Chapter News

Portland Members of AMWA-NW Meet for Coffee, Conversation

Members of the AMWA-NW chapter who live in the Portland metro area met for coffee and conversation on May 15, 2010, at the Hillsdale branch of Multnomah County Library. Fueled by Starbucks coffee and tea, several members gathered from 10 a.m. to noon to socialize and discuss AMWA business.

Chapter president Kristi Weber briefed members on the AMWA Board of Directors meeting in April 2010. Highlights included:

AMWA members are noticing more frequent updates to the AMWA Web site, now designed in-house
AMWA's educational self-study modules are now designed in-house, giving AMWA more control over production.
The national president-elect is Barbara Snyder, who will replace current president Tom Gegeny. Doug Haneline is secretary-elect, and Judy Pepin remains treasurer.
Directors discussed having an independent agency put together a certification exam for medical communicators similar to the BELS exam. Such an exam would set a standard for proficiency in medical communication, raise awareness of the skill set for medical communicators, and increase awareness of ethical standards. Members could take a general examination and be tested in chosen specialty areas.
In general, AMWA chapters are working to hold meeting costs down. Kristi Weber commended Portland members for using an attractive, free facility for the meeting.
AMWA membership is down, but AMWA has made judicious budget cuts, so the organization is doing well financially.

Kristi Weber reviewed the high points of Karen Woolley, Ph.D.'s keynote address, Getting Respect-Two Steps Forward and ?, from the 2009 national meeting. She recommended that members who did not have a chance to attend the address view the talk online.

There was some discussion of AMWA subgroups on LinkedIn, and whether members could belong to the national AMWA group and all chapter groups or only their own chapters. Kristi Weber will keep the group posted on these developments.

The meeting included one student member, new to AMWA. The other members present, all freelances, shared tips on breaking into medical communication and opportunities to write or edit in graduate school (volunteering to write a department Web page, writing grants, etc.)

Members discussed meeting two or three times each year so Portland-area members can socialize and have opportunities for professional development without traveling to Seattle. (Regular AMWA-NW chapter meetings will continue in Seattle for those who can attend.) The group agreed to meet again in fall 2010.

-Submitted by Genevieve Long

Archived News from our 2009 Events

"Substantive Editing," March 20, 2009
Twenty AMWA members and guests attended the March 7 Chapter Meeting at the Green Lake Library Branch, 7364 E. Green Lake Dr. N., Seattle, WA, to hear Alexandra Howson’s excellent presentation, Introducing Substantive Editing: Why Medical Writers Need It and How to Begin. Group discussion following the formal presentation was both interesting and valuable, and many attendees stayed afterward to visit among themselves.

Alex has provided the following list of texts and resources, which she referenced at the meeting:

Stott, Bill. Write to the Point. NY: Columbia University Press; 1991. Writer's guide to structure and organization.

Plotnik, Arthur. The Elements of Editing. NY: Macmillan; 1982. Over 20 years old but has some great pearls on the sensibilities of editors and good insight into editor/author relationship.

Williams, Joseph. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. NY: Longman; 2003. Principles of creating (or editing) texts for cohesion and coherence.

Zinsser, William. On Writing Well. NY: Harper Collins; 2001. No-nonsense nonfiction writing guide.

Cook, Claire Kehrwald. Line by Line: How to Edit Your Own Writing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin; 1985. Principles of sentence repair without losing sight of the big picture.
Einsohn, Amy. The Copyeditor's Handbook. Berkeley: University of California Press; 2006. Indispensable resource.

Organizations:
Editorial Freelancers Association http://www.the-efa.org/
Bay Area Editors Forum http://www.editorsforum.org/
Editors Association of Canada http://www.editors.ca/ Bay Area Editors Forum http://www.editorsforum.org/

Editors Association of Canada http://www.editors.ca/

Simon Fraser University (Distance courses in substantive editing and also summer workshops) http://www.sfu.ca/wp/eeai-d.htm/
Alexandra Howson, PhD has a background as a trauma nurse and as a medical sociologist. She has been teaching, writing, and substantively editing for twenty years. Through Thistle Editorial, LLC she provides research, writing, and editing support for medical, health, and human service organizations. She also serves as our Chapter Liaison to the national American Medical Writers Association.

"Transitioning to WORD 2007," January 10,2009

About a dozen AMWA members braved the elements to attend the first chapter meeting of 2009, held at Everett's PUD facility. Letty Barnes, Microsoft Office Specialist Master Instructor and a Microsoft Certified Applications Specialist, led a fast-paced session covering the new features of WORD 2007. Fielding questions and adapting content to individual needs, Letty provided much valuable instruction in a short time. Her class proved so valuable, it will be offered in expanded format at our May 2 Symposium.

Archived News from our 2008 Events

Ninth Annual Symposium, May 3, 2008
Seattle’s Talaris Conference Center continues to be a favorite venue for the AMWA-NW Symposium. A new feature was a hospitality room that provided a place for members to network and to peruse job postings. Several local authors displayed their work. Plans next year call for making space available during the day for recruiters who would like to meet individually with symposium attendees.

“Getting Organized,” September 20, 2008
The annual get-together at the Crab Cracker in Kirkland proved helpful to those who want their home offices to be better organized. Guest speaker Leah Stahlsmith from Savvy Solutions Organizing, Inc. presented an organizational approach designed to minimize the number of times paper needs to be handled. Attendees came away with several new ideas for organizing home and office paperwork.

AMWA's 68th Annual National Conference, October 23-25, 2008
Forty-two Northwest chapter members attended AMWA’s 68th Annual Conference, held October 23-25, in Louisville, KY. Participants working toward certificates found several new course offerings this year. In addition, some of our chapter members organized or presented open sessions.

A highlight was Thursday night’s “Chapter Greet and Go.” After meeting for a short visit in one of the main conference meeting rooms, many members attended an informal chapter dinner at Bristol Bar & Grille, one of Louisville’s premier restaurants.