Getting it Right the First Time: Proofreading and Content Quality Control
la version française de ce séminaire
"A course everyone should take."
- Suzanne Lachance, Statistics Canada
Seminar Description | Resources for Attendees | Resources for Hosts
| LATEST EVENTS | LOCATION | HOST/REGISTRATION | FEE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed November 26, 2008 | Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | $495. |
| Wed September 24, 2008 (French) | Minto Business Centre, Ottawa, ON | David Berman Communications | $495. |
| Wed June 4, 2008 | Ottawa, ON |  Statistics Canada |
TBA |
| Wed May 7, 2008 (French) | Ottawa, ON | Statistics Canada |
TBA |
| Wed Mar 19, 2008 | Ottawa, ON | Statistics Canada |
TBA |
| Tue Mar 11, 2008 | Ottawa, ON | Statistics Canada |
TBA |
| Thu May 17, 2007 | Ottawa, ON | Statistics Canada |
TBA |
*Discount packages for non-profits, and travel subsidies available. Additional discounts available for groups over three people. If you refer at least four registrants to one of our seminars, we'll give you a complimentary registration to a seminar of your choice. Call (613) 728-6777 for details.
All prices, offerings, and dates subject to change without notice.
To register for a seminar given by our own organization, register online or call (613) 728-6777.
"Entertaining, well-organized... VERY IMPRESSED and intrigued."
- Carol Noël, Statistics Canada
"Dynamic, funny, very knowledgeable, tuned-in... great speaker! ... a must for anyone who writes."
- Anonymous participant
This one-day intensive and interactive course provides a strong fundamental understanding of the value, principles and techniques of creating and maintaining accurate and consistent content quality control for Internet and print publishing.
What Makes This Seminar Unique
Our seminar leader, David Berman, is an internationally known speaker, has owned and operated several successful firms, and is considered an expert in communications.
Through lecture, examination of best practise tools, and hands-on exercises, the participants will gain concepts and immediately-applicable proven techniques that can be applied to a variety of communications channels, now and in the future.
"Excellent. Great speaker. Very interesting."
- Anonymous participant
Who Should Attend
This interactive seminar is appropriate for any member of a team responsible for the development or maintenance of published content online or in print.
Content Outline
- Why quality matters: the high cost of getting it right the second time
- Quality control vs. quality assurance
- Where quality fits in the product development process: building quality in at every step
- Style vs. spelling
- Proofreading techniques that work best: on your own or in groups
- Automating quality control: software tools to help catch errors and protect accuracy
- Customizing your quality checklists
- Evergreening quality
What You Get
When David Berman Communications hosts this seminar*, each participant receives:
- a complimentary, comprehensive manual (also available separately for $89 with optional 1-on-1 distance coaching)
- complimentary meals, snacks and beverages throughout
- a thirty-minute personal coaching tele-session within a month of the seminar
- the option to attend this seminar again in the future, as a refresher at no additional cost
- a money-back guarantee: if, after coaching and refresher,
you don't think you've got your money's worth, we'll refund your entire
registration fee
(*If you are attending one of our seminars hosted by another organization, confirm with them which of these items apply.)
About the Expert Speaker
David Berman is the principal of David Berman Communications in Ottawa. He has over 20 years of experience in graphic design and strategic communications. He brings both graphic design and information technology expertise to his work. He has been involved in the project management of numerous projects, including strategy or design for second generation sites for Health Canada, the National Research Council, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Industry Canada, Statistics Canada and Treasury Board, as well as various other government, private sector and non-profit organizations.
David is an internationally-celebrated speaker, having taken engagements in over 10 countries. In recent years David has also recommitted his career toward sharing his knowledge and unique talent as a manager and designer through professional development seminars for creative organizations. He trained at University of Waterloo in computer science and Carleton University in psychology and typography. He has worked extensively in the adaptation of printed materials for electronic distribution, including Web design and plain writing and design. He is also the architect of project management software applications.
David is a National Professional Member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) and the International Federation for Professional Speakers. David is currently the Ethics Chair of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, and was named a Fellow (the highest professional honour for graphic designers in Canada) in 1999. David has been featured in the Financial Post, Marketing, and Applied Arts magazines.
Prerequisites: None
Language: English (French available upon request)
Duration: 1-day
Take This Seminar On-Site: This seminar is also available customized and on-site for your organization. Please contact us for details.
If you would like to be notified via e-mail of when new instances of
this seminar are scheduled, fill out a form to subscribe to our Events E-Newsletter.
For the convenience of seminar attendees, we provide this list of hypertext links and books cited in this seminar's manual:
When a comma can cost millions: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060806.wr-rogers07/BNStory/Business/home
Writing for the Web: http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting
Copyright Act: http://insight.mcmaster.ca/org/efc/pages/law/canada/copyright.html
Proofreaders' marks chart (from Merriam-Webster online): http://www.m-w.com/mw/table/proofrea.htm
Conrad's proof correction marks chart: http://www.ideography.co.uk/proof/proofmarks.pdf
Markzware: http://www.markzware.com
ICC, International Color Consortium: http://www.color.org
ICC Color Profiles: http://www.color.org/faqs.pdf
Where you can get Website accessibility testing: http://www.gotraining.ca
http://www.davidberman.com
TBS Common Look and Feel Self-Assessment Guide: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/clf2-nsi2/index-eng.asp
W3C CSS Validation service: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
W3C Markup Validation: http://validator.w3.org/
W3C Link checker: http://validator.w3.org/checklink/
HTMLTidy: http://www.w3.org/People/Raggett/tidy/
Browser compatibility testing: http://www.anybrowser.com/siteviewer.html
Browser compatibility for really early browsers: http://www.dejavu.org/
Screen size testing: http://www.anybrowser.com/ScreenSizeTest.html
Checking for broken links: http://www.anybrowser.com/linkchecker.html
Link maintenance: http://www.changedetection.com/monitor.html
Checking for bad links, HTML syntax, broken tags: http://www.xlanguage.com
Color deficiency simulator: http://www.vischeck.com
Subscribe to PWGSC's Linguistic Recommendations e-mails: http://www.bureaudelatraduction.gc.ca/pwgsc_internet/en/outils_tools/rl_lr/rl_lr_abon_subs_e.htm
The Editors' Association of Canada: http://www.editors.ca
Clear reading on clear writing:
"Writing Readable Regulations" by Thomas A. Murawski, Carolina
Academic Press (ISBN: 0-89089-849-9)
"Beyond Readability" by Dr. Janice C. Redish, American Institutes
for Research (no ISBN number)
Quality:
In Search Of Quality by Ken Shelton, Executive Excellent Publishing, 1995
(ISBN 0-9634-9174-1)
Style:
"Eats Shoots & Leaves" by Lynne Truss, Gotham Books 2003
(ISBN 1-592-40087-6)
"The Canadian Style: A Guide To Writing And Editing" by Secretary
of State, 1997 (ISBN 1-55002-276-8)
Order from: http://www.bureaudelatraduction.gc.ca/pwgsc_internet/en/publications/alpha/gui_can_sty_e.htm
Structure:
"The New St. Martin’s Handbook" by Andrea Lunsford and
Robert Connors, St. Martin's Press , 1999 (ISBN-10: 031216744X)
Typography:
"Stop Stealing Sheep" by Erik Spiekermann, Adobe Press, 1993
(ISBN 0-672-48543-5)
ISO 5776 book of the 16 standards, from ANSI:
http://webstore.ansi.org/ansidocstore/product.asp?sku=ISO+5776%3A1983
Study Guide and Exemplars, Vol. 2 Proofreading, by Editors Association
of Canada, 2006 (ISBN 978-0-9695265-4-4)
Order from: http://www.captus.com/Information/catalogue/book.asp?Book+Number=918
RESOURCES FOR HOSTS
Speaker
introduction for this event 
[50KB]
Sample
Poster for this event
[930KB]
Reviewed March 5, 2008
