2025 CIEP conference: the value of the editorial profession

This year's CIEP conference centred on the value of the editorial profession. Quite honestly, I was feeling a little pessimistic about my chosen career as I headed to Milton Keynes, with tight UN budgets and the potential impact of AI on the profession weighing on my mind. To see how I'm feeling post-conference, skip to the end* of this post (spoiler alert: much better!).

Right now I'm sitting on the train to Waterloo, already putting into practice something I've learned at the conference. During her talk on structured social writing, Kate Sotejeff-Wilson showed us how the process works by giving us all a few minutes to write an introduction for a given audience, working individually. I tailored mine to LinkedIn, and was surprised how different it felt putting pen to paper, rather than fingertips to keyboard - unsurprisingly, the result was much more authentic. So here I am, giving myself the duration of the train ride home to write a first draft of a blog post in my conference notebook!

Susie Dent, the revered lexicographer, etymologist and author, gave the opening lecture, which was always going to be a highlight for me. She shared her experience of moving into fiction writing from the world of non-fiction, and it was reassuring to hear how much she valued the input of her editors; she seemed confident that this very human relationship was not under threat from AI. And, of course, there were several interesting etymological gems scattered throughout her talk!

Vicky Drew's introduction to the use of terminology in NATO highlighted the importance of consistency and the real-world implications of an editor's work. She stressed the need for tact and cultural understanding during discussions on new terminology, explaining that linguists often play an important role. Her talk touched on the political implications of the terms we use and the processes involved in agreeing terminology among NATO member states,** exploring some of the reasons why defining even simple terms may be more complicated than you'd assume - which I found fascinating. Being rooted in the UN system, I'm (very geekily) always intrigued by the style sheets, official languages and reference materials used in other international organisations. I know, I need to get out more, and editing conferences probably don't count.

Other talks helped to remind me of the value of my editorial work, and gave me ideas for improving my editorial skills: Margaret Hunter's systematic and efficient approach to cleaning up messy Word documents was inspired, and Marieke Krijnen guided us through countless clever examples of copy-editing interventions that improve clarity and readability.

Claire Beveridge's talk on elevator pitches prompted us to reflect on how we can communicate the value of our profession to those outside the industry, which is especially important given the mistaken assumption held by some that AI is a suitable replacement for human editors. The style sheet with editorial report described by Lisa de Caux was an interesting solution for guiding authors through the edits to their document, again highlighting the value of the editor–author relationship.

So, as mentioned, I entered the weekend feeling a little concerned about what the future may hold for us editors. However, I'm leaving feeling much more optimistic, reminded of the many ways in which our experience, humanity and expertise set us apart from AI. Being surrounded by friendly colleagues who share my passion for language, clarity and style guides has reminded me how much I love what I do, and why I do it. It's always great to connect with colleagues who work on similar documents, as well as those who occupy a completely different niche.*** So now to head home, let some ideas percolate and explore how I can apply them to my business moving forward. I think I'm going to need more notebooks.

*Yes, it's a Spaced reference, in honour of my humble contribution to our quiz team - knowing all three film titles in the Cornetto trilogy.

** The presentation referred to member nations, but a dig around on NATOTerm reveals that the term 'member state' is apparently preferred - can you tell I was really into this topic?

***Fiction development editing will never not seem glamorous to me!