September rolls around and you just know that some things never change. The end of a summer holiday, which is never good so I immediately start planning the next one. And then there’s the annual CIEP conference, which is always good.
Last year, the pandemic forced the cancellation of the planned gathering in Milton Keynes and the move to holding something on Zoom. Given how little time the conference team had, it was amazing to have a programme of sorts albeit one that was much shorter than usual. Despite its brevity, as in not many sessions to attend, it worked well and was both useful and enjoyable.
Come September 2021 and we were still on Zoom, but with a vastly expanded programme of speakers, workshops and classes - we even had to make tough decisions about what to attend. This was more like SfEP conferences in the Before Time, with simultaneous sessions. But this year it didn’t matter because Zoom, meaning everything was recorded and we can watch anything we missed at our leisure.
Half an ear
My workload has been heavy since early summer and it couldn’t be paused for the CIEP conference, so it meant hard choices about what to tune into. Even then I was often listening with just half an ear while I carried on doing worky stuff. Not ideal, as it meant I missed seeing more than a few slides. And I also missed the hilarious live transcription of guest speaker Ian McMillan, poet and presenter of The Verb on BBC Radio 3. Mr McMillan has a wonderfully dense Yorkshire accent, you see, and the transcription struggled to make sense of him. I didn’t miss his presentation though - it was highly entertaining even without the transcription.
Our other guest speaker was Benjamin Dreyer, the vice president of publishing giant Random House as well as its executive managing editor and copy chief. He had plenty to say on the importance of treating freelance editors well - wise words the packagers on this side of the Pond should pay heed to as they try to push rates ever lower. Now I need to buy his book.
As for the CPD, I first dropped into The Marketing Mindset for wisdom on how we market ourselves. Not the mechanics, but lifting the mental and emotional blocks that can unconsciously stop us from proactively pursuing work. I landed my current biggest client just by putting myself forward, but let’s just say it took cojones because usually I’m not so inclined to be brazen like that. Maybe it’s a British thing, because Americans certainly seem to be comfortable selling themselves openly. Our guide Malini Devadas is a former editor who now coaches her colleagues on marketing what we offer.
Lightning strikes
I completed the CIEP’s medical editing course a year ago, to broaden my skill set, so Moving Into Medcomms was essential. This session was on the opening day - a Sunday, so I hope my visiting father-in-law has forgiven me for ducking out of some of the weekend so I could learn. And learn I did. The most useful stuff inevitably was in the Q&A, because that’s when participants ask things that can draw out unexpected answers or add something. Now I need to act on the offered advice.
My last session that day was the Lightning Talks, a long-standing feature of our Before Time gatherings. A speaker gets 5 minutes on a topic of their choice linked to the job and they are often like going to standup comedy. This year’s gems included a guide to the Korean language in the blink of an eye and a canter through what proofreading and football commentating have in common. (Clue - it’s not speed, given that commentators gab away really fast while proofreaders take their time.) Marvellous.
The next day I dipped into John Espirian’s session on getting more out of LinkedIn. I know I should spend more time on there, but it’s finding that time. John is a former CIEP member who has morphed into being a LinkedIn ninja. His tips were so good, I went off and did one immediately afterwards. Yes, I used the mobile app to record how I pronounce my name because everyone says it wrong. Everyone.
Later, I tuned into Maya Berger’s session on harnessing your business data. Maya has transformed how I log and analyse my business accounts already. This time around she prompted us to log how many hours a week we work, how many days off we take and how long we spend on CPD. I do log client time on timesheets, but not the total I spend on everything. I also take holidays, but probably not enough. So that’s a new spreadsheet started already…
Hanging out
I missed all of Tuesday’s schedule except Benjamin Dreyer, but the one thing that made the conference as near a replica to being there in person was the Wonder platform. Browser-based, it allows you to join or form circles with others within a dedicated “room” and chat via webcam. Chatting to colleagues is always one of the best things about attending a conference - the only thing missing was buying each other a drink, but otherwise Wonder ticked an awful lot of boxes. I shan’t miss trying to drag my icon around with my mouse though. It was like a tug of war with Pacman; me trying to get to the circle I wanted to be in, the icon deciding to go in the opposite direction.
I mustn’t forget to mention the quiz on Monday evening. Just because it was online didn’t stop us being raucous and boozy while trying to crack some fiendishly tough questions. More than 90 of us crammed into assorted breakout rooms to knock heads together. My team didn’t win, but we had a very respectable score. Next year… (Next year, we might actually get to do this in person again.)
Thanks are due to CIEP conference director Beth Hamer and her huge team of behind-the-scenes elves and squirrels who make it all happen, finding and booking guest speakers and session leaders, and providing an all-round excellent experience. Now I just need to watch back all the things I missed. When I’m not so frantically rushed off my feet, of course.