Chicago/Great Lakes Chapter
Fall Workshop
November 5–6, 2010

Hilton Garden Inn O'Hare
2930 South River Road, Des Plaines, IL (adjacent to O'Hare Airport)

Reserve November 5 and 6, 2010, on your calendars for the Chicago/Great Lakes Chapter annual Fall Workshops. The first day is dedicated to indexing skills. The second day is dedicated to marketing—both theory and application.

Friday, November 5, will feature Kate Mertes discussing "Aboutness" in indexing. Debuted as a half-day session at the Minneapolis annual conference, this full-day workshop addresses the concept of aboutness when approaching a text. Multiple exercises and discussion are included.

Saturday, November 6, features multiple speakers. Join us for a day devoted to building your client base.

In the morning, Madge Walls will present marketing theory. Envision this: You have successfully completed an indexing course. You have learned to use indexing software. You are ready to tackle your first paying indexing job. So what do you need to do to prepare for that first assignment? And how do you find ongoing work? Madge will lead us in a "prospecting for clients" journey.

After lunch, Naomi Linzer and Bonnie Hanks will describe their own approaches to marketing. Are you just starting out and need clients? Have you been indexing for many years but clients don’t call as frequently as before? Are some of your clients paying less? Today’s economy dictates knowing how to market and market well.

In today’s tough and uncertain economy, the Hilton Garden Inn’s room rates are the same as last year ($79 plus tax per night), and our registration costs are also the same.

The fun begins Thursday evening, November 4, at an informal dinner in the hotel restaurant. Each day ends with a dinner at a local restaurant.

We hope to see you in Chicago in early November. More information will be forthcoming by September on our chapter Web site at http://www.chicagogreatlakesindexers.org.

Golden Gate Chapter of American Society for Indexing

Coming sometime this fall to the Bay Area: Hazel Bell. Details on date, place, and topic to follow.

Spring 2010 Meeting
Heartland Chapter, American Society for Indexing
Saturday, April 10, 2010
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST in Richmond, Indiana

Presenting: Enid Zafran
“Polishing the Index”

Enid L. Zafran started her own indexing business in 1989, Indexing Partners, which is presently located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. She has worked in publishing since 1975, and run indexing departments at two publishers. Her publications include the popular books, Starting an Indexing Business, Indexing Specialties: Law, Indexing Specialties: Scholarly Books, and Index It Right! Volumes 1 & 2. For ASI's newsletter, Key Words, Enid writes a recurring column on style matters for indexing. She also offers an Indexing Boot Camp which consists of three intensive days of one-on-one training aimed at newer indexers and tailored to their needs.

Polishing the Index — An Editing Workshop

This full-day workshop takes you through the steps that insure your index will shine. With numerous examples, Enid shows common pitfalls and ways to avoid them. Her detailed approach has been praised by attendees. The workshop includes a hands-on exercise to apply the principles presented. Whether you are a long-time indexer or new to the profession, don't miss your opportunity to learn from and converse with one of the country's leading indexers.

also

“Starting and Maintaining your Indexing Business”

During the last hour of the meeting, we'll discuss common questions that new indexers have when starting out, as well as share tips and ideas for experienced indexers on maintaining and building their business. Chapter members will be asked to submit questions or topics they would like to discuss before the meeting. This guided discussion will be a great time to get input from our fellow indexers.

$35 - ASI members
$40 - non-members who have been to a Heartland meeting previously
$30 - first-time attendees (members and non-members)

Registration: The Heartland meeting is open to all ASI members and non-members who are interested in indexing. To register, mail your name, address, phone, and check payable to “Heartland Chapter-ASI” by April 3rd to: Mary Peterson, ASI Heartland Treasurer, 1085 East Glengarry Circle, Bloomfield MI 48301. You may also pay at the door; however, please RSVP by April 3rd to Mary Peterson or Tanya Bomsta at (740) 353-7809 or bomsta@inkpressindexing.com so that we can prepare materials for you.

Location of Meeting: MCL Cafeteria in Richmond, Indiana

Richmond, Indiana is at the Ohio border on Interstate 70, 1 hour east of Indianapolis, half an hour west of Dayton, and less than two hours west of Columbus.

The MCL Cafeteria is at 3801 National Road East, in the Richmond Square Mall, between Earlham College and the Ohio border. Take I-70 exit 156A onto U.S. 40 (this is the second exit west of the state line). Go west on U.S. 40 for 2 miles to the Richmond Square Mall, on the left.

Mid- and South-Atlantic Chapter
American Society for Indexing
Twitter and Social Media Secrets - What Indexers Need To Know
Friday, June 11, 2010,
10:00am to 11:30am

Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are examples of free tools used to attract customers and grow your indexing business. In order to take advantage of the tremendous power of social media indexers need to know the key differences between the major social networking platforms. Indexers need to be armed with social media secrets and an action plan they can implement today to get their business up to speed with social media marketing.

Presenter Tonya R. Taylor, Social Media Strategist for Rising Star Ideas.com, works with women-owned businesses, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and other solo professionals who say "I don't get Twitter." She teaches how to leverage Twitter for business through her seminars and workshops. Tonya is the author of the "Twitter Quick-Start Toolkit," a four part system used to build your audience, increase your traffic, broadcast your message, and BOOST your sales, quickly, easily and automatically—even if you "Just don't get it!"

Tonya's blog, 101FreeTools.com "Your Small Business Toolbox," is a resource for small business owners on a shoestring budget who want to address tomorrow's social media and technology needs today. Tonya also serves on the American Marketing Association of Baltimore's board as Director of Twitter and Facebook. Tonya is a contributing writer on the Examiner.com where she features small businesses and information dedicated to all things social media in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

Prior to Meeting, go to http://bit.ly/indexer to complete a quick survey and to ask your questions in advance.

Location of Meeting:

     Howard Co. Central Library
     10375 Little Patuxent Parkway
     Columbia, MD 21044
     410-313-7850

Transportation to Meeting: If you would like to carpool to this meeting, please let me know, and I'll do some transportation match-making.

Lunch on Day of Meeting: Please let me know if you're interested in staying to go to the food court in the mall across the street from the library for lunch.

Becky Hornyak, chair@msasindexing.org

New England Chapter of the American Society for Indexing

Spring Meeting, Saturday, April 17, 2010

9:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Chelmsford Public Library, 25 Boston Road, Chelmsford, MA

Experience an Index Usability Test. Presented by Cheryl Landes, Owner of Tabby Cat Communications

In 2003, members of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of ASI started an Index Comparison Project that has evolved into testing two of the indexes created for the same book by indexers with different backgrounds. The goal of the usability test is to determine which index readers prefer and the reasons behind their choices.

Since this phase of the project began, we have conducted usability tests with university students, book clubs, and indexers in the Pacific Northwest. And now it's NEASI's turn. Your participation will help us learn more about how readers of diverse backgrounds find information in indexes.
At the end of the test, we will discuss your experiences and which index you prefer, and why. Cheryl will also update on the earlier results. The last time she updated NEASI was at the fall 2008 conference.

Cheryl Landes, an award-winning technical writer, is the owner of Tabby Cat Communications in Seattle. She has more than 19 years of experience as an indexer and a technical writer in several industries: computer software, marine transportation, manufacturing, and the trade press. She is a member of ASI's national board of directors and is active in the Society for Technical Communication on the chapter and international levels. She speaks frequently at ASI and STC meetings throughout the United States and Canada. As a published travel and history writer, Cheryl's credits include more than 100 magazine and newspaper articles and three books: Beautiful America's Seattle (1999, 2006), Beautiful America's Idaho (2001), and Those Wild Northwest Days (2006).

Nitty-Gritty Marketing and Pricing for Freelancers. Presented by Ilise Benun, Owner of Marketing Mentor
Is your freelance business on a feast-or-famine cycle—you're either way too busy or you're waiting for clients to call? Or maybe you used to get lots of word of mouth and now everything has dried up? In this session, Ilise Benun explain the nitty-gritty of how to develop and nurture lucrative business relationships, how to value and price your work so you don't lose money, and how to create a "Marketing Machine" that brings an ongoing stream of new prospects and clients willing to pay you what you're worth.
Here's just a taste of what you will learn:
* How to choose a target market.
* The 5 most effective (and least expensive marketing tools).
* How to talk to clients about money (so they don't fall off their chair).

Ilise Benun is a national speaker and co-founder of Marketing Mentor. Since 1988, she has guided creative professionals who are serious about growing their business. She is the author of several books including, The Designer's Guide to Marketing and Pricing (HOW Design Books, 2008), Stop Pushing Me Around: A Workplace Guide for the Timid, Shy and Less Assertive (Career Press, 2006), Public Relations for Dummies (2nd Edition)" (Wiley, 2006) and The Art of Self Promotion. She has been featured in numerous national media outlets. See www.marketing-mentor.com and www.marketing-mentortips.com for more about Ilise.

Marketing your Indexing Business -- A Panel Discussion on What Works and What Doesn't. Panelists: Heather Hedden, Steve Ingle, and Jean Jesensky
Three NEASI members who do different types of indexing and have varying lengths of experience will discuss what has worked for them, and what has not, in marketing their indexing services. Bring your questions as well as tips on what worked for you, or didn't, to share with the group.

NEASI would like to acknowledge support from WordCo Indexing Services in making this meeting possible.

Fee: $30.00, which covers the cost of continental breakfast and lunch: assorted sandwiches (including vegetarian), fruit, and beverages.

Registration: Mail your completed registration form by Friday, April 9, 2010. Forms are available at the NEASI website: www.newenglandindexers.org.

Cancellations and Questions: Cancellations must be received by April 10 for a full refund. No refunds can be made if received after April 10. For cancellations and questions, contact Linda Dunn at the NEASI website, above.

For directions see the library web site: http://www.chelmsfordlibrary.org. There is free parking at the library.

New York City Chapter, American Society for Indexing

It's time for another informal luncheon with the New York City chapter of the American Society for Indexing.

It will be on Tuesday, June 22nd, at Smorgas Chef at Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue (between 37th and 38th Streets) at 12:00 PM. This is change-of-pace from our usual Asian luncheons. We are making it a bit earlier to avoid the big crowds at 12:30 or 1:00 PM.

The Smorgas Chef is just a few dollars more expensive than the restaurants we have been to previously.

Expect to spend between $15.00 and $20.00. You can look at their menu at http://www.scandinaviahouse.org/pdf/Lunch12_08.pdf. As usual, this is not a meeting, it is a luncheon. No agenda. We can talk about anything on our minds. It is open to ASI members and nonmembers. All indexers, people interested in indexing and friends of indexers are welcome to attend. Please let us know if you are planning to come. Please RSVP to Janet Mazefsky, at jmazefsky@aol.com or 212-427-7375, by Friday, June 18th.

PNW/ASI Fall Meeting
August 27–28, 2010
Water Resources Education Center
Vancouver, WA

For our next meeting, we have an exciting round-up of experts who will share tips on

• Branding yourself
• Pricing your services
• Finding work through the social networking sites
• Editing your indexes

Agenda-at-a-Glance

Friday, August 27
12:15 p.m. Registration
12:30–1:30 p.m. Welcome and Business Meeting
1:45–2:45 p.m. "Price Negotiations and Personal Brand Value" with Jeff Barlow, Jelvetica, Seattle
3–5 p.m. "Effective Job Search Techniques for Social Networking" with Ed Marshall, Marshall Documentation Services, Boston
6–7:30 p.m. Dinner at the Red Lion at the Quay

Saturday, August 28
9 a.m.–3 p.m. "Editing and Polishing Your Indexes" with Enid Zafran, Indexing Partners LLC, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
3 p.m. Fall Board Meeting (Everyone is welcome.)

For more information and to download a registration packet, go to http://www.pnwasi.org/mtgnext.htm.

Hotel

Red Lion at the Quay
100 Columbia Street
Vancouver, WA 98660
(360) 694-8341

The Red Lion at the Quay in Vancouver, WA, three miles west of the Water Resources Education Center, has extended a courtesy rate of $79/night, plus tax, to the PNW/ASI Chapter for our fall meeting. Rooms must be reserved by Friday, August 13, to take advantage of this special rate. To make a reservation, call the Red Lion directly at (360) 694-8341 and mention the "Northwest Indexers courtesy rate." A complimentary airport shuttle is available.

For more information about the Red Lion at the Quay, go to http://redlion.rdln.com/. Please note that if you make a reservation through the Web site, you will not receive the special negotiated room rate above. Call the Red Lion directly to receive the discounted rate.

ASI Rocky Mountain Chapter
Spring Meeting
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Louisville Public Library
951 Spruce Street, Louisville
Held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Please join us for a FREE and informative day of mini sessions offering practical advice on a variety of indexing topics:

• Andrea Birgers and Katie Banks on Legal Indexing
• Liz Walker on Name Indexes
• Andrea Jones will moderate an indexing exercise on "term selection"
• SCORE volunteer will give us suggestions for small businesses

10:00 - 10:30 Registration and networking
10:30 - 11:00 Business meeting
11:00 - 11:15 Break
11:15 - 12:00 Lunch at a nearby restaurant (Dutch treat)
1:30 - 2:30 Suggestions for small businesses
2:30 - 2:45 Break
2:45 - 3:30 Name indexes
3:30 - 4:00 Term selection exercise

Please RSVP to Jerri Lilevjen or Liz Walker

Everyone attending will be sent a piece to index beforehand. We will compare and discuss our term selection decisions.

Below Lone Tree (BLT) Peer Review Group meetings

The Below Lone Tree (BLT) peer review group meets from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm on the second Tuesday of every month at the Colorado Springs East Library, conference room 2.

The East Branch Library is located at 5550 North Union Blvd. Their phone number is 719-531-6333. The library is easy to find; it is just east of the intersection of Academy Blvd. and Union Blvd. If you cross Vickers Drive, you've gone too far.

Everyone is welcome, and encouraged, to attend these reviews; they are always informal, friendly, and educational. During the course of the review sessions, in addition to learning more about indexing conundrums from the reviews, we also share and discuss other indexing issues, such as: tidbits about how to be more efficient using our indexing software, how to shorten an index when there are space limitations, marketing tips, or interesting stories about a specific project. Sometimes we continue a discussion or just socialize at a nearby restaurant after the meeting.

Please let Donna Drialo know if you are planning to attend. The library does not charge non-profit groups such as ours for the use of this space, but they do charge for profit groups and their rooms are quite popular. It's only fair for us to notify the library as soon as possible if we will not need the space.

The SOUTH CENTRAL CHAPTER of ASI
ANNOUNCES ITS FALL 2009 MEETING

Saturday, November 7, 2009
8:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Fort Worth Botanical Gardens
Fort Worth, Texas

Kate Mertes presents her very popular NASCAR INDEXING: CREATING AND MAINTAINING SPEED

Time is money, and indexers are business people. We all want to work quickly and efficiently without sacrificing quality. NASCAR drivers don't win races because they drive carelessly and cut corners, or because they only drive in easy races. They win because they're good, they're fast, and they're good at being fast. Indexers can do that too. The workshop is divided into three parts:

• philosophical aspects of speed in indexing
• the baseline requirements an indexer needs for speed
• actual speed-producing skills and practices.

Kate Mertes is sole proprietor of Mertes Editorial Services, providing indexing, information retrieval, and editorial expertise for complex, challenging projects in law and the humanities. Kate took her B.A. in medieval studies, a Ph.D. in medieval history, and a post-doctoral degree in theology, and after teaching at university level for several years moved into publishing with a stint at Oxford English Dictionaries. After nine years as a managing editor of indexing with Research Institute of America, a legal publishing company, Kate started her own business in 1998. She has lived in Alexandria, VA, since 1992. Kate served on the Board of the American Society for Indexing (ASI) from 1998 to 2004, and was president of ASI in 2002–2003; she is currently serving her second presidential term. She was also president of the Mid and South Atlantic chapter of ASI, 2005–2006, and periodically teaches a course on indexing for the Library School of the Catholic University of America. Kate is the author of Good Governance and Politic Rule: The English Noble Household, 1250–1550, and chapters in many of ASI's publications on the indexing of legal, historical, and theological materials. She is also a co-author, with Fred Leise and Nan Badgett, of Indexing for Editors and Authors.

Save the Date

ASI Twin Cities Chapter Fall Workshop
Metatopic Menace by Kay Schlembach
Subheadings: Basic, Useful, Elegant by Margie Towery

Saturday, October 16, 2010
9:30 am–3:30 pm
William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul

Metatopic Menace
Is it possible to master the metatopic? The era of search has made this question even more important. It is my opinion that taming the metatopic, both main and local, is the key to developing a stable index structure. We look at examples, discuss various approaches, and suggest several solutions to this challenge. We will also touch on biographies.

Kay Schlembach has been passionate about teaching beginning indexers for more than a decade. A "marvelous, vivacious teacher," Kay is a managing partner with Potomac Indexing, LLC (www.potomacindexing.com), along with Richard Shrout, Seth Maislin, and Mary Coe. In addition to speaking, she has served as an ASI director, an ASI Training Course developer, committee member and evaluator. Coming from a diverse background, including homeschooling gifted children and real estate appraisal, Kay has been a full-time indexer since 1997. After two decades in Houston, Texas, Kay and family now live in northern Virginia.

Subheadings: Basic, Useful, Elegant
The structure of a back-of-the-book index consists of main headings, subheadings, and accurate locators (and cross-references). This "entry array" must reflect the text and lead the index user to the desired information quickly and efficiently. Margie will talk about and illustrate the ins and outs of subheadings: when to use (and when not), wording options, sorting possibilities, editing, readability, and format alternatives for run-in (paragraph-style) indexes. There may or may not be a test, or rather, hands-on exercises. It depends. But you will almost certainly walk away with something to think about in terms of your own approach to subheadings.

Margie Towery has worked in the publishing field for over twenty years. For more than fifteen of those years, she has focused on indexing scholarly texts. Margie won the H. W. Wilson Award for Excellence in both 2002 and 2008. Information about and samples of those indexes are available on ASI's web site. Her recent essays include "The Quality of a Scholarly Index" (in Indexing Specialties: Scholarly Books), "The Joycean Usability Experiment" (in both Key Words and The Indexer), and, with Victoria Agee, "Creating Elegant Subheadings" (in Index It Right, vol. 2).

More information to follow.

Western New York Chapter of ASI —Spring Meeting
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Roycroft Inn
East Aurora, NY

The WNY Chapter is pleased to have Jan Wright as our special guest speaker. Jan is the 2009 recipient of the ASI/H. W. Wilson Award for Excellence in Indexing for her index to Real World Adobe InDesign CS3, by Olav Martin Kvern and David Blatner and published by Peachpit Press. The WNY Chapter formed the basis of the 2009 judging committee, so we're especially pleased that Jan has consented to be our guest.

Jan will lead an open ended discussion about the care and feeding of her award-winning index. In the first part of the discussion, Jan will talk about the index, its creation, its humor, and her process. In the afternoon, the discussion will be a peer review, with Jan looking forward to questions about phrasing, content, and challenges. Copies of the book, as well as indexes to works by the same author, will be available for comparison.

We'll follow our usual agenda:

9:00: Coffee, tea, and muffins

10:00: Welcome and introductions

10:10: Jan Wright talks about what it takes to create an award-winning index

12:00: Lunch and networking (we'll order separately off the menu)

1:00: Peer review and Jan answers indexing-related questions

2:00: Chapter matters and ASI news

Registration fee (lunch is not included):
Members: $30
Non-members: $40
Students: no fee

Please send checks payable to “WNY Chapter of ASI” to Judy Kip, 3 Courtly Circle, Owego, NY 13827.

We're looking forward to a good turnout and would like to have an approximate count of attendees as early as possible. Please contact Lyle Warren at lyle.warren@thomsonreuters.com (585-627-2902) or Judy Kip at JudithKip@earthlink.net (607-687-0993) with your reservations or any questions.

Bring a friend! Make a weekend of it! Check out the Roycroft Inn for directions, overnight accommodations, menus, etc. The Roycroft Inn is a lovely historic building, however due to its historic nature; our meeting room is only accessible via stairs. We apologize in advance if this creates a problem for anyone.