If a conference is judged by its sessions and presenters, ACES 2024 San Diego: Unleashing Creativity, is going to be amazing.
Long-time speakers and speakers brand-new to ACES will present on classic topics such as grammar, style, and business-oriented sessions, and newer topics, including how to get your team to use inclusive language, becoming familiar with ISO plain language standards, and using AI for editing.
“Another conference full of wide-ranging, mind-blowing, interesting sessions!” said a long-time member.
How the sessions were chosen
Each conference’s session line-up is chosen by a session selection task force made up of experienced ACES members. The call for ACES 2024 San Diego proposals was sent to the ACES mailing list and posted on its social media channels in October.
This year ACES received a record number of presentation proposals — well over 100. The task force reviewed each one carefully. Its members looked for a range of topics and audience levels (see below) and presenter names were stripped out for increased fairness.
The initial goal was to select about 40 sessions, but the proposals were so strong that the total has risen to about 50, with 75 presenters. Acceptances were sent in early December.
“We are offering a terrific cross-section in San Diego,” Kristin Shoop, the ACES events and professional development manager, said recently. “It’s a really great batch. The final sessions are diverse. They’re general, they’re niche, they’re individuals, they’re panels. It promises to be an exciting and informative conference. And it bodes well for our annual virtual conference in the fall.”
VCON24 will be held this year from September 25–27, 2024.
“I was excited by how many names I didn't recognize,” said another member. “Lots of new voices. The selection task force did excellent work!”
Planning your conference
In order to help attendees plan their conference, each session is categorized into one of four topic areas:
Each category is also tracked into one of three audience levels: introductory, intermediate, and advanced. Attendees can sort themselves as they see fit.
Visit Conference Central to see what you might want to attend. And there’s more to look forward to: The schedule will be posted in the next couple of weeks.
ACES: The Society for Editing
ACES: The Society for Editing is the nation’s leading organization of editing professionals, educators, and students. Founded in 1997 by copy editors, ACES is dedicated to improving the quality of the written word and the working lives of editors. It sets standards of excellence and gives a voice to editors in journalism, government, business, publishing, and beyond through top-notch training, networking, and career opportunities. ACES hosts an annual in-person conference and, since 2022, an annual virtual conference. ACES Academy hosts monthly webinars. ACES also offers certificates in editing, which it co-hosts with The Poynter Institute, a global leader in journalism.
