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Conference Overview
By Bill DuBay
Technical Writer at Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
email: bill_dubay@phoenix.com
On February 25-27, about 50 plain-language experts from around the globe gathered in Houston for the Plain Language in Progress 2000 Conference. Members of the Plain Language Network, many of them work as plain language consultants, while others work in government, law, and private organizations promoting plain-language initiatives.
The conference, held at the Marriott at Greenspoint, was organized by Carol Wilson and Edwina Klemm of the National Law Library in Houston (See http://www.itislaw.com ) and Cheryl Stephens of Vancouver, B.C. (See http://plainlanguage.com). The Merrill Corporation and the National Law Library sponsored the conference, with additional assistance from Airborne Express.
There were nine presentations and a business meeting on the last day. On Saturday afternoon, most of the group boarded a bus to attend the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Astrodome (The biggest rodeo in the world in the biggest building I have ever been in. In the livestock show I met the world's most glamorous farm animals, including Elsie the Borden Cow). See the Houston show at: http://www.hlsr.com .
Cheryl Stephens, one of the co-founders of the Plain Language Network, gave a luncheon talk on "Plain Language--the Language of the Web." She concluded, "Our movement, with years of experience translating English to English, is in a good position to lead the development of a New English standard for the World Wide Web - a standard that is clear, comprehensible, and effective."
The conference made apparent to me that some countries are pursuing plain language more aggressively than the U.S. Over half of the participants were from other countries, and most of those from Canada. Joanne Locke of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pointed out in her talk, "Update on United States Government Plain Language Initiatives," that progress in federal agencies generally is difficult and slow, with some agencies seemingly unaware of the initiatives (See the U.S. government initiative at: http://plainlanguage.gov).
Eva Thoren and Bengt Baedecke from Stockholm had a much more favorable report about progress in Sweden. In their talk, "Plain Language--What a Democracy Needs," it was evident that government there considers plain language as a basic right of citizens. See their site and conference presentation at: http://www.justitie.regeringen.se/klarsprak
Robert Gentle from South Africa, in "Plain Business Writing" told us how he expanded his plain language consultancy to an international enterprise. He makes 90-minute presentations on plain languages, promoting his handsome books on the subject and a CD-ROM presentation. He insists that plain language in any organization is easy to learn and implement once management is behind it and has the right tools. You can contact this energetic plain-language entrepreneur at: Plain Business Writing at: http://www.plainwriting.co.za.
The presentation of Peter Butt of the University of Sydney Faculty of Law, "Brushing Up on Fundamentals," went beyond the particulars of plain language to talk about "global matters" such as audience and layout. Reach Peter at: peterb@law.usyd.edu.au.
Nicole Watkins-Campbell from the Nova Scotia government and Susan Milne from Clarica, a large Canadian investment corporation, spoke on "Long-range Planning and Implementation for Plain Language in Major Organizations and Governments". They stressed that the maturing of the plain language movement, now over 30 years old, makes plain languages activists like me realize the need for big strategies for large organizations' successful adoption of plain language.
Law professor Joe Kimble, author of the offprint, "Writing for Dollars, Writing to Please," talked about "The Economics of Plain Language." He cited ten studies detailing the economic benefits of plain language on top of the 25 studies reported in his offprint. If you haven't read his offprint, shame on you! It is an indispensable resource for promoting plain language. You can request it free of charge by e-mailing him at: kimblej@cooley.edu.
I participated in a panel on "Information Design and Plain Language,"along with Ron Scheer, a plain language consultant from Marina Del Rey. I talked about theory, and he stepped through the development of one of his projects. See Ron's business at: http://www.saywhatyoumean.com.
Guy Grenon talked about the preparation of "The Plain Language Project" for Canada's Employment Insurance Act. Samples he showed us featured an attractive layout using color and navigational aids. Legislation that is easy-to-read and attractively presented is a revolutionary development. E-mail Guy at: guy.grenon@hrdc-drhc.gc.ca.
Phil Knight of Vancouver, B.C., and Jacquie Harrison of Auckland, New Zealand, spoke on "Experiences in Writing Regulations in Plain Language." Contact them at: philknight1@compuserve.com and jharrison@unitec.ac.nz.
Kate Harrison of Key Communications in Britain (and the other co-founder of the Plain Language Network) talked about using "Plain Language in a Multi-Language Project" for the European Union. She talked about the importance of preserving the cultural innuendo and emotion in each of the eight translations "that provided personality we did not want to lose." She also commented, "It is interesting how the same writing-style problems continue to get in the way of plain language, regardless of the project or the primary language of the author." Contact her at: keycom@ndirect.co.uk.
Also attending the conference were George Maher and John Wild of the Plain English Campaign in Britain. Their founder, Chrissie Maher, took up the cause of crystal-clear language after seeing two elderly ladies die because they could not understand an application form for housing benefits. After fighting on her own for ten years, she and a partner, Martin Cutts, launched Plain English Campaign as a business and a full-time movement in 1979, infamously shredding government forms on Parliament Square. Go to the Plain English Campaign: http://www.plainenglish.co.uk.