The Periodical Writers Association of Canada, or PWAC, is a group of professional communicators who share a common interest in periodicals.
With over 500 members across Canada, and a handful of ex-pats around the world, PWAC is a leader in the promotion of e-rights and copyright law awareness. Several years ago, PWAC created CanCopy, a separate entity aimed at collecting royalties from libraries, educational institutions, copy establishments (such as Kinko's); these royalties are distributed to registered CanCopy members to help alleviate the loss of revenue from so many people photocopying their work.
PWAC's website is a great resource for writers, employers and anyone looking for information about copyright: http://www.pwac.ca.
While individual chapters hold in-person meetings and workshops, possibly the biggest perk for members is the national mailing list, affectionately known as the L. Through this private e-mail list, members share experiences, ask and answer questions and offer up sources and inspiration. It's not uncommon to have a serious dilemma solved within minutes of posting to the L.
The 2001 PWAC AGM is being held at the beginning of June in Montreal.