PLAIN CANADA'S PLAIN AND SIMPLE, VOL. 7

Welcome! 

​We’ve had a busy start to our year.  

This edition provides a quick summary of our upcoming events as well as exciting news about our membership drive.

Our popular Patron’s Corner is missing in this newsletter. Our patron, Cheryl Stephens, continues in her role as patron, but she is stepping back from active participation. Please watch for Cheryl on LinkedIn for updates on her work and fireside chats!

If you’re interested and available to volunteer a few hours a month, please let us know. 

And, as always, please email comments and questions to plaincanadaclair@gmail.com. 

Thank you/Merci
Jocelyn Pletz and Chantale Audet


Upcoming Events

May 15 – How to "Know Your Readers" so you can write successfully for them
English language presentation by Ginny Redish 

June 12 – title to be confirmed
French language presentation by Isabelle Sullivan, patient education
​
​September 18 – What’s a Billion?
English language presentation by Erin Klingmann (second presentation)

October – participatory conference

November 13 – French language presentation (to be confirmed)

December 11 – Social event 

How to “know your readers” so you can write successfully for them
Monday, May 15, 2023
12:00 noon Pacific, Zoom

The first guideline for plain language is “write for your readers.” 

But how do you

• find out who they are?
• understand enough about them to know what and how to write?
• analyze data you might collect from and about them?
• use that data and your understanding in your work?

Come spend an hour with Ginny Redish in this interactive webinar to learn and practise useful techniques for answering those 4 questions. Ginny brings her decades of experience to share, and hopes you will also share your experiences, projects, and questions.

About Ginny
Ginny Redish has been a passionate evangelist for plain language and usability for more than 40 years. In her long career, Ginny has helped many companies, nonprofits, and government agencies create clear documents, forms, and websites.  

She is also a dynamic instructor who has trained thousands of writers and subject matter specialists in the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe. 


Registration – Sold out!
 
Stakeholder Engagement:
How Can We Get More People to Buy into Plain Language?
 
It’s an age-old question for advocates of plain language—how can we convince our clients, coworkers, and supervisors that plain language makes our communication clearer and more effective? It was also one of the topics at our Plain Canada socials in April (one in French and another in English). 
 
There were so many good ideas shared and insights uncovered that we didn’t want to keep them all to ourselves. For example, we talked about getting past someone’s defensiveness when we suggest their communication could be clearer. We explored some of the ways plain language can save time and avoid potential problems. We discussed how plain design is also about improving accessibility.
 
Watch for a complete summary in our next newsletter.
 
 
Join Canada’s plain language community!

This year we are introducing a formal paid membership program. Becoming a member will ensure you continue to enjoy all the benefits you’re getting now from Plain Canada Clair and give you free access to the services and events we will begin charging non-members for in September.
 
Since launching in 2019, Plain Canada Clair has continued to attract a variety of professionals, students, and others interested in plain language principles and techniques. In the coming weeks, we will launch our refreshed website and, along with it, a paid membership option.

When you become a member, you will be joining a vibrant community run by and for the members. We will continue to offer our very popular social and learning online events, as well as the annual conference. In addition, we will be giving you

• a growing repository of plain language resources,
• access to a library of our past webinars (which we have been building for the past three years),
• a new members-only discussion forum,
• a new members’ directory so you can connect with practitioners across the country, and
• much more!

​We are looking forward to continuing to build the community of plain language practitioners across Canada, and together influencing and shaping the adoption of plain language. 

Look out for the membership announcement in the coming weeks!

 
Next Steps

Welcome to our new executive group members, Lisa Orchard and Christa Ptatschek. You’ve accomplished a lot in a short time, and we appreciate your time and expertise! We also have new volunteers helping with our newsletter and translation – thank you all.

Please email us at plaincanadaclair@gmail.com if you are interested in getting involved. Short-term initiatives include growing our membership and developing resources for practitioners.

Submissions for the newsletter are welcomed and encouraged as well!

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