Institute of Professional Editors

How can we strengthen our societies? This questions was raised by SA society member Gail Warman and discussed at the latest meeting of the Interim Council of IPEd. To encourage wider interaction, Janet Mackenzie of the Victorian society has drawn up the following list of ideas. We want your comments and suggestions on this topic. What are the things that your society is doing for members that you believe are useful and make your membership worthwhile? Conversely, are there any activities that are duds in your estimation. What additional activities would you like to see? Let’s have your thoughts and a discussion on this.

Keep the members happy

• Vary the venues and style of meetings to suit different tastes, budgets etc. For instance, some inexpensive meetings with finger food, some with a sitdown meal; some held to the north of city, some to the south; some with an entertaining speaker, some with a more demanding discussion of professional issues.

• At general meetings, each committee member looks out for anyone who is new or seems lonely, chats with them and introduces them to others with like interests.

• Provide services that members find valuable — notice of job vacancies, freelance register, email discussion list, website etc.

• Provide a newsletter with a wide range of articles of professional interest.

• The newsletter should carry profiles and photos of committee members and other members so people can get to know each other.

• Contact members who don’t renew, especially if they have belonged for several years, to find out their reasons — it’s useful feedback, even if they can’t be persuaded to continue their membership.

• Celebrate: have a birthday bash, make a fuss of anniversaries (10th, 21st etc.), recognise individual achievements with honorary life memberships and other awards.

Provide training

• Consult members about training needs and provide a varied program of half-day and long courses.

• The Victorian society worked for more than a decade to set up the RMIT postgraduate diploma, which began in 1988.

• In the late 1980s the Victorian committee asked Beryl Hill and Elizabeth Flann to teach a copy-editing course, and later helped them publish it as The Australian Editing Handbook.

• A new venture for Victoria is a residential weekend course, called Redact; the first will be held in October 2006 and it will run twice a year.

Encourage the committee

• On the membership application form, provide a box to tick if the applicant would consider serving on the committee.

• Give interested people small jobs to do so they can get a feel for things before they join the committee.

• Be watchful for people who would be good committee members and urge them to nominate.

• Provide position descriptions so people know what they’re in for.

• Make committee meetings enjoyable — perhaps have dinner and wine during or after the meeting.

• Run a major activity like a national conference — great for drawing in lots of hardworking volunteers, forming and strengthening relationships.

Publicise the society

• Build alliances with likeminded organisations — indexers, technical communicators, writers’ centres, MEAA, libraries — and publicise their activities and offer reciprocal discounts.

• Speak to students in editing courses and provide membership forms.

• Take part in events like writers festivals, plain English campaign.