One of the great things about the way Talk Science to Me does business is that we use the best people we can find, no matter where we find them. While most of our associates live in Vancouver, we’ve gone as far as the Yukon and Minnesota to find talent that meets our clients’ needs. The downside, though, is that some of us rarely see each other face-to-face. So this week was an exciting milestone for our editorial team, when we gathered in Ottawa to meet with our newest client, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. It was, in fact, the first time we’ve all been together in the same room. So of course we had to take a picture to celebrate the occasion:
We’re about to eat sushi, in case you’re wondering. And very excited about it. Not pictured are the three brilliant women from the communications team at CNSC who were eating lunch with us. We had a lovely time with them and are looking forward to begin work with them.
The three ladies on the right are Talk Science to Me’s core editorial associates, whose bios you can read on our Who We Are page. From right to left are Eve Rickert, mastermind (a.k.a. managing editor); Jessie Colgan, editorial assistant; and Debora Holmes, senior editor. On the far left is Claire Eamer, who’s lending her considerable expertise at editing government documents to the role of project lead on the CNSC project.
We also took the opportunity to stop in and visit some other Ottawa-based clients: the Council of Canadian Academies, which I’ve been doing substantive editing for since December, and the small Ottawa team at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, for whom Debora and I have both provided copy-editing since 2009.
This was my first time in Ottawa–my first time in any Canadian province except British Columbia or Alberta, in fact–so I did a little sightseeing. Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the Canadian Museum of Nature (that will wait until next time), but I walked around Parliament Hill and saw this creature, whose identity I really feel I ought to know, but don’t. Can you help?
The ease with which we can collaborate across vast distances and international boundaries makes it easy to forget the value of face-to-face meetings for team-building and facilitating trust. Jet-lagged as I am, I’m glad we got this chance to spend time with each other and with some of our most valued clients.