Conferences (Not Just) on Translation

Fall is typically marked by conferences. This includes both our client conferences where our interpreters work and conferences organized in our own industry, dedicated to news surrounding translation, interpreting and localization.

As a member of elia, there was no way we were going to miss the association’s flagship event, especially since it was held “just round the corner”. elia Networking Days, which took place on 4 and 5 October in Vienna, provided an opportunity to meet and get to know representatives from other translation companies with whom we could share knowledge and experience. Topics that were covered included IT, GDPR, interpreting, business strategies, and many others. Social and networking events are indispensable for any conference and this event was crowned with a gala dinner on top of Kahlenberg Hill, offering magnificent views of the city. We began using contacts we made almost immediately after the conference when assigning jobs for less common European languages such as Estonian and Lithuanian. See a conference photo gallery here.

Every year, we attend the annual Jeronýmovy dny (St. Jerome’s Days) organized by the Czech Union of Interpreters and Translators. The venue and accompanying events are not as ornate, but the program is worth checking out. Moreover, it is a good opportunity to meet old friends from the industry. On Saturday, November 3, we made sure to attend lectures on GDPR for Translators, Multilingualism and Conference Interpreting, and The Future of the Translator and Interpreter Professions. In the last lecture, an idea was put forth by the speaker that “...translators will not be replaced by technology, but by translators who use technology”.

For five years in a row, the European Commission has organized the Translating Europe Forum in Brussels. This year’s edition was held between 8 and 9 November and the theme was Translation in the Age of Data. Translators working with data – data working for translators. Indeed, data in translation was covered from all possible angles. In the conference, we learned that machine translation is not necessarily a bad thing. It is important to see it as an “alternative to zero translation” and as such, it opens doors to other translations and, actually, brings more work. The main thought was uttered by the keynote speaker, Dutch philosopher Karim Benammaar in his paper entitled Reframing Translation.

And because life is not just about translations, the last event of 2018 was the lifestyle conference Women@Work addressing the issue of Work-Life Blend. It was organized by Marie Claire magazine and took place in the Four Seasons Hotel in Prague. Our boss had a great time there as you can see  in the photo gallery.

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