Q. I am editing the program for our upcoming conference. We’re using commas to separate name, degree, job title, professional affiliation. This is fairly simple when there is one speaker with one affiliation (Presented by Donald Duck, Vice President, Duck Enterprises). However, it’s less straightforward when I’ve got multiple speakers with multiple affiliations and degrees: Donald Duck, Vice President, Duck Enterprises; Minnie Mouse, Chief Financial Officer, Mouse, Inc.; Jiminy Cricket, PhD, President, WishUponAStar, LLC and Professor, Dream Big University; and Elmer Fudd, President, PuddyTatt & Sons. What is the appropriate way to address this?
A. You could use parentheses: Donald Duck (Vice President, Duck Enterprises), Minnie Mouse (Chief Financial Officer, Mouse, Inc.), Jiminy Cricket, PhD (President, WishUponAStar, LLC; Professor, Dream Big University), and Elmer Fudd (President, PuddyTatt & Sons). Or you could make a vertical list:
Donald Duck, Vice President, Duck Enterprises
Minnie Mouse, Chief Financial Officer, Mouse, Inc.
Jiminy Cricket, PhD, President, WishUponAStar, LLC; Professor, Dream Big University
Elmer Fudd, President, PuddyTatt & Sons