Institute of Professional Editors Limited

IPEd Notes

News from the Institute of Professional Editors (formerly CASE)November 2005

The national conference, ‘Editing in context', held in Melbourne on 13-15 October was on all counts a great success and a credit - no, a high distinction - to the organising committee in the Society of Editors (Victoria). Full marks too to all the presenters in a program that was full of interest, never flagged and which often forced hard choices on participants when the parallel sessions came around. Selected papers will be put at <www.socedvic.org/editingincontext/> on the conference website. All papers and associated material will be sent on a CD to registrants in due course.

The conference was held under the auspices of CASE (the Council of AustralianSocieties of Editors), which is now really, truly the Institute of Professional Editors.Support among the almost 300 conference participants for the Institute and its plansfor accreditation and other national activities was palpable. When, at the end of herkeynote address on national affairs, Janet Mackenzie asked the audience if they werehappy with the new name and its diminutive-IPEd, the response was an ocean ofraised hands, followed by spontaneous applause. The proposal that IPEd's vision be‘To advance the profession of editing in Australia' was also warmly received. Later inthe day, the Institute was officially launched with much song (literally) and dance atthe conference dinner.

Also in plenary session, IPEd's Accreditation Board (AB) brought participants up todate on progress towards implementation of the national accreditation system votedon and approved by the societies at the end of last year. Board chair Robin Bennettled the session with a talk that covered the questions most frequently asked about thesystem. This was followed by a series of hypotheticals prepared by board membersand designed to show the sorts of evidence of editorial skills that assessors will belooking for in applications for accreditation. This practical session was well receivedby participants and generated useful and incisive questions from the audience and,one suspects, helped to overcome the anxieties that some editors might have felt aboutthe business. Certainly, the impression gained by IPEd delegates and AB memberswas that, among those editors present at the conference, there was generally strongsupport for the expeditious implementation of the system.

Enthusiasm for national activities among participants was also evident in the numbersof editors who signed up to join one or other of IPEd's working groups. As a result,the National Organisation Working Group has been reconstituted, with the primarytask of taking IPEd through to establishment as a registered, legal entity. Itsmembership has grown from three to nine. The Promotions Working Group has beenreinvigorated and renamed as the Communications Working Group with, so far, sevenmembers. Education and training, and related issues of professional development, andtheir linkages with accreditation, were hot topics during the conference, in and out offormal proceedings. In her keynote speech, Janet Mackenzie called for help for thenational body from editors with expertise and experience in these areas. The responsewas almost immediate and a new Education and Training Working Group with aninitial membership of eight was formed.

We are seeking more members for the aforementioned working groups, and for theStandards Revision Working Group whose deliberations will parallel the refining ofthe accreditation system. We need all the help we can get and it would be a fine thingif all societies were represented on all working groups. If you feel you can make acontribution and can commit the time, please contact your IPEd Interim Councilmember (formerly the CASE delegate) in the first instance. You will be welcomedwith open arms, and will enjoy the experience.

What spare time IPEd Interim Council and Accreditation Board members had duringthe conference was taken up by meetings to review progress and plot the futurecourse. Conferences such as ‘Editing in context' are rare opportunities for alldelegates to get together face-to-face at minimal cost to their societies. TheAccreditation Board met with a group of university educators, headed by ProfessorPam Peters, interested in exploring how tertiary editing courses and accreditationmight interact.

At the end of the conference, almost before the echoes of the final speakers haddissipated, the Tasmanians were on the podium promoting IPEd's next conference, tobe held in Hobart on 9-11 May 2007, with the theme ‘From inspiration topublication'. Not be outdone, the South Australians then got up and sang about theirconference in Adelaide in 2009. The national future seems assured.

Ed HighleySecretaryInstitute of Professional Editors [vice Janet Mackenzie, IPEd Liaison Officer]