WORKSHOPS and SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

• "Quick, Quality Indexing for Environmental, Safety, and Health." Technical Communication Summit, the 55th Annual Conference of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), Philadelphia, PA, June, 2008. Get my "Quick, Quality Indexing" handouts from the STC 55th Conference Session Materials page.

• "Learning from Indexing Disasters" panel presentation with Janet Perlman, Caryl Wenzel, and Jan Wright, moderated by Diana Witt. American Society of Indexers (ASI) 40th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, May 2008.

• "Writing Medical Indexes" workshop. American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, October, 2007.

  "Excellent workshop!"

  "This workshop was fantastic! The instructor was experienced and knowledgeable and also made this topic extremely interesting! I enjoyed and learned a lot from the in-class exercises and discussion. Many classes of this type just provide a list of "dos and don'ts." With this class, I actually feel confident about evaluating quality of indexes (which was my main objective in taking this course)."

  "Fascinating, informative, really really useful! I learned a tremendous amount and I think it will be highly useful. Thanks so much!!"

  "Great, but lots of info to cover!"

  "I have a whole new respect for indexers! This class is a good start in learning to index well."

  "Wonderful!"

• "Writing Medical Indexes—An Introduction" workshop. American Society of Indexers (ASI) Annual Conference "Liberating the Index," Philadelphia, PA, May 2007; American Society of Indexers (ASI) 40th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, May 2008

  "Pilar's session was great. Direct, useful advice and hands-on exercises that really helped bring her points home."

  "The workshop alone was worth the trip the Denver! I really enjoyed it and felt as if I learned a lot."

  "The medical indexing workshop was excellent. Wyman is a great teacher and the workshop was the perfect mix of theory and hands-on."

• "The Training in Indexing Course—What is it and How Does it Work?" panel discussion with Frances Lennie, Sandi Frank, and Kay Schlembach, moderated by Janet Perlman. American Society of Indexers (ASI) Annual Conference "Liberating the Index," Philadelphia, PA, May 2007.

• "Writing for ASI" panel discussion with Heather Hedden and Judy Reveal, moderated by Enid Zafran. American Society of Indexers (ASI) Annual Conference "Liberating the Index," Philadelphia, PA, May 2007.

• "Tips for Tagging and Selecting Keywords." Mid-Atlantic BioCommunicators Meeting, Frederick, MD, November 2006.

• "Writing Indexes -- Last, But Not Least!" workshop. American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) 66th Annual Conference, Albuquerque, NM, October 2006.

  "Pilar Wyman is an excellent instructor."

  "This should be a credit workshop! The instructor was excellent!"

  "This is an excellent workshop! ... Pilar is a natural teacher and a delight."

  "This was a GREAT workshop!"

• "Perspectives on Getting Started in Indexing" panel discussion with Sue Nedrow and Peggy Ruppel, moderated by Deborah Patton. Washington, DC Chapter, American Society of Indexers (DC/ASI), Alexandria, VA, September 2006.

• "Case Studies in HTML Indexing: Conversion Projects" panel presentation. Joint American Society of Indexers (ASI) -- Indexing and Abstracting Society of Canada (IASC/SCAD) Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada, June 2006.

• "Editing Indexes for Ease of Use and Efficiency." Society for Technical Communication (STC) 53rd Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV, May 2006. This session also included my "Checklist for Editing Tech Indexes" handout.

  "Great info. Appreciate the handout with checklist and descriptions."

  "Great real-world examples"

  "Well-organized discussion, responsive to group's queries and specific situations."

• "How to Edit an Index -- Last, but not Least!" American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) 65th Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, October 2005. For a PDF version of the "Benchmarks of Quality Indexes" handout distributed with this presentation, click here. For a PDF version of the "Checklist for Editing Indexes" handout geared to medical writers, click here.

• "Ask an Indexer" panel discussion. American Society of Indexers (ASI) Annual Conference, Alexandria, VA, May 2004 (with Nan Badgett and Sandi Schroeder); ASI Annual Conference, Pasadena, CA, May 2005 (with Anne Leach and Diana Witt); joint ASI - IASC/SCAD Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada, June 2006 (with Ruth Pincoe and Noeline Bridge).

• "Index Evaluation Workshop." Society for Technical Communication (STC) 51st Annual Conference "Navigating the Future of Technical Communication," Baltimore, MD, May 2004.

  "This is an excellent addition -- real feedback on an index from someone who does this professionally. Thanks very much. I got excellent, comprehensive feedback."

• "USDA Indexing Courses" panel presentation with Kari Kells, Elspeth Pope, and Galen Schroeder. Joint ASI-IASC/SCAD Conference "Northern Entries," Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, June 2003.
  

  Left to right, Kari Kells, Elspeth Pope, Pilar Wyman. Photo by Catharyn Martz.

• "Creating an Index that Says It All! Indexing for Tech Writers." Wordsmith Training Seminars & Workshops, Tel Aviv, Israel, February 2003.

  "The best [workshop] I have attended!"

  "More than lived up to my expectations!"

  "I found the course to be extremely instructive, enlightening, educational and useful. I hope to live up to my own expectations of what I learned, and create usable, high-quality indexes."

  "Thanks -- I thoroughly enjoyed the course!"

  "Good hands-on approach."

• "How to Develop an Index Style Guide." American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) 61st Annual Conference, Alexandria, VA, October 2001; Society for Technical Communication (STC) 49th Annual Conference, Nashville, TN, May 2002; American Society of Indexers (ASI) Annual Conference, Galveston, TX, May 2002; Joint ASI-IASC/SCAD Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, June 2003. For a PDF version of the "Considerations for an Index Style Guide" handout distributed with these presentations, click here. For a version of the "Considerations for an Index Style Guide" handout geared to tech writers and including a section on terminology standards, click here.

  "In a polished but relaxed presentation, Ms. Wyman and Ms. Patton reviewed the myriad style decisions that must be made or acknowledged before indexing can proceed: Which editorial style guide will you follow? Which specialty reference resources will you consult? What level of analysis? Indented or run-in? How will you indicate figures or tables? Each possibility was illustrated with a clear example.
  The printed handout of their PowerPoint presentation, along with a checklist, "Considerations for an Index Style Guide," will have a prominent place on my desk as I learn and develop my craft."

  "Dynamic! Exciting! Informative."

  "Extremely useful!"

  "An extremely valuable workshop. Lots of important information for new indexers. Great discussions among experienced indexers about debatable topics, examples, special cases, etc."

  "Excellent. Exactly what I needed."

  "Excellent workshop! I learned a lot more than I expected."

  "A lively and interesting presentation."

  "Well done."

  "Excellent, excellent information."

  "Had to leave early. Would rather have stayed. Wonderful."

  "I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your presentation at ASI last week. I am a relatively new indexer (less than a year) and while I had put together a style checkoff sheet based on the one in the back of Nancy Mulvany's book, your presentation made it clear that I have a lot more things to think about. I really like going to presentations where I learn something -- and I certainly did from yours. Thanks."

• "Peer Review." American Society of Indexers (ASI) Annual Conference, Galveston, TX, May 2002.

• "ASI/H.W. Wilson Award for Excellence in Indexing, 2000." American Society of Indexers (ASI) Annual Conference, Boston, MA, June 2001.

• "Wilson Award." Washington, DC Chapter, American Society of Indexers, February 2001.

• "Indexing II." EEI Communications, June-July 2000.

• "Indexing I." EEI Communications, June-July 2000.

  "Thank you for your excellent instruction and your willingness to answer questions at last week's seminar. You are obviously very knowledgeable but never unapproachable or intimidating, and that is so encouraging to those of us just starting out!"
  

• "Indexing Specialties: Medicine." American Society of Indexers (ASI) Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN, June 1999, Albuquerque, NM, May 2000.

• "Editing Indexes." American Society of Indexers (ASI) Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, May 1998.

• "Medical Indexing: Coming to Terms with Tradition and Technology." American Society of Indexers (ASI) Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, May 1998.

  "an excellent overview of controlled vocabularies and print and online resources for medical indexers who face discrepancies in terms such as adrenergic receptors vs. adrenoceptors. ... The workshop included many valuable handouts from the National Library of Medicine as well as bibliographies of resources."

• "Indexers' Panel," Moderator. Washington, DC Chapter, American Society of Indexers 20th Anniversary Celebration, April, 1998.

• "Indexes." Publishing & Communications program, University of Virginia, June 1997.

• "Mentoring." Washington, DC Chapter, American Society of Indexers, June 1997.

• "Testing Indexes for Quality and Usability." Society for Technical Communication (STC) 44th Annual Conference, Toronto, Canada, May 1997.

• "Running the Business." Washington, DC Chapter, American Society of Indexers, November, 1996.

• "How Librarians Use Indexes," Panel Moderator. Washington, DC Chapter, American Society of Indexers, June 1996.

• "Mentor/Trainee/Assistant Relationships." American Society of Indexers (ASI) 28th Annual Conference, Denver, CO, May 1996.

• "Indexers on the 'Net: The Benefits of Going Online." Washington, DC Chapter, American Society of Indexers, March 1996.

• "Indexing Education: Working Together." Massachusetts Chapter, American Society of Indexers Fall Conference, October 1995.

  "Occupation: Indexer." Pre-Kindergarten Class, Key School, February 1997. Even pre-Kindergarteners value indexes. For this presentation, I used a book I had indexed which I was sure they would appreciate, Bicycling Magazine's Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair. We talked about how we might look up how to fix flat tires, among other things. You can see in one inquisitive child's hand sample page proofs, which they were delighted to discover would become another real book some day.

© Pilar Wyman Wyman Indexing Tel/Fax: +1-410-757-7119 Mobile: +1-443-336-5497 pilarw@wymanindexing.com