2010 WriteMark |
Friday 3 September 2010 |
New Zealand Plain English Awards |
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Case study presentations from New Zealand organisations (concurrent)
Title | Creating a plain English culture in an economic consulting environment |
Speaker | Anton Murashev Manager, Castalia Strategic Advisors Anton manages consulting projects that Castalia undertakes for international development bodies such as the World Bank, and for governments and utility businesses across the world. Castalia provides advice in the areas of economics, finance, business strategy, and public policy. |
Overview | Castalia’s Wellington and Washington DC staff serve English-speaking clients across the world. The two offices work as a single team to prepare reports on complex issues that are crucial to economic development and business value. Castalia works hard to keep the English in its reports plain and simple, even though the concepts dealt with are anything but. Anton will speak about developing and maintaining a plain English culture in an organisation that crosses geographic and cultural boundaries. |
Title | Starting your organisation’s plain English programme |
Speaker | Prue Bentley Communications Coordinator, Environment Bay of Plenty Prue has been working at Environment Bay of Plenty, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, for 3 years. During this time she has become the organisation’s plain English champion, helping staff get their messages out clearly. |
Overview | Starting a plain English programme can be difficult. From staff who refuse to let you ‘tamper’ with their work, to finding the time to help those who are willing to learn, there’s no shortage of obstacles. But there are tips and tricks that can make the job a whole lot easier. Prue will share how she has been (mostly) successful in getting plain English accepted and used at the regional council. |
Title | Plain English in the policy environment |
Speaker | Paul Irving Policy Manager, Central Government Policy Group, Ministry for the Environment |
Overview | Is it possible to write a policy paper in plain English? The Ministry for the Environment believes that plain English is both possible and desirable. In fact the ministry sees plain English as fundamental to any discussions about democratic process. The ministry’s plain English project has the full support of its Chief Executive and senior managers — a wonderful accomplishment in itself. Paul will share the ministry’s reasons for changing its writing style. He’ll outline the actions the ministry has taken so far, and the challenges and successes along the way. |
Title | How we started small and ended up global |
Speaker | Lynda Jelbert Business Advisor Human Resources, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) Lynda has been with NZTE for the past 5 years and is heavily involved in the organisation’s plain English project. She has a background in training and development, and enjoys making a difference to the way organisations work. |
Overview | When your Chief Executive says, ‘Our writing needs to improve’, it’s time for action! ‘At NZTE, we knew we needed a strategy that would really make a difference to our writing. The strategy had to be effective, sustainable, and measurable. Most importantly it had to work for all 650 staff across 48 offices worldwide. Our plain English project started small but now we’re taking on the world.’ Come along and hear Lynda share the challenges and successes of NZTE’s ongoing plain English project. |
Title | The WriteMark — the what, the why, and the how |
Speakers | Christopher Travers WriteMark Business Development Manager, WriteMark Limited Chris accepted the challenge to help launch New Zealand’s plain English standard in 2005. He works with new and existing clients to promote the benefits of writing to an external quality standard. Anne-Marie Chisnall WriteMark Assessor, WriteMark Limited, and Editor, Write Group Limited Anne-Marie joined Write Group’s team of editors and WriteMark assessors in 2005. She and the WriteMark team use the WriteMark plain English checklist to assess how well documents and websites get their messages across. WriteMark assessors also carry out document audits to give feedback on the general standard of writing across organisations. |
Overview | The WriteMark, New Zealand’s plain English standard, is becoming increasingly well known and respected in both government and private sector organisations. It’s a low-cost, high-value investment in clear communication that brings many tangible benefits. Learn more about displaying this world-class plain English standard on your organisation’s documents. |
Sponsors
We would like to thank the following sponsors for their support in 2010.
