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[Derek's eyebrow]

Derek and the Editors' Association of Canada

I joined the Editors' Association of Canada, B.C. Branch (EAC-BC) in early 2002, some years after initially becoming interested. I was on the executive for a year, and now maintain the EAC-BC website. I've made a few presentations to EAC-BC meetings, and also run some EAC-sponsored seminars on Microsoft Word.

This page sums up what I'm doing with the EAC these days.

My Recent EAC-BC Activities

Now let me backtrack.

Should I shut up?

In the spring of 2002, a fellow editor asked me, accusingly, "You really love the sound of your own voice, don't you?" She suggested I let other people get a word in edgewise.

She was right. Her jab came at the end of a raucous monthly EAC B.C. branch meeting, at which I had often been cutting in during a long group discussion. I talked loudly and often. Excessively.

The joy of colleagues

The truth is, I don't much like my voice. It's kind of nasal and whiny. But in a room full of like-minded people, I do love to talk. At the time I had only recently discovered the EAC, joining as a voting member years after I'd originally thought about it. Suddenly I had a monthly mob of others who also know the difference between an em-dash and an en-dash, who care about the words we choose when writing and speaking, and who've spent much of their lives instinctively noticing typos and other errors everywhere -- on posters, in magazines, in e-mails, and so on. People like me.

So in subsequent months I toned myself down a bit. But in January 2003 I decided to take advantage of my volubility: I'd be the one at the front of the room. I'm stepping up my involvement all the time, but I'll try not to talk too much. Watch this page for updates.

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Page BBEdited on 5-Jul-2006