A Month for Clear Writing
October is a huge month for clear communication!
This is a brief summary of activities you might want to check out. I have participated in several of them as a speaker, instructor, or organizer. Let me know if you are interested in any materials or in getting in touch with another speaker!
October is Health Literacy Month (#healthliteracymonth) and several conferences take place, including conferences by the Institute for Health Care Advancement (in 2022, I presented at Health Literacy in Action), and the International Health Literacy Association (in 2021, I gave a workshop at the International Health Literacy Summit). We also prepare in anticipation of the Medical Writing and Communciation Conference hosted by American Medical Writers Association, in 2022 coming back to in-person (I will give a workshop on plain language in medical writing). This year, Michael Villaire, CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Advancement, highlighted to importance of clarity in health communication.
October 13th is International Plain Language Day (#IPlainDay) and Plain Language Association International (PLAIN) launched a worldwide live celebration with Plain Matters Live, a videocast conversation with plain language experts (in 2022 PLAIN talked to instructors from Plain Language Academies). October has been host to Clear Writing Europe in 2021 (I participated in a table presenting and discussing health literacy, plain language, and audience awareness). We also have a plain language virtual conference in Spanish, EnClaro, which is now in its fourth edition (in 2021 I spoke in the third edition). Also in Spanish, October 27 is Día Internacional del Corrector de Textos! (Editors Day in English is November 14). A big cause for celebration is the recent foundation of Red de Ascociaciones de Correctores de Textos en Español (RedACTE), which brings together national associations of Spanish text editors.
We are still celebrating Translation Day on September 30th (#translationday), and usually the American Translators Association hosts its annual conference in October (in 2022, I gave a talk at #ATA63, in 2021 I gave 2 talks and a taught a workshop at #ATA62).
Around the ATA Conference in October, ASTM International usually holds a meeting for Committee F43 on Language Services and Products. I am honored to be part of this team dedicated to developing standards for the language industry. This committee is chaired by non other than Kathleen Diamond. This year, we heard from project leaders on:
- an update to Standard Guide for Quality Assurance in Translation (F2575), led by Steve Lank who has just become CEO of CESCO Linguistic Services.
- a new Standard Practice for Analytic Quality Evaluation for Translation, led by Arle Lommel, Senior Analyst at CSA Research.
- a new Standard Practice for Holistic Quality Evaluation for Translation, led by Serge Gladkoff, CEO at Logrus Global.
My kudos to all the passionate and dedicated people who work to streamline communciation and foster better results for each of us, our communities, and our environment!
