward to Toronto EAC 2014.
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