Program
Our conference will be held from 2 to 5 May (Tuesday to Friday) and 8 to 9 May (Monday to Tuesday) 2023.
Speakers and times may change.
All presentations will be delivered using Zoom.
Our conference’s main sessions and workshops will happen within these slots:
- 7 am–12 pm AWST (Perth).
- 8.30 am–1.30 am ACST (Adelaide, Darwin)
- 9 am–2 pm AEST (Brisbane, Hobart, Sydney, Melbourne)
- 11 am–4 pm NZST (New Zealand)
Please note, the workshops are not included in the conference ticket and are a separate professional development package the day before the official event launch. Workshops 1 and 2 run concurrently, as do workshops 3 and 4. If you register for the workshop package, you can register for two non-concurrent workshops.
If you’d like to go to the conference but won’t be able to attend all or any of the sessions, you can access playback facilities for three months afterwards. Playback facilities will only be available for the sessions from 3 to 9 May and not the workshops on 2 May. Please note, you can only access the recordings if you’re a conference registrant. They will not be available for sale after the event.
Our conference format includes:
- keynote addresses (30 minutes)
- research papers (30 minutes)
- panel sessions (30 minutes)
- “inside the mind of” (interviews) (30 minutes)
- workshops (3 hours)
Do you have a burning question you’d like to ask one of the speakers? Several of our panel sessions and the presentation of research papers will include Q&As.
The workshops provide professional development and practical training and are a great networking opportunity. You could leverage opportunities to collaborate with other editors.
Tuesday 2 May – Workshops
🕘 7 am–10 am AWST (Perth), 8.30 am–11.30 am ACST (Adelaide, Darwin), 9 am–12 pm AEST (Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney), 11 am–2 pm NZST (New Zealand)
Each workshop lasts three hours. Workshops 1 and 2 are at the same time. Workshops 3 and 4 are at the same time.
9 am–12 pm
Write Limited’s workshop for emerging editors
Thomas McGrath
The workshop aims to deliver Plain Language principles that participants can apply to any document they write. By focusing on the ‘big picture’ first, and keeping proofreading as a separate and final task, participants are empowered to make meaningful changes to their work for the good of their readers. The workshop will use a mix of teaching, breakout room discussion, and individual exercises. All participants will need to bring along a piece of their own work to edit on the day. But don’t worry, you won’t have to share anything publicly!
9 am–12 pm
Future-proofing your business: Strategies for getting a steady supply of enquiries as a freelance editor
Malini Devadas
One of the biggest problems most freelance editors have is finding clients. Marketing an editing business is actually quite straightforward, and it’s just the same as marketing any other kind of services business: get clear on who you help and how you help them, tell lots of people about your business and invite the right people to work with you. In this workshop we will look at the mindset and emotional issues that get in the way of implementing a marketing strategy. You’ll have the opportunity to identify and work through your blocks and then you will create a marketing strategy that you can actually implement.
1 pm–4 pm
Beyond Word: open-source editing tools
Darren Goossens
This presentation will examine software that, for example, can search any number of files for specified usages, find and convert any number of files from one format to another and change text within many files with a single command. As the web continues to affect publishing and communications, the need to bring editing expertise into projects that include resources of many different types makes new demands on editors and writers. Tools like those discussed in this presentation help us to meet those demands.
1 pm–4 pm
Writing and editing the “other” in fiction and creative non-fiction
Dr Renée Otmar
Connection, sensitivity and respect are the very heart of what we do as editors. Our editorial practices, recommendations and support for writers are carried through to the reader’s experience, and this elevates our responsibility beyond the nuts and bolts of copyediting.
How do we (ethically) promote inclusion? Representation that is authentic and appropriate to context? Respect and freedom of expression?
In this workshop we will examine debates about artistic freedom, cultural appropriation, representation of culture, ethnicity, neurodiversity and dis/ability, gender identity and sexuality, and the influences of recent social movements such as #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo and #ownvoices, as well as formal inquiries into widespread abuse, violence and discrimination, on readers’ perceptions.
Outcomes: At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will have gained an understanding of a range of topical debates and their own positions in editing for sensitivity, diversity and inclusion, as well as when and how to engage independent sensitivity readers and editors.
6.00 pm–7.45 pm
Quiz evening
This is an opportunity to kick back, test your knowledge, have fun, meet some of your conference peers in a social setting and win a prize. If you wish to attend the trivia night, please RSVP here to receive a Zoom link.
Wednesday 3 May – Setting the scene
🕘 7 am–12 pm AWST (Perth), 8.30 am–1.30 pm ACST (Adelaide, Darwin), 9 am–2 pm AEST (Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney), 11 am–4 pm NZST (New Zealand)
9.15 am–9.30 am
Welcome to country
Dr Mark J Lock
9.30 am–10.00 am
Keynote interview: Adapting to technological developments in language use and publishing
Emeritus Professor Roland Sussex OAM, School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Queensland
Interviewer: Ruth Davies, IPEd Chair
10.15 am–11.00 am
(Im)mutable publishing ecologies and editorial practice in the 21st century gig economy
Dr Katherine Day and Dr Jocelyn Hargrave
11.15 am–12.15 pm
Panel of international counterpart organisations
Chair: Ruth Davies
Editors Canada representative Iva Cheung (Canada); Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading Professional Standards Director Janet MacMillan (United Kingdom) and Professional Editors’ Guild Chair Alexis Grewan (South Africa)
1 pm–2 pm
IPEd Awards ceremony
Progressive dinner across time zones
Thursday 4 May – Vital skills to futureproof your editing practice
🕘 7 am–12 pm AWST (Perth), 8.30 am–1.30 pm ACST (Adelaide, Darwin), 9 am–2 pm AEST (Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney), 11 am–4 pm NZST (New Zealand)
9 am–9.45 am
Keynote: Better books: Cultural intelligence and Indigenous strengths in editing
Dr Sandra Phillips, Associate Professor of Indigenous Australian Studies and Publishing Studies, Western Sydney University
10 am–10.45 am
Neurodivergence and editing: a view from inside
Dr Louise Merrington (Australia) and Tanja Gardner (NZ)
12 pm–12.45 pm
Research on and about editing: What we know we don’t know (and how we might find out)
Dr Renée Otmar
1 pm–1.45 pm
Editors in conversation: Australian Editors Series project
University of Queensland Press editors
Friday 5 May – Publishing, and micro-credentials for editing
🕘 7 am–12 pm AWST (Perth), 8.30 am–1.30 pm ACST (Adelaide, Darwin), 9 am–2 pm AEST (Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney), 11 am–4 pm NZST (New Zealand)
9 am–10.00 am
Publishers panel
Chair: Karen Lee
Publishers Association of New Zealand represented by Claire Murdoch, Head of Publishing at Penguin Random House New Zealand; Small Press Network General Manager Tim Coronel, Melbourne; Australian Publishing Association Policy & Government Relations Manager Stuart Glover
10.15 am–11.00 am
Whitireia Publishing’s new micro-credentials in editing
Theresa Crewdson and Odessa Owens, representing Whitireia Publishing
11.15 am–12.00 pm
Books without barriers: A practical guide to inclusive publishing
Julie Ganner, Chair of IPEd’s Accessibility Initiative Working Party;
Dr Agata Mrva-Montoya; Maryanne Park AE and Kayt Duncan
12.15 pm–1 pm
Everything I know about publishing
Odessa Owens and Theresa Crewdson
1.15 pm–2.15 pm
Networking breakout rooms – special interest groups
Monday 8 May – Publishing and information design
🕘 7 am–12 pm AWST (Perth), 8.30 am–1.30 pm ACST (Adelaide, Darwin), 9 am–2 pm AEST (Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney), 11 am–4 pm NZST (New Zealand)
9 am–9.45 am
Keynote: 5 tips for optimising your metadata to boost book sales
Joel Naoum, Head of Trade Product, Booktopia
10 am–10.45 am
Information design as a fourth type of editing: A transformative approach
Rebs Harris
11 am–11.45 am
Making information usable: 3 lessons from the digital disciplines
Caitlin Whiteman AE
12 pm–12.45 pm
Editing all over: perspective of editing practices in New Zealand’s public and private sectors
Thomas McGrath, Colleen Trolove, Megan Bennett (Write Limited)
1 pm–1.45 pm
From perfectionist to alchemist: celebrating the nine lives of the plain English editor
Justine Dixon Cooper
Tuesday 9 May – Editing in the digital age and other digital practices
🕘 7 am–12 pm AWST (Perth), 8.30 am–1.30 pm ACST (Adelaide, Darwin), 9 am–2 pm AEST (Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney), 11 am–4 pm NZST (New Zealand)
9 am–9.45 am
Keynote: AI and related technology in scholarly publishing – a double-edged sword?
Martin Delahunty, Director, Inspiring STEM Consulting
11 am–11.45 am
Futureproofing the next generation of editors: How mentoring benefits all of us
Elizabeth Beach PhD AE (Chair, IPEd Mentoring Committee)
12 pm–1 pm
IPEd plenary
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Standards for Editing Practice – Dr Sharon Lierse, Chair of IPEd Standards Working Party
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Pay rates – Kerry Davies, Chair of Pay and Conditions Standing Committee
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Accreditation Board – Charlotte Cottier, Chair of the Accreditation Board