Informal Virtual Meetings
Starting in 2023, PNW has held seasonal informal virtual meetings, which are designed to be social times within an indexing context. They begin with a time for each participant to share, followed by chapter news and a question-answer-based discussion.
– Recaps of 2023 informal meetings: January 2023, April 2023, July 2023.
– Recaps of 2024 informal meetings: February 2024, May 2024
Annual Fall Meetings
The Fall 2023 annual meeting was held virtually via Zoom on Nov 4, 2023. Featured activities:
- Pilar Wyman presented on Best Practices to Avoid Rookie Mistakes.
- After the presentation, we grouped into breakout rooms for newbie and early-career indexers and for mid- and late-career indexers, then came together to share our discussion in the larger group.
The Fall 2022 annual meeting was held virtually via Zoom on September 24, 2022. Featured activities:
- Cynthia Landeen presented on Breaking Convention on Behalf of the Modern Reader’s, a topic which generated a lot of discussion.
- The presentation was preceded by quick introductions at the beginning and followed by an informal social time at the end.
The Fall 2021 annual meeting was held virtually via Zoom on October 16, 2021. Featured activities:
- Ina Gravitz spoke on Best Practices of Indexing: Characteristics of Quality Indexing
- The presentation was followed by a group exploration of how best practices are applied, using a structured guide to analyze the indexes.
The Fall 2020 annual meeting was held virtually via Zoom on September 26, 2020. Featured presentations:
- Workplace Locations and Ergonomics, consisting of a virtual tour of several members’ workplaces.
- Business meeting and volunteer recognition.
The Fall 2019 chapter meeting was held September 13-14, 2019 at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Vancouver, Washington. Please see the Registration Packet for details. Featured presentations:
- Q&A for New and Newish Indexers, hosted by Scott Smiley
- Technical Indexes with a Structured Approach, with Angela Howard
- Client Relationships (panel with Scott Smiley, Carolyn Weaver, and Madge Walls)
- Embedding Index Tags in XML Files, with Angela Howard
- Bidding and Rates (panel with Scott Smiley, Maria Sosnowski, and Madge Walls)
The Fall 2018 chapter meeting was held on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Vancouver, Washington. Please see the Registration Packet for details. Featured presentations:
- Indexing in Digital Environments, with Pilar Wyman and Jan Wright
- Disaster Planning for Your Business, with Carolyn Weaver
- The New Tax Law, with Greg Bessert
- “Knotty Bits” group discussion, with Judy Staigmiller
The Fall 2017 chapter meeting was held on Saturday, September 16, 2017 at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Vancouver Washington. Please see the Registration Packet for details. Featured presentations:
- Tax Deduction Tips and Business Discussion, with Scott Smiley
- Cookbook Indexing – A Fresh Look, with Therese Shere
The Fall 2016 chapter meeting, celebrating PNW/ASI’s 20th Anniversary, was held September 16-17, 2016 at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Vancouver, Washington. Please see the Registration Packet for details. Featured presentations included
- Indexing Narratives and Biographies, with Enid Zafran
- Marketing for the Shy, with Carol Roberts
- Painless Index Editing, with Carol Roberts
The Fall 2015 chapter meeting was held on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Vancouver, Washington. Please see the Registration Packet for details.
The fall meeting included a presentation by Do Mi Stauber titled Winning the ASI/EIS Award: A Not-So-Impossible Dream
The Fall 2014 chapter meeting was held on Saturday, October 4, 2014 at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Vancouver, Washington. Please see the Registration Packet for details.
Our fall meeting included the following presentations:
Linked Indexing for epubs Using InDesign Scripts with Sheila Ryan.
Marketing for the Long-term Indexer
Indexing Solutions/Peer Review with Sherry Smith
The Fall 2013 chapter meeting was held on Saturday, September 28, 2013 at Bastyr University, Kenmore, Washington. (View Registration Packet) Presentations included:
- Work Smarter, Not Harder with Lucie Haskins
- Vetting the Book with Lucie Haskins
- Publisher Questionnaire with Madge Walls
The Fall 2012 chapter meeting was held on Saturday, September 29, 2012 at the Water Education Resources Center in Vancouver, Washington. (View Registration Packet) Presentations included:
- The Logic and Language of Patterns: A Deeper Look with Scott Smiley
- E-books and Indexing with Jan Wright
The Spring 2012 chapter meeting was held on Saturday, June 9 at Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA. (View Registration Packet) Presentations included:
- Author kickoff with David Burch of Starpath Publications
- Indexing with Adobe InDesign with Cheryl Landes
- Indexing Passing Mentions with Judi Gibbs and Cheryl Landes
- Holistic Office Fitness with Larry Swanson, LMP
Our Fall 2011 chapter meeting was held on October 22 at the Water Resources Education Center in Vancouver, Washington. (View Registration Packet) Presentations included:
- James Keeffe, author of Two Gold Coins and a Prayer: The Epic Journey of a WWII Bomber Pilot and POW (http://www.appellpublishing.com/), shared his experiences in writing his father’s memoirs.
- Madge Walls shared her marketing tips and facilitated a discussion on other indexers’ experiences.
- Sherry Smith returned with her popular “Indexing Problems: Share Your Approach” session in a longer format.
The Spring 2011 chapter meeting was held on June 11 at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington. (View Registration Packet) Charlee Trantino conducted two workshops:
- “The Secrets of Rekeying” A hands-on workshop to learn the traditional skill called rekeying an index
- “Do or Die—The ebook’s impact on indexing”
The Fall 2010 chapter meeting was held August 27-28, 2010 at the Water Resources Education Center in Vancouver, WA. (View Registration Packet) Topics included:
- “Price Negotiations and Personal Brand Value” with Jeff Barlow, Jelvetica, Seattle
- “Effective Job Search Techniques for Social Networking” with Ed Marshall, Marshall Documentation Services, Boston
- “Editing and Polishing Your Indexes” with Enid Zafran, Indexing Partners LLC, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
The Spring 2010 Meeting was held in multiple locations on Saturday, April 10. This InSync meeting format included peer reviews and a discussion of marketing, macros, and shortcuts.
The Fall 2009 Chapter Meeting was held September 25-26 at the Richland Community Center in Richland, Washington. (View Registration Packet) The topics included “Cataloguing Rules and Tools” with Debra Spidal, “What Kind of Kohlrabi Are You?” with Scott Smiley, and “Indexing Problems: Share Your Approach” facilitated by Sherry Smith.
The PNW/ASI Spring 2009 Meeting
was merged with the National ASI Conference April 23–25, 2009
at the Doubletree Hotel near the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon
The theme of 2009’s ASI conference, in the shadow of Oregon’s Mount Hood: “Scaling the Heights”
The Fall 2008 Chapter Meeting was held Saturday, August 23, at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington. Featured were Jan Wright on Indexing Trends, a panel on the use of PDFs in indexing, and a workshop by Enid Zafran on Legal Indexing.
Spring 2008: Taming the Wild Project List – Organizing Tools for the Complex Life
The Spring 2008 workshop at Lane Community College was presented by Wilson Award winner Do Mi Stauber. Her book, Facing the Text: Content and Structure in Book Indexing, has become a standard in the indexing field. Sherry Smith also led hands-on workshops working with “The Business of getting Business through Referral Networks, and “Share Your Approach: Strategies for Solving Recurring Indexing Problems.” Board Minutes (in process)
The Fall 2007 Meeting took place in Vancouver, Washington at the Water Education Resources Center. Featured speakers included the following: Gale Rhoades, the North American publisher of Macrex Indexing Program. Her topics included Streamlining Indexing with Dragon Naturally Speaking and Making Sense of Macros. Scott Smiley, current chapter treasurer discussed Tax Deductions for Professional Meetings and Pattern Matching In Cindex. Kari Kells, co-author of Inside Indexing and a co-founder of PNW/ASI discussed when and how to use Macros in Sky. Board Minutes
The Spring 2007 Meeting was held in conjunction with the Washington Library Association’s Annual Meeting. April 20-22, 2007 in Richland, Washington. Workshops: “What Skills Are Needed to be a Successful Freelancer,” Peer Review: a great opportunity to learn from the work of others and to have one of your own indexes critiqued, “Content Management in Museums.” “What’s This Thing We Call Index Editing?” Facilitated discussion. “Productivity: The Pros Speak Out.” “An Indexer’s Experience with Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSIs).” Board Minutes
Tenth Anniversary Celebration and Workshops, Fall 2006 PNW/ASI Chapter Meeting in Olympia, Washington. Featured workshop by Carol Roberts: Painless Editing. Celebratory Dinner honoring Founding Members, Dinner speaker: Charlee Trantino, 2006 Wilson Award Winner. Peer Reviews, Raffle, Networking opportunities, Volunteer Recognition, Pre-Meeting workshop: Skills of the Successful Freelance Indexer with Sherry Smith, Chapter Logo voting. Board Minutes.
Embedded Indexing Overview – Spring 2006 PNW/ASI Chapter Meeting (April 2006, Eugene, Oregon). Board Minutes.
NASCAR Indexing – Fall 2005 PNW/ASI Chapter Meeting (October 1, 2005, Richland, Washington). Kate Mertes, former ASI President, presented her workshop “NASCAR Indexing.” Board Minutes.
Exploring Index Design – Spring 2005 PNW/ASI Chapter Meeting (April 2, 2005, Eugene, Oregon). Program highlights include “Exploring Index Design”, an indexing workshop presented by Kari Kells and Sherry Smith; “Ergonomics for Indexers”, by Karen Poague Brady; and “Experts’ Reviews of Indexing Techniques”, a panel discussion by four experienced indexers. Board Minutes
Fall 2004 PNW/ASI Meeting (October 3, 2004, Bellevue, WA). You Say Cookies, I say Biscuits: an Exploration of Metadata and Controlled Vocabulaties. Board Minutes.
Spring 2004 PNW/ASI Meeting “Managing Your Indexing Business” panel, presentation by DoMi Stauber, and peer review discussion (April 17, 2004, Eugene). Board minutes
The Fall 2003 Meeting at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington, featured two presentations by Janet Perlman: Recognizing and Creating Quality Indexes, and Work Methods: Philosophical and Practical Considerations. Board Minutes.
ASI/IASC joint national meeting in Vancouver, BC. Board meeting (June 19, 2003).
Journal indexing, Balancing indexing speed with quality, Marketing tips, and Committee roundtables (September 28, 2002, Eugene). Carolyn Weaver, our keynote speaker, will talked about the ins and outs of journal indexing. A panel of veteran indexers discussed how to improve indexing speed without sacrificing quality. We gathered helpful marketing tips from a panel of new indexers. We provided opportunities to learn more about the roles of the chapter committees during an afternoon roundtable session. Board meeting (September 29, 2002, Eugene) and Board meeting (May 25, 2002, Seattle).
Editing your Index (April 6 and 7, 2002, Seattle). This meeting featured a panel discussion called “Life Beyond Book Indexing,” presentations by Zoe Holbrooks (“Indexing in Electronic Environments”) and Maria Coughlin (“Editing Your Index”), and a chapter-organized Peer Review session. Board minutes.
Cookbooks and Moonlight. (September 28 and 29, 2001, Eugene). Two wonderful workshops, Indexing by Moonlight presented by Carolyn Weaver, and Cookbook Indexing by Therese Shere from the Bay Area. Board minutes
Facing the Text: Content Analysis and Entry Selection in Social Sciences and Humanities Indexing. (August 3 and 4, 2001, Richland). This workshop, presented by our own chapter member Do Mi Stauber. PDF Announcement, Board minutes .
Building Bridges: Connecting with Readers, Clients, and Colleagues. (May 4 and 5, 2001, Seattle). PNW/ASI and IASC/SCAD held a joint spring meeting. We gathered to share ideas and learn new strategies for creating better, more useful indexes. One attendee went so far as to comment that this was the most useful professional conference she had ever attended. PDF Announcement
Getting There: The process of indexing (October 7, 2000, Portland). More than 30 indexers gathered to discuss the art and science of indexing, or more specifically, how do you create an index. Everyone in the room seemed to walk away with either a new idea (or two) on how to make their process more efficient or a calm sense that they had the best process that worked for them.
Marketing for the Shy (August 5, 2000, Richland). Carol Roberts spoke about marketing.
Non-Book Indexing and Time Management (April 8, 2000, Seattle). Robin Hilp discussed knowledge management, David Brown discussed search engines, Colleen Dunham talked about indexing Microsoft’s Encarta, and our featured speaker, Constance Maytum, shared ideas on time management. Meeting Minutes, Board Minutes
Publisher-Indexer Relations (October 23, 1999, Richland). Panelists Julie Miller (Microsoft Press), Marianne Keddington-Lang (Oregon Historical Society), Julie Kawabata (indexer) and Charles Anderson (indexer) discussed the topic du jour.
Picnic in Gasworks Park (September 11 1999, Seattle). (informal meeting)
Introduction to Indexing and Index Editing (July 24, 1999, Richland). This introduction was presented by Kari Kells.
Julie Kawabata on getting started in freelance indexing (April 17 1999, Richland). (informal meeting)
Wilson Award Judging (March 20, 1999, Olympia). Featured presenter was Colleen Dunham.
Learning Indexing: What are your Options? (October 10, 1998, Portland). Multiple presenters, hosted by Jan Wright.
Successful Freelance Strategies (March 7, 1998, Portland). Featured presenter was R. Jean Bryant.
Classification Techniques (October 4, 1997, Olympia). Multiple presenters from many professions discussed this topic.
Publisher/Indexer Relations (April 26, 1997, Tukwila, WA). A panel of editors from area publishers was our featured event.
East of the Cascades (April 5, 1997, Spokane). A few indexers met for an informal lunch with Elspeth Pope and Kari Bero.
Decisions, Decisions! Making Choices for a Quality Index (August 10, 1996, Olympia). This pre-chapter, informal meeting was presented by Anne Leach.
Marketing Strategies for Freelance Indexers (March 25, 1995, Seattle). This pre-chapter, informal meeting was presented by Anne Leach.