Conference by numbers

I've just returned from my annual trip to the SfEP conference. It went something like this.

3 - people I really did not want to talk to.

2 - people who apparently did not want to talk to me.

8 - people who came to my workshop.

1 - workshop I attended, apart from my own.

9 - my room number.

100+ - people in attendance.

8 - people on my table at the banquet.

2 - bottles of wine on the banquet table for 8 people to share for the entire meal.

50-something - times I logged in to Twitter while sitting in seminars.

197 - total emails awaiting my attention on my return.

534 - items awaiting my attention in my RSS feed on my return.

1 - friend/chauffeur I fed when arrived home last night.

5 - minutes it took me to log into the campus wifi network (a record, as I had no problems).

0 - complaints I made this year (also a record, as I usually have at least one issue).

A moan* of editors

Garblage warning: I'm tired. Apologies in advance for typos and general ramblingness.

It's September and that means it's time for the annual gathering of the SfEP. I almost didn't go this year but had my arm twisted by the organisers, who wanted me to present something. Copy-editors and proofreaders tend to be seen as rather staid, possibly because many of us live with a level of pedantry akin to borderline OCD. I don't mean that we are inflexible about language rules, more that it's hard for us to resist whipping out a pen in a restaurant and correcting the typos on the menu.

Put more than 100 of us together for 2 and a bit days and, well, you can probably imagine what a lot of the conversations might be like. However, we do like to have fun. And while some of the older, more staid members are indeed likely to toddle off to bed at 10pm after a small sherry, there's enough of us who are bit more rock 'n' roll about staying up drinking beyond chucking-out time. So quite a few of us are probably coping with extended hangovers just now. I certainly didn't relish falling into my own bed back at home last night at midnight, then having to get up at 6.30 this morning to edit for an overseas client on a major time difference...

But I digress. there was a lot to pack in over the 2 and a bit days, what with workshops, seminars, guest lecturers (including the very wonderful David Crystal, our VP and witty speaker) and entertainments. I prepared nothing in advance for my slot, because I'm like that - I like to just run with something. And as I was doing a live on the net demo, it didn't need a lot of prepping. Although I could have done without the hangover from the previous night's bar antics. As usual, I failed to win anything on the raffle but I did come home with a nice mug and a book.

What I most enjoy about events like this is the opportunity to take a break from work and let my hair down among friends and colleagues while learning new things. One workshop I sat in consisted of a collective brainstorm to share useful resources such as online specialist dictionaries. You don't know what you don't know until you sit down with others who know things and offer them to you freely.

Now I'm home - the cat has pissed on the mat to show his displeasure at being left to fend for himself (with only a neighbour between him and starvation), I have 7 messages on my ansaphone, a mountain of post and a very full inbox. Normal life - hello!



* As far as I know editors have no collective noun - moan was recently suggested by a colleague and rather appropriate it is too...

Back to the grindstone

Your humble wordsmith has been on a break, but I'm back now.

Last Saturday, I hopped on a couple of trains and took myself off to the sunny delights of Brighton, my birthplace. I spent a pleasant couple of days hanging out with assorted friends and relatives then shifted my base to the University of Sussex at Falmer, just out of town, so I could participate in the annual jamboree known as the SfEP conference.

Naturally, this involved a fair amount of socialising (aka hanging out in the bar until chucking-out time), but there was also work to be done. I spent two days sitting through various lectures and seminars - some useful and interesting, some not - as well as some workshops so I could update my skills with some practical CPD.*

The only disappointment was the lack of hot water for a shower on my first morning, followed by distinctly unhelpful conference centre staff when I complained. Oh, and the enormous difficulty getting on the internet so I could check my mails while away. I don't mind forking out money to attend (it's tax-deductible anyway) but I do object to not getting the facilities I'm paying for.

Back home, I've been up to my neck the last couple of days in a major editorial project. That's drawing to a close and I'm itching to start pitching again. I have some great ideas for features for the press.

* that's continuing professional development.

Released at last

I have finally finished editing the Manuscript From Hell. Not a minute too soon. I had hoped to finish it Friday but, as could only be expected, the ongoing problems within said MS prevented me from dispensing with it asap. Not helped by the company assistant ringing me on Friday lunchtime and asking where it was, even though I had told her boss a few days earlier that there was no guarantee I would finish it by close of business Friday. The call soured my mood, unsurprisingly, and I began to view hara-kiri as a viable, even glamorous option...

In between, I have juggled a stupid number of other editing jobs, all of which have prevented me from researching an idea for a journalism feature I want to pitch to someone.

I am looking forward to next week's conference. It will be a holiday after the month I have had. I still have 3 days' work stretching ahead, mostly commissioning a handbook, but at least I will have time to sneak off to the shops at last and buy a much-needed new suitcase, some threads and something to read on the train south.

PS - I've dropped 3 pounds in 3 weeks from the new hard-line regime and am feeling the benefit already.