Reactions to the ATA Conference in San Diego

     What did I do last weekend? Thanks for asking! I was able to attend the American Translators Association's annual conference on Saturday, October 27. Unfortunately I couldn't attend the event every day, but Saturday was well worth it. I felt like this was a very fun and valuable experience, so I wanted to share my reactions.

8:30-9:30 Essential Anatomy and Physiology for Judiciary Interpreters by Jennifer de la Cruz

I am not primarily an interpreter, yet I found this presentation to be very well structured, well presented, and interesting. I am currently finishing up my translation certificate at UCSD and working on a medical specialty, so it was interesting to compare the presenter's experiences and the information she gave us with the content of the course I am currently in. I feel like I learned a few great tips and a lot of good medical terminology. Jennifer de la Cruz also followed up immediately with the emailed materials she promised.

10:00-11:00 Creating a Website for Your Translation/Interpreting Business by Tess Whitty

This was another very good session. Tess Whitty executed a very nice presentation. I felt like I had figured a lot of it out on my own already, but I was glad to know that this is one of the websites that she recommends! I also took a few of her suggestions to heart, which you'll see in a few changes I have already made and planned to make to this website.

11:30-12:30 My Tijuana Family by Rogelio Camacho

 My favorite session! It was so FUN! The entire hour was devoted to Mexican slang, and Rogelio Camacho talked about each term and its meaning and context while we jotted down the English equivalents. It was fast, lively, and super interesting, and I now know that Abuelita de Batman! means Heck yeah! in Tijuana.

2:00-3:15 Machine Translation in Practice by Mike Dillinger

A couple of colleagues/friends and I decided to check this session out to see what the whole machine translation scene is about. Overall I found the presenter to be very knowledgeable and he did a superb job. It was nice to broaden my horizons a bit because I didn't even really know what post-editing was until after this session.

3:45-5:00 Improving Your Negotiation and Communication Skills as a Freelancer by Ioana Radoi

This was my second highlight of the day. I loved Ioana's style of deeply involving the audience. It turned into a sort of forum in which many different professionals in different stages of their careers shared tips with each other about getting work, pricing, and so much more. It was extremely informative, interesting, and fun!