ACES 2009 NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Winning headlines posted The winners of the 2008 headline contest have been posted. The winners were announced during the 2009 conference on April 30 in Minneapolis. To see them, click here. MORE

ACES survey: Here are some early numbers The American Society of Copy Editors recently completed the statistics-gathering phase of a survey designed to update information on the job satisfaction and concerns of copy… MORE

Joe Grimm turns keynote on its head Joe Grimm probably sensed we could use a smile. Dour news hung outside the Minneapolis Hilton, where the American Copy Editors Society was holding its annual… MORE

Editors behind the Pulitzers Several of our members helped Sara Hendricks track down those who were a part of the editing process for this year’s Pulitzer Prize-winning entries, and they were recognized during… MORE

Quick note on crime stories William Hickman, professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, explained on Friday the intricacies of editing crime. After going through general libel laws, he laid out ways copy… MORE

Bumpy road next 350 words: Edit carefully You’ve finished editing the article about the local middle school’s annual barbecue. It wasn’t any brain strainer, and you’ve whisked through it, confident that you’ve caught… MORE

Stay tuned The national conference has officially adjourned for 2009, but the Web site will live on with more content to come. MORE

Editors’ role in SEO, usability Just as editors ask questions and help reporters clarify copy, they also can help graphic artists clean up their Flash projects, said Dan Gaines of latimes.com. MORE

Roehrman wins Robinson Prize Michael Roehrman of the Wichita Eagle has been named the 2008 Robinson Prize winner by the American Copy Editors Society. Roehrman, the Eagle’s deputy editor for production, is the… MORE

Perlman wins Glamann Prize The American Copy Editors Society awarded its second annual Glamann Award to Merrill Perlman, a distinguished journalist, treasured member and frequent contributor to the society. Perlman is well-known at… MORE

Hank on Heads, streamlined There was a packed house for Hank Glamann’s “Hank on Heads” session Friday morning. And if you were like me, you were trying to take notes in the dark… MORE

Visual, immediate and personal: The new storytelling In the innovative and growing realm of multimedia, copy editors should engage themselves to “elevate our quality,” Steve Buttry told a session at the ACES national… MORE

A message of thanks from Jim Webster Jim Webster of the St. Petersburg Times, who won his second Division I headline award Thursday, passes along a note that we wanted to pass on… MORE

Reality bites Obviously, many of us couldn’t make it this year, for one reason or another. Some thoughts from those of us left at home after the jump. MORE

Opening session full of spirit With the newspaper business continuing its painful contraction, no one could blame the American Copy Editors Society for worrying about this year’s turnout and attendees’ disposition. But worry… MORE

A continuing measure of success In a year when leading journalism organizations nationally and internationally have canceled or postponed their annual conferences, the American Copy Editors Society conference, under way through Saturday in… MORE

Don’t feel guilty If you work for a newspaper, you’ve probably experienced the world of layoffs in some manner — even if you’re the person still sitting at a terminal in the newsroom.… MORE

Editing with Your Mind’s Eye: Stories as films Get too caught up in word-by-word editing, and you can miss the bigger picture—and its problems, said Merrill Perlman, formerly of The New York Times… MORE

A student’s perspective As I look around the conference rooms here at the Minneapolis Hilton, I am pleasantly surprised by the number of young faces in the crowd. Selling Yourself seemed especially popular… MORE

An exciting first day of sessions The first day kicked off with a lot of excitement—and lots of new faces who were eager to pack the sessions. And we’ve got more than 250… MORE

This year’s headline winners Winners of the American Copy Editors Society’s 2008 ACES national headline contest were announced Thursday at the 13th ACES national conference in Minneapolis. MORE

Twitter: New meaning to “short story” Despite being mocked by some as a trivial social networking application, Twitter is a valuable tool for journalists, the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Julio Ojeda-Zapata told attendees… MORE

Editing through Twitter So far, ACES 2009 is the Twitter conference. Who’s using it, and why? And how can it used for editing? Last night, I found out how. MORE

Already busy, already behind From Dan: One of the worse things about being on the blog team is having to blog, not because one has nothing to say, but because there’s just not… MORE

Raising a glass to friends As old friends, familiar faces and new recruits begin to arrive at the conference hotel, we are again amazed that we have pulled off the yearly miracle—amid all… MORE

Conference is good to go With more than 200 folks registered, ACES is ready to kick off its 13th national conference. Registration starts at 8 a.m. at the Red Wing Room on the… MORE

Roadwork on Marquette For those who are planning to walk from the LRT station to the hotel, a word of caution: There’s lots of construction. The city of Minneapolis has started work reconditioning,… MORE

Tuesday night note A short list of things observed on Tuesday. MORE

What to pack (second try) As we venture closer to the conference, and some have called me out for my skimp details about what to wear, here is the second installment of “What… MORE

Grammar Grater and AP visit Friday Hosts of Minnesota Public Radio’s podcast Grammar Grater, a weekly podcast about English words, grammar and usage, will be at the conference during Friday’s lunch period. Luke… MORE

Housekeeping notes In addition to the revamped and finalized schedule, we’ve made the search field actually functional. If you see anything amiss on the Web site or you want to suggest something, drop… MORE

Who needs directions? For those of us driving to the conference, here’s some help with getting to the hotel. Detailed directions follow on the jump. MORE

Schedule is locked in The schedule, which can be viewed here, has been finalized, and room assignments have been added. Attendees will receive a paper schedule booklet when they check in, but you… MORE

Hank on Heads is back Hank Glamann, co-founder of ACES and one of the organization’s best-known faces (and voices), will be bringing the popular session, “Hank on Heads,” back to ACES this year.… MORE

This year’s scholarship winners ACES has selected five winners of its 2008 scholarships: Audrey Kuo, a 2008 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles; Rachel Hanson, a senior at the University of… MORE

Columbus copy editors pitch in With newspapers reeling from the economy and unable to support journalism organizations as generously as they have in the past, the copy desk at The Columbus Dispatch has… MORE

Someone had to edit those winners The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced Monday and showed the strength and breadth of journalism in America. But somebody had to copy edit all those winners, not… MORE

Forget something? Here is where to get it The pain of modern air travel? Measuring out toiletries in acceptable increments and plastic bags is enough to make a grown man scream. So if… MORE

What to pack (early edition) OK, so we all know that predicting the weather is as easy as teaching a dog to speak English. But thanks to the Internet, we can make an… MORE

Sour notes Like all enterprises, the orchestra in Minnesota is struggling. The economy is forcing cutbacks. Read the story from the New York Times here. MORE

Need java? Here’s where to refuel Yes, there is the hotel. But just steps out of the hotel, plenty of destinations beckon. It is a downtown, so many of these are corporate outlets,… MORE

Two new sessions unveiled William Hickman of the University of Central Oklahoma will bring two sessions he presented at the Midwest Chapter conference last year to this year’s national conference. He will cover… MORE

ACES extending memberships for laid-off editors The entire industry has dealt with an economic upheaval in the past year, and ACES values its members’ support. Because members are the most important part of our group,… MORE

The schedule is live! After a few minor delays, this year’s conference schedule is live and ready to explore. You can check it out at http://www.copydesk.org/conference/2009/minne/schedule/. This year, we have more than 30… MORE

Moment of Minnesota music This song always makes me think of Minnesota, since it’s sung by Paul Westerberg, who used to be in a Minnesota band called the Replacements. MORE

Where everybody is above average ... I’ve never been to Minneapolis, but listen to “A Prairie Home Companion” on National Public Radio almost every week. Too bad Garrison Keillor et al will be… MORE

This year’s keynote Our keynote speaker this year was Joe Grimm, longtime ACES stalwart and supporter of all things related to copy editing. Grimm is the Ask the Recruiter columnist at Poynter Online… MORE

Downtown: Just a bit off kilter Minneapolis loves its grid system. But when it comes to downtown, that pesky Mississippi River is in the way, so downtown is on a bit of an… MORE

A third way: Neither cab nor light rail Unhappy with paying $30 or $40 for a taxi from the airport to the Hilton? Not up to the walk and battle with luggage? Another… MORE

A testimonial worth sharing Here’s a testimonial from Jann Nyffeler, a lead editor at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, that was posted on Facebook. It’s worth a read if you’re on the fence about… MORE

Welcome to the conference Web site Greetings from the ACES Web desk! On Tuesday, we officially launched the ACES Conference Web site, which can be directly accessed at http://www.copydesk.org/conference/2009. We’ve told the hamsters… MORE

Early bird rate permanent for 2009 ACES feels your pain. We know you’re on a tight budget, so our early bird fee is now good for registration for this year’s conference anytime —… MORE

If you’re looking for a taxi, use a stand Twin Cities taxis are governed by a confusing web of rules and rates, but one rule in downtown Minneapolis is universal: You can’t hail… MORE

Light rail in Minneapolis You can save a lot of cash on skipping the taxi, but be prepared to lug you and your stuff down five city blocks from the nearest station to… MORE

Looking for a roommate? We’ve set up a roommate finder spreadsheet through Google Docs. It’s easy to use, add your name or find someone already looking for a roommate for the conference. Bookmark… MORE

Poynter’s interview with Merrill Perlman Sara Quinn over at Poynter has a brief conversation with Merrill Perlman, a true force behind ACES’ success and a leading voice among the industry. If you’re lucky,… MORE

Cool skyway link Vince Tuss at the Star Tribune passes along this Web site ... it shows the paths of the skyways and more around the hotel, which is at Marquette and 11th… MORE

Editing for tomorrow What does the future hold for editors of the printed word? This is one of the many questions copy editors face in a future of changing operations, dwindling resources and… MORE