Dear Colleagues:

2017 was a great year for many of us. Quite a few of you developed professionally and became better at what you do. I congratulate you for that important achievement; unfortunately, competitors are still out there, languages are still changing, technology continues to improve, and clients (agencies or direct corporations) will pay for what they need but are looking for the best service at the best price.  The question is: How do we adapt to reality, keep up with technology, and improve our service?  The answer is complex and it includes many issues that must be addressed.  Like every January, at the dawn of a new year, the time for planning activities, and programming agendas, we will concentrate on one of them: Professional development.

It is practically impossible to beat the competition, command a high professional fee, and have a satisfied client who does not want to have anything to do with any other interpreter but you, unless you can deliver quality interpreting and state-of-the-art technology.  We need to be better interpreters.  We must study, we must practice our craft, we should have a peer support network (those colleagues you call when in doubt about a term, a client or grammar) and we must attend professional conferences.

I find immense value in professional conferences because you learn from the workshops and presentations, you network with colleagues and friends, and you discover what is happening out there in the very competitive world of interpreting.  Fortunately there are many professional conferences all year long and all over the world.  Fortunately (for many of us) attending a professional conference is tax deductible in our respective countries.  Unfortunately there are so many attractive conferences and we must choose where to go.   I understand that some of you may attend one conference per year or maybe your policy is to go to conferences offered near your home base. I also know that many of you have professional agendas that may keep you from attending a particular event even if you wanted to be there.  I applaud all organizations and individuals who put together a conference. I salute all presenters and support staff that makes a conference possible, and I wish I could attend them all.

Because this is impossible, I decided to share with all of you the 2018 conferences I am determined to attend. In other years I have attended more conferences than the ones on my list, last-minute changing circumstances and personal commitments let me go to events I had not planned to attend at the beginning of the year.

As of today, the conferences I plan to attend this year are:

The Association of Translators and Interpreters of Florida (ATIF), ATA Spanish Language Division (SPD) and Florida International University (FIU) “In Miami Spring Into Action” in Miami, Florida, (March 16-18). I will attend this conference because of the program they have put together with top-notched presenters, interesting topics, and the college environment of FIU’s campus.  If you are a Spanish language interpreter, translator, proof-reader, linguist, teacher, or you just love Spanish, this is an event impossible to miss.

Congreso XV Aniversario Asetrad in Zaragoza, Spain, (May 18-20). I always attend Asetrad’s congress because it does not happen every year, which gives me plenty of time to plan ahead since I live in the United States, and because it allows me to listen to some of the best presenters from a country with such rich tradition on interpreting and translating as Spain. Those of us who live in the Americas should take advantage of these events where we get to see and hear presenters who do not travel to the events in the Americas. I also enjoy the invaluable experience of learning about the problems my colleagues are facing across the Atlantic, and hopefully learn from the strategy they resorted to solve a problem that could be similar (sometimes identical) to a situation we may be fighting in the United States at this time. I hope that my Spanish speaking colleagues from the Americas travel to Zaragoza for this exciting event.

The International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI) Annual Conference in Valencia, Spain (September 29-30).  I go to this conference because it is IAPTI. Because it is about us, the interpreters and translators! This conference, and this organization presents a unique viewpoint of our profession I consider priceless.  It is the only international conference of this size where there are no corporate sponsors. All you see is translators and interpreters like you.  Some results of this innovative approach are that the conference attracts a very important group of colleagues that stay away from other events because they are bothered by the corporate presence.  This is the conference to attend if you want to learn how to deal with agencies, corporate clients and governments, because the absence of all those other players fosters this dialogue.  You can attend the presentations and workshops knowing that no presenter is there to sell you anything and that is fun to have at least once a year.  See you all in Valencia!

American Translators Association ATA 59 Conference in New Orleans, LA (October 24-27).Every year, the American Translators Association puts the biggest show on earth.  More presentations to choose from, more attendees, more opportunities to network, and wonderful NOLA! I enjoy attending ATA conferences because of the variety, organization, and the many friends and colleagues I get to see every year. However, to take advantage of the conference without being exposed to the many predators that attend every year in the form of agencies, vendors, and “well-intentioned colleagues”, I pick my activities very carefully and never losing sight of the obvious presence of those who want to destroy our profession and turn it into an industry of commodities. With that warning, go to New Orleans and enjoy the conference, jazz and cuisine.

XXII Translation and Interpreting Congress San Jerónimo (FIL/OMT) in Guadalajara, Mexico (November 24-25) Every year the Mexican Translators Association (OMT) puts together a magnificent program featuring well-known presenters from all over the world. Coming from a very successful sold-out XXI Congress, the 2018 edition will have workshops and presentations in varied, useful, and trending topics. This is the activity to attend this year for those colleagues who work with the Spanish language.  Extra added bonus: The Congress is held in the same venue (Expo Guadalajara) and at the same time as the International Book Fair, one of the largest in the Spanish language world. Besides the professional sessions, attendees can also stroll up and down the immense fairgrounds, purchase books, listen to some or the most renowned authors in the world, or just window shop between sessions.

I know the choice is difficult, and some of you may have reservations about professional gatherings like the ones I covered above.  I also know of other very good conferences all over the world, some of the best are local, regional, and national events; others are specialized conferences tailored to a certain field of our profession. I would love to attend many but I cannot. Some of you will probably read this post in a group or website of an association whose conference I will not attend this year, you will probably see me at other conferences not even mentioned here; that is likely. To those I cannot attend this year: I wish you success and productive conferences.  Remember, the world of interpreting is more competitive every day and you will need an edge to beat the competition.  That advantage might be what you learned at one conference, or whom you met while at the convention.  Please kindly share your thoughts and let us know what local, national or international conference or conferences you plan to attend in 2018.

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