English: you're doing it wrong

'A brisk run around the city gives me plenty of time to spot apostrophe misuse on signs everywhere,' says Ann Aitken Worth on her Stuff blog. Smitten by the same obsession with bad punctuation, we loved what Ann had to say. And we enjoyed comment number 6 too!

Read English: you're doing it wrong

Better not read this if you're a vampire

Sandra Fisher-Martins is at it again. This time she's found a great article about information design and blood test results. Take a look -- you'll be inspired to ask for clearly presented lab reports next time you go to the doctor.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/11/ff_bloodwork/all/1

Wellington, sun, and fun: Wellington love letter

It’s nearly Christmas, so Helen decided it was time to blog a fun spot. She says:

I’ve been tootling (there’s a Helenism!) about on Twitter for the last few months getting to grips with how it works—partly for fun and partly for Write.

This clip, Wellington love letter, was first tweeted about roughly a month ago. It’s now had more than 41,000 hits. The power of social media—enjoy!

Writing the future

We're looking forward to being part of the Tertiary Writing Network's 'Writing the Future' colloquium later this week. The colloquium will be held at Victoria University, Pipitea Campus, on 2-3 December 2010.

Mary McLaughlin will be presenting a paper titled 'Not just words: document design and the plain English of the future'. We'll also have a stall at the colloquium, so if you're there too, stop and say 'hi'.

Check back next week and we'll let you know how the colloquium went.

You can find out more about the colloquium at:
http://www.tertiarywritingnetwork.org.nz/2010_colloquium.html

Clear writing in Europe

We're pleased to hear that Sandra Fisher-Martins of Portugues Claro had a great day at the 'Clear Writing throughout Europe' conference on 26 November. Sandra spoke to the conference about breaking down barriers to plain language in Portugal.

The conference was organised by the European Commission. Check out their useful booklet with advice on how to write clearly. You'll find it at the link below, under the heading 'Clear writing guide'.



http://ec.europa.eu/translation/index_en.htm

ClearMark meets WriteMark

The organisers of the ClearMark Awards -- the US plain language awards -- have asked Write's CEO Lynda Harris to be a judge in 2011. The first ClearMark Awards were held in April this year. Lynda is thrilled to be taking part in the second event, and more than a little proud that the ClearMark Awards take their inspiration from New Zealand's own WriteMark Awards! If you're going to be in Washington in April, mark this event in your diary!

To find out more, visit

http://centerforplainlanguage.org/awards/

Couldn't help it...