February 2023 EdVic

From the president

By Stephanie Holt AE (edvic.president@iped-editors.org)

As 2023 gets underway, Editors Victoria’s branch committee has held its first meeting of the year, and is restarting many of its regular activities.

We’ve all been hanging out to … well … hang out a bit, so put 31 March in your diary. This will be our first editors lunch for 2023, at Arcadia Café and Bar in Fitzroy. We could call it “networking”, but really it’s a way for editors – experienced, newbies, wannabes, whatever – to enjoy intriguing and often useful conversations about work, words and the world in general. We’d love to see you there.

Our speaker program kicks off with Erin Brenner on 3 March, Zooming in from the US to share her tips on blogging and brand building for editors. It’s a Friday 12 noon session, so if you find our customary Thursday evenings tricky, this is a great opportunity for some lunchtime professional development (PD).

We also have some great “cuppas” coming up. Acclaimed poet and teacher Andy Jackson will be chatting with members about poetry editing and editing for inclusion on 23 March. If these topics interest you, bring your thoughts and experiences along and join in the discussion. Note that Zoom Cuppas are free, member-only events.

We also have another of our “Ask an Editor!” student Zoom sessions at 11 am on Friday 24 March. All students are welcome to this free session. You provide the questions, our student adviser and expert panel will provide the answers … or at least some words of wisdom to guide you.

If you like the sound of these activities, have enjoyed similar in the past, or have ideas for how we can improve them, do think about joining the branch committee. You don’t need to be a longstanding member or an experienced editor to contribute – if you’ve got the interest and enthusiasm, there’ll definitely be a role to suit. At present we have openings for a branch treasurer (if you like finances and spreadsheets), a projects and outreach officer (if you enjoy welcoming and engaging fellow branch members), and an inclusion and accessibility adviser. If you’d like to help out with presenting speaker meetings or running PD workshops, then joining the related subcommittee is a great way to get involved. The IPEd website has details.

Finally, this is my last letter for Gatherings. I’m stepping down as Branch President to join the IPEd Board as Victorian director. Vice President Margaret Trudgeon AE will be taking over as acting president. It’s been a challenging but fulfilling role, and a great pleasure getting to know and work alongside fabulous colleagues past and present, whether on the branch committee, elsewhere within IPEd, or through branch activities. On behalf of the committee, I’d also like to acknowledge and thank our outgoing director, Lan Wang, for her important work on behalf of IPEd’s members and the profession.

Happy editing,

Stephanie

New members

EdVic is pleased to welcome members who have joined or upgraded since our last newsletter.

Professional member:

• Francesca Elizabeth Snowball

Associate members:

• Peter Cubit
• Luciano Di Gregorio
• Samantha Ferraro
• Leah Molloy

Student member:

• Bridget Caldwell-Bright

We look forward to seeing you at our workshops and events and encourage you to make the most of IPEd’s networks for news and support.

Upcoming March event – Boost your brand with your first blog (with Erin Brenner)

Editors Victoria’s first speaker event for the year will be an online presentation that all IPEd members are welcome to attend.

This presentation will get you started on creating a blog to help promote your editing business. In this session you’ll learn how to answer several questions before launching your blog:

• Why should I publish a blog?
• Who should I write for?
• What should I write about?
• How long should a post be?
• How often should I publish?
• How should I market my blog?

Presenter Erin Brenner is based in the United States, and is the owner of editorial services firm Right Touch Editing, which specialises in providing small and mid-sized organisations with writing and editing teams. Erin has been blogging since 2009, authoring hundreds of blog posts for Right Touch Editing, Copyediting, Visual Thesaurus and ACES. She managed Copyediting’s blog, expanding it from one post a week by one author to five posts a week by a team of writers and creating a companion newsletter. She has won awards from the New England Direct Marketing Association (NEDMA) for her marketing writing and is the author of Copyediting’s Grammar tune-up workbook. She continues to write for both her blog and clients and is currently writing a nonfiction book. Erin is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute for Editing and Proofreading, a partner member of the Alliance of Independent Authors and a Full Member of ACES. Follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Date: Friday 3 March 2023
Time: 12.00 pm (noon) to 1.00 pm AEDT

LOCAL START TIMES

NZ: 2.00 pm NZDT
NORFOLK ISLAND: 1.00 pm NFT
TAS/ACT/VIC/NSW: 12.00 pm AEDT (noon)
SA: 11.30 am ACDT
QLD: 11.00 am AEST
NT: 10.30 am ACST
WA: 9.00 am AWST

Venue: Online via Zoom meetings
Cost:  IPEd members and reciprocal organisations A$15 (approx. NZ$15.02), non-members A$20 (approx. NZ$20.01). Exchange rates current on 15 February 2023.
Book: here