Author: Gergely, Vera

Nominations are now open for PLAIN’s two international awards:

• the Christine Mowat Plain Language Achievement Award and
• the Cheryl Stephens Innovation Award

Submissions for nominations are due by April 12, 2021.

About the awards

The Christine Mowat Award

The Christine Mowat Plain Language Achievement Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to advancing plain language. Its purpose is to recognize a significant contribution to advancing plain language at the local, regional, national, or international levels.

The award will be presented to a person or organization who has significantly advanced plain language as a professional through their work and represented the profession of plain language with the highest integrity and skill.

Eligibility and criteria for The Christine Mowat Award

The Cheryl Stephens Innovation Award

The Cheryl Stephens Innovation Award recognizes innovation in plain language. The purpose of the award is to recognize the significant contribution of a PLAIN member.

The award will be presented to a person or organization whose plain language activities have brought significant benefit to the community through technology, advocacy, research or professional development.

The award is sponsored by skritswap. Skritswap is a technology company providing an AI solution to making information easy to understand. Skritswap inaugurated ‘Innovation Day’ on February 16, 2019 and announced the Cheryl Stephens award. Read more about Innovation Day and skritswap’s sponsorship of the Cheryl Stephens Award here.

Eligibility and criteria for The Cheryl Stephens Innovation Award

How to nominate

To make a nomination for an award, you must be a PLAIN member. Your nomination must:

• be in writing (maximum of 5 pages total for nominating and supporting documents)
• document the nominee’s achievements, referring to the award criteria
• be supported by another PLAIN member and at least one other individual active in the plain-language profession but not necessarily a member of PLAIN.

Please submit your nomination to awards@plainlanguagenetwork.org by April 12, 2021.

The winners will be presented with an award at the Access for All conference in May 2021 and will receive public acknowledgement of their achievements on the PLAIN website and other PLAIN communication channels.

NOTE: We are no longer accepting submissions for this issue.

The next issue of PLAIN’s e-journal will focus on the current work in professionalizing plain language, such as through standards, certification and training.

At the 2009 PLAIN Conference in Sydney, a working group released a draft options paper that led to the:

• creation of the International Plain Language Federation (which includes PLAIN)
• development of a common definition for plain language
• drafting of the ISO plain language standard.

In 2021, the Federation is embarking on the next round of its agenda:

• localizing the ISO standard
• certification
• training for practitioners.

Call for contributions

We are looking for contributions from colleagues around the world to update members about this activity and to explore how it will reshape the work that we all do. Alongside articles from some of the key people involved in the Federation working groups, we aim to include perspectives on these topics from the PLAIN membership more broadly.

Articles could cover any aspect of this push to professionalize plain language, such as:

• translating the definition
• implementing the ISO standards
• localizing standards in different languages and countries
• training and certification
• advocating for plain language
• strengthening the research base.

Articles should be short pieces of 800 to 1,000 words. They are all published in English, although we prefer to include a second version in the author’s own language where that is not English.

Contributions are due in April 2021 and we plan to publish the e-journal in July 2021.

If you are interested in submitting an article, please send a message to publications@plainlanguagenetwork.org.

Plain Language Association International (PLAIN) has welcomed 5 new members to its Board of Directors: 

• Nicole Watkins Campbell (Canada) 
• Dominiek Braet (Belgium) 
• Melinda Melcher (Switzerland, Europe) 
• Romina Marazzato Sparano (USA, Argentina, Italy) 
• Natalia Torro (Argentina, The Netherlands) 

The new Board members were nominated this summer and elected at the Annual General Meeting on 20 October 2020. 

The new members bring with them a diverse background – both in their professional experience and in their global perspectives. The Board spans 5 continents and 12 countries – a reflection of PLAIN’s international development. They will play a vital role in developing PLAIN’s upcoming strategic plan for 2021−2025. 

The Board would also like to thank exiting members Jana Goldman, Marie Antaya, Miguel Martinho, Claudia Poblete Olmedo, and Diane Macgregor for their service on the Board. Their invaluable support with communications, professional development, and finance was key to PLAIN’s recent growth.  

Are you interested in helping PLAIN shape the future of plain language globally? Become a member today! 

Ensuring that your audience understands what you’re trying to say is the aim of communication in any organization. Easier said than done, even if you’re communicating in only one language! International organizations not only have the additional challenge of communicating in several languages but must also take care because content written in English is aimed at a multilingual readership. So how can you make sure your message gets across?

Sowing the seeds

The European Commission is one of the many international organizations working on clear writing and looking into ways to address this shared communication challenge with others. The seed for developing cooperation between international organizations was sown when the Commission presented its clear writing campaign at the annual IAMLADP conference. Our campaign had already put down strong roots, but others’ campaigns needed a little help to take root, to flourish and grow.

The European Commission is well aware of the need to improve the quality, clarity and precision of their written communication in order to help the general public understand the European Union better. They have been running a clear writing campaign for 10 years, encouraging more than 30,000 of their staff to put clear writing principles into practice. They developed a series of resources, a program of workshops, and send weekly tips by email in order to raise awareness and help bring about a change in drafting culture at the Commission.

All of us share the same communication concerns, and just because we are working in a multilingual environment and communicating in our non-native language this shouldn’t stop us from writing clearly.

By bringing together clear writers from many other institutions, the Commission hoped to draw inspiration from each other’s ideas, to pool resources and materials, and to help nurture clear writing across the board. In the spirit of the new (virtual) normal, they organized monthly online meetings with clear writing practitioners from international organizations (United Nations, World Health Organisation, NATO, and many other EU institutions) across the world to discuss different clear writing-related topics. International organizations now have a hub for brainstorming, sharing experience, and resources on clear writing to help writers and translators work together towards the same goal.

Branching out

Support for clear writing is growing and some organizations are now working on creating their own tailored resources, such as style guides, weekly tips shared with staff and training sessions, inspired by the work they have seen which has been done in other organizations. The Commission too shared its vast catalog of resources and tips (among others ‘How to write clearly‘ booklet available in 24 languages) and these helped even more organizations start their own clear writing initiatives.

Discussions at meetings touched on common issues preventing us from writing clearly, such as impossibly short deadlines, complex document workflow, and documents written by multiple authors. A winning formula for helping the clear writing tree to flourish was found: involving editors from the start of the writing process, getting high-level support for clear writing to bring about change, and recruiting clear writing ambassadors to deliver the message.

These meetings will continue in order to encourage clear writing movement across international organizations and expand the network.

Want to learn more? Contact DGT-CLEAR-WRITING@ec.europa.eu

All PLAIN members are invited to join our Annual General Meeting on 20 October 2020, at 11:00 UTC. This meeting will take place online via GoToMeeting.

We emailed the links to join the meeting and all supporting documents to members on 7 October. If you did not receive the email, please send a message to Bede Sunter, PLAIN Secretary at secretary@plainlanguagenetwork.org

What will we discuss?

Among other things we will be discussing:

• a proposed new membership structure
• our strategic plan for the next five years
• our annual report for the last year, including the financial statements.

At the meeting, we will also be voting in new board members.

If I can’t attend the meeting, can I vote by proxy?

Yes, if you cannot attend the meeting you can ask another member who is attending to vote on your behalf. You can find a list of members on our website. Or you can ask a member of the PLAIN board to vote on your behalf. The following directors will be at the meeting: Bede Sunter, Vera Gergely, Jana Goldman, Margrethe Kvarenes, Irene Stotko, Christine Smith, Ingrid Olsson, Hannah Sapunor-Davis, Marie Antaya, Diane Macgregor and Claudia Poblete Olmedo.

Complete the proxy voting form and send it to Bede Sunter, Secretary by October 19, 2020, 11:00 UTC. The person who will be voting on your behalf must also email the proxy form to the Secretary by October 19. This confirms they agree to be your proxy. The proxy form explains how to instruct your proxy and what to vote on.

Please note, proxy voting may not account for more than one-third of the votes at a meeting. The Secretary will accept proxy votes up to that limit in the order received. So we encourage as many of our members to attend as possible.

International Plain Language Day is coming up next week on 13 October.

Cheryl Stephens and Kate Harrison-Whiteside established the day to celebrate and advocate for plain language around the world. This year’s theme is “Access for All starts with plain language”.

Here are 4 simple ways to take part in International Plain Language Day wherever you are in the world.

1. Attend our online conference 13-15 October
2. Join the conversation on social media and tell us why you feel passionate about plain language with #IPlainDay
3. Share your latest plain language project in our LinkedIn forum
4. Start a discussion with your colleagues or peer network with questions like:
   • Who is our information accessible to? Who is it not accessible to? How do we know?
   • What elements of access have we not considered yet?
   • What doors can we open with plain language?

Are you registered for our upcoming conference? We are looking for volunteers from around the world to help us keep the conversation going day and night during this exciting event! Become a moderator and engage with conference attendees on our easy-to-use conference platform, Attendify.

The virtual nature of our conference allows attendees from around the world to participate. Having moderators in three major time zones will help us keep the conversation going for everyone attending – no matter their time zone.

Keynote presentations will be available a week before the conference starts. That means you can get a discussion started whenever you log online after your first cup of coffee or tea. You can even continue the discussions that started in another part of the world. Your participation will help attendees feel that they are really part of a global conference!

Interested? Register here and we will send you information about volunteering.

Questions? Get in touch with ingrid.slembek@inaccord.ch

We are pleased to announce an exciting leadership opportunity in the PLAIN community. This autumn we will have 4 seats on the PLAIN board of directors to fill. If you, or someone you know, are interested in shaping the future of plain language, read on to learn about the requirements and nomination process.

Why become a board member?

Becoming a board member is a great way to influence PLAIN’s direction and to help develop plain language around the world. You will find it personally and professionally rewarding.

It will bring you into regular contact with colleagues globally and keep you up to date on major plain language initiatives. Without active board members, PLAIN could not run its discussion forums, e-journal, conferences and web site.

Who is eligible for election?

To join the PLAIN Board, you must:

• have been a member in good standing for at least one year
• support PLAIN’s objectives
• be able to join our board meetings (by video conference, usually every 2-3 months)
• have time available to contribute to committee work between meetings
• have a working level of English (our organizational language)
• have no conflict of interest in serving on the Board.

How long does a director serve?

Board members serve for 3-year terms and can serve for up to 6 years.

What skills does PLAIN need?

We will consider all applications. We are also specifically seeking candidates with skills and experience in:

• membership strategy
• conference and event planning
• social media and marketing
• websites and WordPress.

What is the nomination process?

To register your nomination, send an email to secretary@plainlanguagenetwork.org by midnight on 20 September. Be sure to include in the email:

• a description of about 100 words on your qualifications and what you can contribute to the board
• a CV or link to your website/LinkedIn profile
• the names of 2 current members OR 2 professional references who support the application.

You can nominate yourself or another member. If you want to nominate someone else, please make sure they are willing to serve.

When does voting take place?

Members will vote at our Annual General Meeting in October. Members will receive information on each of the nominees in advance. We will announce the results at the AGM. New board members begin their terms immediately after the meeting.

If you have any questions about running for the board of directors, send a message to secretary@plainlanguagenetwork.org.

We would also like to thank Diane Macgregor, Jana Goldman, Marie Antaya and Miguel Martinho for their service on the PLAIN board. They have contributed immensely to the progress that PLAIN has made in recent years.

We look forward to receiving your nominations!

PLAIN Board of Directors

NOTE: Thank you to everyone who made a submission for the COVID-19 issue of PLAIN’s e-journal. The issue is now full, so we are not able to take any further submissions.

Our third issue will have a wide range of articles from right around the globe: Canada, Germany, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, the Netherlands, India, the United States and the United Kingdom. PLAIN members will share their experiences of clear communication in the year of COVID-19. Look out for #3 in December.

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The emergence of COVID-19 this year has only reinforced the importance of plain language. More than ever, people around the globe need clear, correct and concise information that they can rely on.

The next issue of PLAIN’s e-journal will focus on the impact of COVID-19 and how plain language is helping to manage the crisis.

Call for contributions

We are looking for contributions from colleagues around the world. Articles could cover any aspect of COVID-19, such as:

• the state of COVID-19 in different countries
• case studies showing the importance of plain language in communication about COVID-19
• the impact that COVID-19 has had on us as plain language organizations and practitioners
• how COVID-19 has changed the way we work – such as the shift to virtual practices and working from home.

Articles should be short pieces of 800 to 1,000 words. All articles will be reviewed and published in English. If you would like to include a translation of your article, we are happy to publish it alongside the English version.

Contributions are due in September 2020 and we plan to publish the e-journal by the end of the year.

If you are interested in submitting an article, please send a message to publications@plainlanguagenetwork.org.

We encourage you to share your stories to keep us all connected during this crisis.

We are thrilled to announce that PLAIN is joining together with Clarity International and the Center for Plain Language to co-host an international conference with two events under the theme Access for All: Plain Language is a Civil Right.

Access for All: Plain Language is a Civil Right |13 October 2020

• our first ever virtual conference!
• replaces the event formerly known as Clarity2020: Access for All
• includes a 10-year anniversary celebration of the US Plain Language Act

Access for All: Plain Language is a Civil Right | May 2021 (exact date to be announced)

• replaces PLAIN’s biannual conference
• builds on the October 2020 event with an extended scope and duration
• can be attended online or in person in Washington DC

We are excited to be able to offer a new kind of event (for us) that will expand our possibilities for exchanging ideas with colleagues around the globe. The three organizations are working hard to ensure a seamless transition between the October and May events, as well as a rewarding online experience for everyone.