‘Bringing the Outside In: Expanding your Indexing Horizons’. Society of Indexers 2023 conference

The first in-person Society of Indexers conference for four years had a very practical orientation, focusing on opportunities for professional development and encouraging attendees to venture out of their comfort zones. Through a series of plenary and breakout sessions it gave an insight into different kinds of client and different kinds of publication, as well as covering indexing software (Index-Manager) and even looking at the differences and similarities between indexing and crossword setting. New indexers were well catered for throughout the day, including with a dedicated session full of practical advice for those embarking on a new career as a book indexer. Above all, it provided a day of total immersion in all things indexing in the company of like-minded colleagues, and opportunities for the networking that is such an important part of a conference and cannot be effectively replicated in the online environment.