Dance fever

What a way to close out a great conference! The party Saturday night at Fat Fish Blue was hopping. Yes, it was packed, and when the band started it was loud, but it was sooooo much fun! And Neil is right, copy editors dancing side by side with sorority girls in formals was quite a sight. I loved it when the band gave a shout out to the copy editors. How often do you get to hear that?

I've posted a few photos on Flickr. Apologies for the quality, but they were taken with my phone. Dancing and multiple cosmopolitans were involved as well...

In the home stretch

How is it possible that the conference is already almost over?? We have one more block of sessions -- the forums -- and then the closing general session. All of the sessions I looked in on this morning were well attended. Women in Management, with Leslie Guevarra, Melissa McCoy, Anne Ferguson-Rohrer and Teresa Schmedding, had a great discussion going that spilled over 15 minutes or so into the lunch break (which is great!) One participant in that session found me later and suggested a management track at next year's conference. What a good idea... I hope a lot of attendees will fill out their conference surveys so we can hear other suggestions like that.

Where there's smoke

It's 5:50 a.m., and I just got back in from the sidewalk, where several dozen of my closest friends and I stood shivering in the fog while we waited to see why the fire alarm went off. I did appreciate that John Russial, Becky Hudson, Chris and I all were in ACES-logo T-shirts and sweatshirts. Apparently the fire alarm was limited to one or two floors, which is why there were so few of us out on the sidewalk. And I thought it was so clever to be staying on the 5th floor to be close to the meeting rooms. How early does room service start serving, I wonder??

Truly inspiring

Was there anyone who didn't cry during keynote speaker James O'Byrne's presentation? It was sad, moving, inspiring... I don't have the right words. Matthew Crowley is covering it on the ACES site. He'll undoubtedly capture it better than I'm able. I loved James' story of residents who had been plucked from rooftops and deposited on a bridge being so happy to see reporters from The Times-Picayune: They considered it good news that the newspaper had arrived, because it meant their story would get out. To be able to mean that much to someone is just incredible. What an amazing profession we have!

In which I fawn over Erin McKean

I think I should just get it over with and start an Erin McKean fan club. I'd be assured many members, and we could all wear cool glasses and retro dresses and sweater sets to show our respect.

I know why NPR called her America's Lexicographical Sweetheart.

Her session today, with Copy Editor's Wendy Nichols, was fantastic. McKean (who is editor in chief of American dictionaries for Oxford University Press) is just such a polished presenter; she had so many fun examples and clever anecdotes. To wit:

• Someone tried to pay her $5 to take irregardless out of the dictionary. She said, first of all, I can't be bribed. Second of all, if I could, it wouldn't be for $5.
• She talked about the "Usual Suspects" rule of dictionary reading: Don't leave before the twist at the end. You may be reading a clump of definitions that all have to do with the core meaning; it's at the end that the funky stuff shows up.
• People are using ahem as a verb for online downloading: "I ahemmed the new Gnarls Barkley CD last night; it's so good!" It won't be in the dictionary any time soon, but finding new uses like that can be exciting -- even if you wouldn't allow it in a 1A story.
  
• Online or print dictionaries? That depends on what you want. McKean compared the online search to a commando raid: You get parachuted in, you take out your target, and they lift you back out. But looking up a word in a book is like an over-land invasion: You're on a trek through all this land, picking up skills and intelligence as you go. One destination may just lead you to another.
  

And, back to asshat, it won't be enough for just us bloggers to use the word. When you find it in teen movies and zines, that won't get it in the dictionaries, either. Now, if it's in the Economist without scare quotes, she said, then they might consider it.

Small Papers Track

I'm posting a note for Gerri Berendzen:

Copy editors and managers from small publications got together Thursday to
talk about desk structure, training and career options as part of the first
ACES "Small Papers Track."

The sessions addressed some of the problems unique to smaller publications. During the Desk Structure session, a lot of the talk centered around the problems of having a desk that does both editing and design. Jim Lexa of the Amarillo (Texas) Globe-News told the gathering that his desk is in the process of reverting from a hybrid editing/design desk to one where individuals do only one of those jobs -- although the process is not complete. That prompted a lot of questions about how the process is being handled and how it was going. Sarah Hendricks, assistant managing editor of the Victoria (Texas) Advocate, was especially interested because she said she's considered doing that but doesn't see how it would work with her manpower restraints. "At papers our size, versatility is the key," Lexa admitted. Many of the editors said that one issue with a hybrid desk is that the editors are too worried about design/pagination and don't have enough time to spend on editing. Crosstraining is one of the keys to striking a balance between getting a well-designed newspaper out on time and presenting quality on the editing side. Panelist Nick Kershbaumer said he thinks the smaller the staff, the more important it is to have a horizontal structure rather than a top-down structure.

Earlier in the day a panel discussed ways to doing cost-effective training for a small staff. Jack Mulkey, copy desk chief at the Daily Breeze in Southern California, drew a lot of interest in his "Daily Breeze Academy" packet for training new editors. Jack brought 15 copies of the packet, handed them all out and was taking "orders" for more when the session ended. The general theme is that training is important everywhere and where time, staffing and money are a concern, desk managers can't afford to lose any opportunity to do training. Training on the Fly ideas included "Take Ten," taking out 10 minutes of time to stress one issues, complete with handouts; using online resources to train; maintaining a local stylebook; and
developing leadership among non-management copy editors by having them plan and present a one-hour training session for the desk. Add handouts and pizza (or cookies) and it can be a fun learning experience for the entire desk.

Twenty-two editors from small publications also got to know each other and talk about smaller paper issues at a topic lunch Thursday. One of the themes of the lunch was letting ACES know what topics editors at smaller publications would like to see addressed in the future.

Musings on Day 1

I know I'm biased, but it feels like Day 1 went really well. The sessions I peeked in on were well-attended, and participants were involved and asking good questions. There's just a good energy around -- maybe it's that buzz Neil was talking about.

I sat in for a little while on Kathy Schenck's Skeptical Editing, which was lively, as always. Her examples and the discussion about them really get you thinking about what's appropriate to run and what types of questions editors should be asking.

And Paula Devlin and James O'Byrne's Dealing With Disaster presentation was stunning. It was so inspiring to hear about the work their staff did while going through incredibly trying times. We all know copy editors are a tough bunch, but the Times-Picayune deskers truly are champs! Their video and slideshow are very moving, as well as personal: It includes photos of both Paula's and James' destroyed homes. The first person who spoke during the Q&A period suggested having tissues in the audience when they present the session Saturday. (I'll work on that!) Thank you, Paula and James, for sharing your story with us!

One more note on the reception last night... I was so bummed that I didn't get one of the mini creme brulees. They were gone by the time I limped over to the dessert table.

Now, on to Day 2!

Shaken, not stirred

OK, I just ran downstairs for a minute because I forgot to flip over the signs at the breakout rooms from Thursday to Friday. But then Scott asked me to help him make more bidding sheets for the auction. So then I had to check the blog really quick... and Chris is bagging on the mashed potato bar?? That was the coolest part of the reception. My mashed potato martini tasted better than the vodka one (or two) I was drinking. But back to those bidding sheets...

Mashed potato martinis

I was bold and tried the mashed potato martini as well, with some sour cream and cheese, just to make it interesting. And I can safely say that I did not look nearly as cool as Deirdre did with a martini glass in each hand.

The reception last night was good. I was a little skeptical at first about having the headline presentation then. But it ended up turning out really well, Chris. Everyone was quiet during the presentation, and having the headline winners rotate on the screen all night was a stroke of brilliance.