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Grammar Fundamentals

Instructor: Frances Peck

Take this quick quiz:
1. List and define the eight parts of speech.
2. Explain the difference between a phrase and a clause.
3. What's a subject complement? An object complement? An appositive?
4. Provide an example of an absolute phrase, a gerund phrase, a participial phrase. Which one always functions as an adjective? Which one is falling out of use?
5. Explain the difference between a restrictive and a non-restrictive clause.

At sea? Then this seminar is for you. Whether your aim is to plug educational holes, to better apply the rules of grammar, or to impress your clients and colleagues, this seminar will cover all the grammatical terms and structures you need to know. Bring your pencils and prepare to parse!

Date: Friday, May 24, 2013
Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
 
Location:
McGill University Faculty Club
3450 McTavish, Montreal
Room: Old McGill, 3rd Floor
 
Cost:
Early bird (on or before May 12):
$ 80 for EAC student members
$ 150 for EAC members
$ 180 for related organizations and non-member students
$ 210 for non-members
 
After May 12
$ 90 for EAC student members
$ 180 for members
$ 210 for related organizations and non-member students
$ 240 for non-members
 
Frances Peck, an editor and writer, has been working with words for over 20 years. She teaches editing at Simon Fraser University and Douglas College, and gives workshops for EAC and other groups of editors, writers, and translators across Canada. She prepared the Canadian edition of The St. Martin’s Workbook, a grammar exercise book; co-authored the popular HyperGrammar website; wrote Peck’s English Pointers, an e-book available through the Language Portal of Canada; and writes a regular column for the journal Language Update. Frances lives in Vancouver and is a partner with West Coast Editorial Associates.

REGISTER NOW for Grammar Fundamentals

Social Media 101

Instructor: Christine Leblanc
 
Social media is more than what all the cool kids are doing these days. It can – and should – be an important part of your networking and marketing efforts to further your career. It can also help develop your skills as an editor. Learn the fundamentals of social media and how to make it work for you, especially LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Explore why and when you should use each channel. If you have one, bring your laptop or tablet to set up or improve your accounts on the spot.
 
Date: Saturday, April 6, 2013
Time: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
 
Location:
Hôtel de l'Institut
Room: Léonard-Gagnon
3535, rue Saint-Denis
Montréal, Québec
 
Cost:
Early bird (on or before March 30):              
$ 40 for EAC student members
$ 60 for EAC members
$ 80 for related organizations and non-member studentsp; 
$ 100 for non-members
 
After March 30
$ 50 for EAC student members
$ 75 for members
$ 95 for related organizations and non-member students
$ 115 for non-members

Registration closes on April 2.
Coffee break included.

Christine LeBlanc is a communications consultant who started her business, Dossier Communications, in 2005 after a decade in publishing. She specializes in writing, editing, integrated marketing strategies and event planning. Christine is the past chair of EAC’s National Capital Region branch and was the co-chair of the 2012 National Conference, which broke attendance records. She is also a member of the International Association of Business Communicators. She started using social media to deal with the isolation of working from home and now runs a national health care organization’s social media.

Estimating: The Key to Making Money

This three-hour workshop for in-house and freelance editors focuses on costing a job, developing a realistic workplan, and preparing fair and accurate estimates. This workshop will help in-house and freelance editors learn the standard practices, tips, and strategies for breaking down a job according to task, costing out each task, tracking your estimating accuracy and including terms and conditions in your contract to avoid "getting burned" by unexpected costs. Bring your calculator and be prepared to do some number crunching.

Instructor: Jennifer Latham

Date: Saturday, February 16
Time: 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Location: 
Hôtel de l'Institut
Room: Léonard-Gagnon
3535, rue Saint-Denis
Montréal, Québec

Cost:
Early registration (on or before February 2)
$ 40 for EAC student members
$ 60 for EAC members
$ 80 for related organizations and non-member students                       
$ 100 for non-members

After February 2
$ 50 for EAC student members
$ 75 for members
$ 95 for related organizations and non-member students
$ 115 for non-members

Registration closes on February 9.
Coffee break included.

Jennifer Latham is the past president of the Editors' Association of Canada. She worked for many years as a full-time freelance editor offering editing, writing, and project management services to government and private sector clients. Jennifer is currently the Director of Editorial Services with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.

As a specialist in substantive editing, Jennifer has developed a process for approaching substantive jobs, and has learned all the tips, tricks, and pitfalls for this type of editing. As for estimating, the bane of every editor's existence, she almost enjoys writing the estimate more than doing the job. She is happy to report that she has never lost her shirt on an estimate and equally happy to share her tried and true practices for preparing accurate estimates.

Advanced Copyediting

Special offer: all participants for this seminar will receive a free copy of The Subversive Copy Editor: Advice from Chicago!

"Superb copyeditors need good judgment as much as language skills, and they must vary their decisions depending on the author they are working with and the conventions of his particular subject area." Rosemary Shipton in Darcy Cullen, ed., Editors, Scholars, and the Social Text.
 
Copy editors constantly need to make editorial and process decisions: the English language allows a variety of ways to edit most texts, and client needs vary from project to project. Copy editors also can offer value through their wide knowledge of language and content, as well as their skill with electronic editing tools.
 
Participants will practise on a variety of documents and learn tips and tricks from two experienced copy editors. Content includes when and how to make decisions on handling a document, value add-ons (such as creating a style sheet, fact checking, and formatting), and a variety of advanced techniques.
 
Because this hands-on seminar focuses on electronic editing, participants are strongly encouraged to bring a laptop computer equipped with MS Word 2000 or newer. Sample documents for exercises will be emailed to participants several days before the seminar.

Date: Thursday, December 13, 2012
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Place: McGill University Faculty Club
Address:    2340 McTavish, Montreal
Room: Old McGill, 3rd Floor

Instructors:    Elizabeth Macfie and Moira White

Cost:
Early registration (on or before November 29)   
$  80 for student members
$170 for EAC members
$190 for related organizations and non-member students
$240 for non-members

After November 29:   
$110 for student members
$200 for EAC members
$220 for related organizations and non-member students
$270 for non-members
       
Registration closes: December 6, 2012
Lunch and coffee breaks included.

Elizabeth Macfie has been a freelance proofreader and editor since 1997. After working as a coordinator of provincial park visitor services and then as a manager of adult education, she has chosen a career clarifying written communication. Her clients include federal government departments and agencies, book publishers, research organizations, and a university publications service. Elizabeth is an EAC-certified Proofreader, Copy Editor and Stylistic Editor, a past chair of EAC's National Capital Region branch, a co-chair of EAC's Publications Committee, and a past president of the Indexing Society of Canada.
 
Moira Rayner White entered the work world as a social worker and later moved into social policy. In both professions, she found that her organizational skills, attention to detail, and love of words were pointing her in a new direction-the world of editing. Currently a freelance editor, writer, and trainer with both public and private sector clients, she has a decade of experience editing print and electronic publications. Moira is Director of Professional Standards for EAC and a past president.

Seminar coordinator: Namita Kumar    

Copy Editing and Proofreading: The Editor as Concertmaster

Like a concertmaster, an editor possesses many talents. Part writer, part structural and stylistic editor, part copy editor and proofreader, part project manager, and part wizard, a skilled editor interprets and fine-tunes the individual elements of a document while focusing on its ultimate purpose: a well-written text delivered on time and on budget to enthusiastic audiences.
 
This one-day seminar will concentrate on copy editing and proofreading—two core functions of editing. You will learn more about the basic mechanics of editing—spelling, punctuation, and grammar; the importance of style; methods for systematically identifying errors and faults in documents; strategies for editing and proofreading documents; and techniques to sharpen your ability to identify and correct errors. The seminar features plenty of hands-on exercises and time for questions.

Date: Monday, October 22, 2012
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Place: Dartmouth Sportsplex, Nantucket Room
Address: 110 Wyse Road, Dartmouth, NS, B3A 1M2

Instructor: Moira Rayner White

Cost
$90 for student members
$150 for members
$150 for related organizations (PWAC, WFNS, AMWA, and HEW members)
$150 for non-member students
$175 for non-members

Registration closes: October 17, 2012
Lunch and coffee breaks included.

Moira Rayner White entered the work world as a social worker and later moved into writing social policy. In both professions, she found that her organizational skills, attention to detail, and love of words were pointing her in a new direction—the world of editing. Currently a freelance editor, writer, and trainer with both public and private sector clients, she has 20 years of experience editing print and electronic publications. Moira is the Director of Professional Standards for and a past president of the Editors' Association of Canada.

Seminar coordinator: Tiffany MacDonald

Usage Woes and Myths - Montreal

You’ve sorted out imply and infer. You know it’s not all right to use alright. But what about more troublesome usage points, like the difference between may and might? Or such frequently misused expressions as centre around and beg the question? Is it true that you should always change though to although, till to until, like to such as?

For anyone intent on preventing (not avoiding) word errors and avoiding (not preventing) usage myths, this seminar will help. Through discussion and examples, the session provides an up-to-date look at some of the most misunderstood and contentious points of English usage, and suggests helpful guides and other resources. Bring your most perplexing usage questions to share with the group.

Date:       Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Time:      9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Place:     Concordia University - Hall Building
Address: 1455 de Maisonneuve W
               Room H-763 (7th floor)
               H3G 1M8

Instructor: Frances Peck

Cost:
Early registration (on or before October 9):    
$ 80 for student members
$ 170 for members
$ 190 for related organizations and non-member students
$ 240 for non-members

After October 9:
$ 110 for student members
$ 200 for members
$ 220 for related organizations and non-member students
$ 270 for non-members
       
Registration closes: October 23, 2012
Lunch and coffee breaks included.

Frances Peck, an editor and writer, has been working with words for over 20 years. She teaches editing at Simon Fraser University and Douglas College, and gives workshops for EAC and other groups of editors, writers, and translators across Canada. She prepared the Canadian edition of The St. Martin’s Workbook, a grammar exercise book; co-authored the popular HyperGrammar website; wrote Peck’s English Pointers, an e-book available through the Language Portal of Canada; and writes a regular column for the journal Language Update. Frances lives in Vancouver and is a partner with West Coast Editorial Associates.

Seminar coordinator: Namita Kumar    

EAC-QAC, in partnership with ATAMESL, is pleased to present:

Plain Language: Building Results - Quebec City

Many documents have one basic goal: to deliver information to a particular audience. But all too often, the message gets buried by weak organization, wordiness, abstract language, jargon, poor page design, and other barriers to readability.

This one-day introduction to plain language shows you how to remove those barriers and build a document that says what it means. We'll start by defining plain language and examining its benefits. Next we'll discuss readers, including the different types and their different reading needs. Then we'll cover seven practical techniques for creating plain language documents. We'll finish with a look at page design and ways of evaluating readability.

The workshop will include individual and group exercises to help you apply plain language to real-life passages. You will also receive handouts and a list of recommended resources.

Title:         Plain Language: Building Results
Date:         Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Time:         9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Place:        ADJ-2300, pavillon Alphonse-Desjardins
Address:    Université Laval, 2325 rue de l'université, Québec (QC) GiV 0A6

Instructor:    Frances Peck

Cost:
Early registration (on or before  October 9)    
$  80 for student members
$170 for EAC and ATAMESL members
$190 for related organizations and non-member students
$240 for non-members

After October 9:    
$110 for student members
$200 for EAC and ATAMESL members
$220 for related organizations and non-member students
$270 for non-members
        
Registration closes: October 23, 2012
Lunch and coffee breaks included.

Frances Peck, an editor and writer, has been working with words for over 20 years. She teaches editing at Simon Fraser University and Douglas College, and gives workshops for EAC and other groups of editors, writers, and translators across Canada. She prepared the Canadian edition of The St. Martin's Workbook, a grammar exercise book; co-authored the popular HyperGrammar website; wrote Peck's English Pointers, an e-book available through the Language Portal of Canada; and writes a regular column for the journal Language Update. Frances lives in Vancouver and is a partner with West Coast Editorial Associates.

Seminar coordinator: Namita Kumar

Cancellation policy