President’s report
by Christine Atkinson
Our events team, the powerhouse trio of Ian Mathieson, Lee Ellwood and Kayt Duncan, has become a duo. Lee has chosen a life of adventure, for the next few months at least, and has resigned her post on the committee.
I thank Lee for everything she’s done over the past couple of years as our events guru. She stepped in to help me out when I was juggling both Branch President and Events Officer and she’s made an art of it. She made it look so fun and easy that she lured in Ian to join the cause.
And for the past year we’ve also had tech-savvy Kayt on board. The trio created a program of events over the past year — navigating Zoom and COVID restrictions to deliver an array of engaging and fun activities.
Lee, Ian and Kayt combined our previous separate roles of Events, Training and Freelance Networking Officers into one Events and Professional Development team, working on the basis that all EdsQ events should either provide members with professional development or networking opportunities. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?
Now it could be your turn. What Lee, Ian and Kayt figured out — the thing I never mastered in the role — is that three heads are better than one, or even two. It’s easier to share a workload, and more heads are more likely to have the details of an interesting speaker. Honestly, what they’ve done has put my previous efforts to shame — and I don’t feel bad about it, they’ve done so well.
So, if you’re interested in getting involved, please let me know and nominate yourself as one of our Events and Professional Development Officers ahead of the Annual Branch Meeting (ABM) on Wednesday 4 August.
We are also looking for a Communication Officer. Glenine Hamlyn, who has done an amazing job on the EdsQ website for several years and who sorted out everything that needed to move to the IPEd site over the past year, will step down from the role. Glenine and Julia Sudull have been our comms mavens and, while I’ve no doubt Julia would do a fabulous job alone, as aforementioned, why do it with one when you can pool your talents and efforts and have more fun?
So, exciting opportunities for people who like to dig in, get stuff done and express themselves creatively in new (or maybe familiar) ways.
The ABM papers including role descriptions and nomination forms will be out mid-July. In the meantime get in touch via edqld.president@iped-editors.org.
Regards
Christine Atkinson
Speaker event reviews
by Kayt Duncan
Do you know NED? I know NED. And I think NED’s neat.
The June speaker presentation by Robyn Hamilton introduced us to the online legal deposit portal. The National edeposit is affectionately known by some as its acronym NED. After a couple of technical hiccups (I think NED wanted the night off) we quickly traversed the super-easy deposit system. If speed and ease weren’t enough to sell you on NED’s usefulness, the clincher was that one deposit online now meets all your national legal deposit requirements. A truly one-drop shop.
As editors, you might never need to make a legal deposit, but understanding the legal requirements of publishing and having the ability to advise clients of their legal obligations is handy knowledge to have. As Robyn pointed out, a legal deposit is a requirement for every publication, and NED is eager and keen to do your bidding. The video of the step-by-step presentation is available on MemNet for anyone who wants a quick legal deposit update and an introduction to the easy-peasy edeposit system. Thank you, Robyn.
Social events around the state
It’s lovely to see the Queensland regions launching their local social networking events. Sunshine Coast members enjoyed a lovely lunch in the sun, Toowoomba and Gold Coast members have been getting together and Hervey Bay is working on their inaugural event. Winter in Queensland is wonderful.
We’ve nearly completed a 360-degree-cuppa-catch-up tour around Brisbane, and it’s been great connecting. The June chill kept most Brisbane south members hard at work in their warm offices, but those of us who braved the frosty wet morning enjoyed a chat about starting up as freelancers. Lots of funny stories about what ‘not’ to do. The laughter and caffeine kept us all pleasantly warm indeed.
Stay tuned for the next tour around the Brisbane regions through the second half of the year and the possibility of a Saturday lunch catch-up in mid-July is lurking.
Sunshine Coast region members enjoy a catch-up cuppa over lunch at Guru Life restaurant.
L-R, Roslyn, Lisa (coordinator), Cathryn, Robyn, Ian M, Janette and Margie. A very interesting chat, with a diverse range of edit focus among the group.
Queensland calendar of events
- Wednesday 7 July is a social evening. We invite all members who can get themselves to the Ship Inn in South Brisbane to don a woolly jumper and join in some ‘Christmas in July’ joviality. Information about and bookings for the Brisbane dinner social are available on MemNet. Order your meal at the bar. Pre-orders are possible and you can find the Ship Inn menu online at theshipinn.com.au. Regional August social networking events details will be circulated by email and via the Facebook group as they come to hand.
- August is our ABM. It will be short and sweet, and will warm you up for the Great Interstate Debate directly afterwards. Teams from EdWA and EdsQ will vie for the illustrious title of ‘Winner’. IPEd accreditation is one thing, but champion of the interstate debate is truly another.
- September’s speaker presentation is by Grace Lucas-Pennington, author and black&write! Project Editor at SLQ. The black&write! project is the first of its kind in Australia, providing fellowship and mentoring opportunities to First Nations authors and editors. Grace will give us an inside perspective on cultural editing, and on working as an editor and mentor to aspiring Australian authors.
- Turn CSI off. In October, we have Meg Vann to talk about crime fiction. Gather your forensic questions together, put on your gloves and join us for a fascinating talk on editing crime fiction.
- To end the year in November, we will welcome Roslyn Petelin to talk to us about change in language and how it affects editors.