EdNSW names new committee
by Paul Anderson
The new New South Wales branch committee for 2020/21 met on 11 August 2020 for its first monthly meeting, a Zoom event online, now the branch standard for committee and member meetings. We are continuously reviewing the best ways of using Zoom to optimise user experience and are expanding protocols to improve the efficiency of this new normal.
The main item of business was to formalise the new committee and agree on the allocation of roles. The headline is that Julie Ganner has completed the maximum term as president and has moved to the secretary role, with Robert Rowe becoming president. Congratulations to both on their new roles.
Your new committee is:
- Robert Rowe, President
- Julie Ganner, Secretary
- Russell Noakes, Budget Officer and Vice-President
- Caroline Hunter, Meetings Coordinator
- Sara Kitaoji, Workshops Coordinator and Social Media (events promotion)
- Elisabeth Thomas, News Editor
- Kaaren Sutcliffe, Member Liaison Officer and PD support
- Maureen Shelley, PD support
- Paul Anderson, FTC Writer and Proofreader for news content.
In other EdNSW representative roles:
- Maureen Shelley has also taken on the role of Mentoring Committee Delegate
- Linda Nix continues as the NSW Accreditation Board Delegate
- Russell Noakes continues as the NSW IPEd Board member and has taken on the additional responsibilities of IPEd Company Secretary.
We would like to thank all four departing committee members for their service: Sally Asnicar, Christopher Cowan, Katrina Gibson and Shannon Kelly. Three new members, including two associates, have joined the committee: welcome to Kaaren Sutcliffe, Maureen Shelley and Paul Anderson. Robin Appleton, as a longstanding observer at committee meetings, is taking a well-earned break but hopes to join us in the Zoom world later in the year.
One new professional member and two new associate members joined the branch in July, representing a net loss of one member for the month. Also, two new mentoring applications have been received.
The 2020/21 branch budget was submitted to the board and has been approved. The branch is currently on track with budget (YTD).
As IPEd moves towards an increasingly unified organisation, our branch website content was put up on the IPEd website on 22 July.
There are no new workshops to announce at this stage, although we are planning a life-writing workshop for the first part of 2021, and actively working on leads, so please continue to watch this space — feedback from members on workshops you would like to see is welcome and should be sent to the Professional Development Coordinator. (As previously communicated, the accreditation exam workshop will now be delivered by IPEd as a three-part Zoom event rather than a full-day, in-person workshop run by the branch.)
The 2021 meetings calendar is being fleshed out. Ideas and leads are always welcome from members and suggestions can be sent to the Meetings Coordinator.
Planning for our member meetings, via Zoom, for the rest of the year are finalised. See you (on-screen) there.
Annual Branch Meeting (ABM) 2020
by Paul Anderson
The Editors NSW ABM was held on 4 August 2020. Thirty participants attended the online meeting, with five apologies.
The ABM comprised a series of brief reports from committee members. Julie Ganner (President, outgoing) welcomed all attendees and opened the meeting with her report. She thanked committee members for their service in the past year as well as branch members and volunteers. Branch activities were covered next in a series of eight presentations by the respective committee members for member meetings, workshops, the newsletter, accreditation, member liaison, social media and mentoring. This section of the ABM was concluded by Russell Noakes (Budget Officer) who presented the branch budget.
Susie Pilkington (acting as Returning Officer) then ran through the results of the elections for the incoming committee. Six incumbent members were returned unopposed; one new member was welcomed and two auxiliary members (non-voting) were invited to join.
Please see above for the names of your new committee. The election of new Branch President Robert Rowe and the assignment of all committee roles took place at the monthly meeting on 11 August 2020.
Since the ABM was a Zoom event, thanks and salutations were confined to virtual handshakes and BYO drinks, more’s the pity. In closing we reiterate our sincere gratitude to all for their commitment to the branch, and look forward to being able to do so in person in the not-too-distant future.
Events
Given the COVID-19 pandemic, member meetings will continue to be held via video-conference using Zoom.
Members are urged to check their email for the latest information on any event.
Topic: Sensitivity readers
Date: Tuesday 6 October 2020, 7pm AEDT (note: the clocks change on Sunday 4 October).
Location: online via Zoom.
Details: Sensitive, culturally literate practice has long been essential to the work of editors. Now, in the wake of worldwide protests against racism in June 2020, the publishing industry, like so many others, is coming to terms with its own complicity in the systemic oppression and exclusion of marginal voices. This global reckoning with the dangers of cultural homogeneity has catalysed a new sense of urgency for representative publishing programs, and as a result, a greater need than ever before for editors to acknowledge our inherent biases and blind spots. The talk will examine the challenges we face as editors working on often newly diverse lists, ways to decolonise our practice, and ways forward as a collective to ensure we have the necessary tools and support to best conduct the critical developmental position we occupy in the publishing process.
Presenter: Dr Radhiah Chowdhury graduated from the University of Sydney in 2010 with a PhD in Children’s Literature. From 2012–19, she worked as a children’s editor in the trade publishing industry with such houses as Scholastic Australia, Allen & Unwin and Giramondo. She is currently Senior Audiobook Producer and Commissioning Editor for Diverse Voices at Penguin Random House Australia. Radhiah is also the recipient of the 2020-21 Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship, awarded for her ongoing research project: It’s hard to be what you can’t see: diversity within Australian publishing.
Cost: $10 members, $20 non-members, no concessions for this event.
Bookings close on Friday 2 October and a link to join the Zoom meeting will be emailed to all registrants on Saturday 3 October. Book via the IPEd Events page.
Topic: Fiction editing
Date: Tuesday 3 November 2020, 7pm AEDT.
Location: online via Zoom.
Details will be announced closer to the date.
Presenters: Catherine Hill and Nicola O’Shea
Cost: $10 members, $20 non-members, no concessions for this event.
Bookings close Friday on 30 October and a link to join the Zoom meeting will be emailed to all registrants on Saturday 31 October. Book via the IPEd Events page.