Conferences

By Savanna Perry Distraction is often seen as a negative thing, but Lindsey Wray, managing editor for the Military Officers Association of America, sees the potential positive in distraction. She spoke about this in the “Editing in the Age of Distraction” session at ACES 2021 Online. “Distraction is not something you need to overcome, but…

By Rachel Slay View the podcast transcript.

By David Phandara Keynote speaker Anissa Gray, senior editor at CNN, summed up the challenge of editing for news as an “exercise at feeding the beast”. The act of editing can spark joy, but when it becomes too much for the editor to handle, the spark sometimes begins to diminish. “At the heart of it all, you have…

By Judy Straalsund, Graceworks Public speaking. Just putting those two words together can cause anxiety in the smartest, bravest people I know. Part of my job is helping people feel more comfortable when they stand up to talk in front of others. When you’re comfortable, your audience is comfortable and you all can have a…

By Lauren Filippini At my first ACES conference in 2019, I was thrilled to hear from so many editors with storied careers. Paula Froke teaching me about AP Stylebook changes? It was a fan-girl moment. But I was in the fourth year of my career, facing a problem I didn’t think would be solved until…

By Pamela S. Hogle and Deni Elliott As the editor or writer of digital content, you want to reach all the members of your audience. This is true whether you are writing news, a blog, marketing content, educational content — or something else. Alt text is an essential tool that makes your content accessible and…

By Gerri Berendzen The Associated Press Stylebook team announced a new gender-neutral language entry, an older adult(s) entry, and several other stylebook changes on May 1 as part of the ACES: The Society for Editing’s online conference. The “What’s New in the AP Stylebook” session lacked some of the drama that normally occurs at the…

By Anna Tribolet When you think of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), you might think of Hercule Poirot, Sheldon Cooper, or Monk: interesting characters whose disorder makes them good at their jobs and more than a little bit eccentric. These media portrayals of mental illness are often funny and are sometimes even glamorized, making OCD seem like…

By Gerri Berendzen Whenever I watch a 1960s movie about the publishing industry, I often imagine there will be a scene in a cavernous room with row upon row of desks, walls lined with reference material and filled with workers dutifully fact-checking every word in the magazine. That’s one picture of fact-checking. Today when you…

By Samantha Enslen and Cynthia Williams In your hands, finally, you hold sparkling copy: a good idea fleshed out in compelling prose, with no design flaws or typos. Everything worked out this time around. But to get those results every time, you need a foolproof routine: a standard editorial process that helps you create quality…