On 26th September 2023, the Society of Indexers held a conference in Leeds. This was their first in-person conference since the Covid pandemic, and the opportunity to be together with indexing colleagues was too good to miss. The conference title was ‘Bringing the outside in: expanding your indexing horizons’, with sessions designed to encourage us out of our comfort zones, always with an eye on Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
I travelled from Aberdeen to Leeds by train the day before, arriving just in time for Ruth Ellis’ pre-conference walking tour of the city centre. We met under the Black Prince statue in City Square, with indexers from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada and the UK joining the tour. Ruth welcomed us and began with commentary on the landmarks surrounding us, including Channel 4’s newsroom which overlooks the square, to Mill Hill Chapel where theologian Joseph Priestly once combined his ministry with inventing carbonated drinks. From City Square, Ruth guided us towards the retail area of the city and told us about the history of the Leeds as a centre of trade. We visited the Corn Exchange, which has an amazing roof designed to let in natural light so that traders could examine the quality of the corn. It now houses small and independent retail units. Next we walked through Leeds Market. With 800 stalls, it is the largest covered market in Europe, and is the founding location of Marks and Spencer. We moved on to visit some of Leeds famous arcades, admiring the ornate decorations and the largest stained glass canopy in Europe. Then Ruth showed us the narrow alleyways which lead to some of the oldest pubs in the city and to City Varieties Music Hall, the longest running music hall in the UK.
We moved on from the retail area to the Civic Quarter. In Millennium Square we learnt about the white Portland stone Civic Hall building, with its gold-leafed owl decorations. This building houses the council offices and chambers, which were previously housed in the impressive Town Hall building on the opposite side of the square. Nearby we admired the architecture of St Paul’s House which was originally a warehouse and cloth cutting works and is decorated with ornate minarets. Finally, Ruth explained the architectural style known as the ‘Leeds Look’ with red brick and dark grey slate roofs. This style was used for commercial and public buildings in the city to harmonise with older buildings in the area. Some of the more intrepid members of the tour went on to visit the Dark Arches, where the river Aire runs underneath the railway station. Later, we joined more conference delegates for a meal at a local curry restaurant.
The following morning, the conference officially opened with a welcome via video link from Society of Indexers’ President Sam Leith, followed by an interactive ‘Client Carousel’. There were four options covering academic authors, academic publishers, pre-press suppliers and trade publishers, and we were invited to attend two of the options for twenty minutes each time. I attended the groups discussing trade publishers and pre-press suppliers. We identified the pros and cons of each type of work, including differences in timescales, fees and levels of author–indexer interaction.
The next session had three parallel options. I attended a session on indexing new editions and formats. I have worked on this type of project twice before and this was a useful session full of hints and tips for speeding up the process. Ruth Ellis explained the different scenarios, e.g. hardbacks moving to paperbacks, books with material added at the end, books with material added throughout, and a number of other scenarios. Then she explained the process from obtaining the proofs, comparing versions, obtaining the previous index files and onwards. After this we looked at the software options for importing earlier versions of the index files and how to convert them into useable files if they are only available as PDFs or scanned text.
The sun was shining on Leeds, so we ate our buffet lunch outdoors on the rooftop terrace. The first session after lunch covered three different formats with Melanie Gee reviewing her experience of indexing the letters of Seamus Heaney, followed by Sue Goodman describing how to index heavily illustrated books, and Ruth Ellis talking about indexing children’s books. Each format comes with its own conventions appropriate for the type of material and readership.
After a coffee break, another set of parallel options was offered. I led a seminar for students and newly-qualified indexers. We began by looking at marketing in the context of the publishing industry and how different approaches can be aimed at different types of clients. This involves ‘shop window’ elements such as creating a profile page in the SI Directory of Indexers, making use of a Linked In page, or building a website. These elements can be combined with targeted marketing, where potential clients can be identified through research and then contacted with speculative emails. We looked at sources of information and support for this.
In the second half of the session we looked at the process to follow when receiving an indexing commission. For example, we talked about how to estimate how long a project will take to complete and how to prepare a quotation, including the information to gather from the client. We also discussed how to negotiate fees and deadlines. We noted the New Professionals Forum, available to newly qualified SI members, which provides support with indexing or business-related dilemmas that arise at this stage.
The final session of the conference was about Continuing Professional Development (CPD), beginning with a segment on the new pathway to fellowship status which was launched recently. Paula Clarke Bain described her route to fellowship, and Nic Nicholas shared her experience of the self-evaluation exercise. Next we heard from Mary Coe, editor of The Indexer. Her key message was that ‘writing is thinking’ and she encouraged us to develop our professional skills by researching and writing on areas of interest. This could be for The Indexer or more widely, for example for the SI newsletter SIdelights, or for the SI blog. Finally Mel Gee, SI’s CPD Director encouraged us to identify CPD events or resources that we would like SI to provide, and to consider developing these ourselves to benefit our own development while also providing opportunities for others.
Other sessions during the day were: Paula Clarke Bain’s talk on crossword setting and how it relates to indexing; Nicola King‘s session on editing an index; Sue Goodman’s gentle exercise class teaching stretches that indexers can use during short breaks from sitting in front of a computer screen; and Tanya Izzard’s demonstration of Index Manager software.
The conference programme provided an interactive day full of insights into many aspects of the publishing industry and indexers’ roles within it. The interactive elements capitalized on our first chance to be together in one location after the Covid break. I renewed previous connections, met people in real-life that I’d previously only known from Zoom, and made brand new connections too. The conference encouraged all of us to expand our horizons and venture into different subject areas and formats. On a personal level, I expanded my own horizons by presenting a seminar at conference for the first time, and I found it to be an enjoyable experience. Mary Coe’s key point ‘writing is thinking’ resonated with me, because my preparation for leading the seminar had led me to see the connections between types of marketing and types of client more clearly.
Finally, an evening of socialising over drinks at a local bar and a three-course meal in a local bistro brought the conference experience to a convivial close. I headed home keen to continue current indexing projects, inspired to look for further CPD opportunities, and with new ideas on how to branch out within indexing.