Together, the event fostering good working relationships between freelance translators and Language Service Companies

THE EVENT

This week, I participated in Elia Together, the annual conference organized by the European not-for-profit association for the language services industry (Elia), which brings together independent professionals and language companies, providing a venue for both parties to come together for open discussion and constructive dialogue. When I heard about the event in 2020 from my ATA mentor, Steve Lank, I bookmarked it in my calendar right away! Although the majority of the customers I serve are direct clients, I don’t deny the role and place of agencies in the language services ecosystem. Since I’ve been freelance, I have made it a priority to work with a handful, developing good working relationships based on mutual respect and transparent dialogue.

In an industry accustomed to remote working, what’s the appeal of another online event?

It’s been ages since I attended an in-person translation conference since for translators, working remotely is the rule and not the exception. There are many different opportunities online for learning and staying abreast of industry developments. While I interact quite frequently with other translators locally through events organized by the French Translators Association (SFT), I was thrilled to be able to attend one that focused on creating a space for freelancers to meet and interact with agencies. I chose to sign up for Elia Together because of its promise of real-time interaction—each day on the conference schedule dedicated half of the total time to breaks between presentations and dedicated networking.

THE PRESENTATIONS

The conference itself proposed two tracks, or themes, with the overall purpose being to “discuss the best partnership strategies in the rapidly evolving scenario”. Track A discussed Best Practices for freelancers and LSPs, while Track B looked ahead to trends and tools of interest to both audiences. Having to make a choice between the rich content offered by each track was tough, but the recordings yet to come and the possibility of viewing presentations again after the conference close was another reason that made attending worthwhile.

A peek into the Elia Together at Home agenda

The keynote presentation by Sarah Bawa Mason revolved around a priority topic in the language sector, communicating our true value better. What stuck with me is the idea that affirming the role and value of humans in our profession (as opposed to machines taking over), and unified discourse (amongst stakeholders as well as individuals like me) on that value are essential to making it known and accepted. At one point the question of whether translation is a profession or a service arose. Food for thought, perhaps for a future post…

I also attended a session by John O’Shea of Jurtrans presenting findings from research on liability entitled “LSPs: liable/not liable for legal translations?”, which followed up on a previous presentation exploring freelancer liability. Though I do very little translation in this field, my business does hold an active policy so that in any event, myself and my customers can rest assured. This presentation also led me to wonder more about translator recourse to limiting liability in agreements with language service companies, and how both parties can do their part to prevent claims. One tip was shared that I find to always be good practice, which is briefing the translator on the project (why a document is being translated, the intended audience, and so forth).

THE TECHNOLOGY

The 2021 edition of this event was held using two scalable platforms which, when combined, really gave participants the best of both worlds—the real and the virtual.

The best of both (virtual and real) worlds

Participants were given access to the virtual event on Pathable about a week prior. This allowed me to familiarize myself with the interface, take a look at the sponsor list and Together Fair exhibitors, create my profile and view those of other attendees, as well as to take advantage of contacting them to set up meetings ahead of time via my favorite video conferencing tool. The Pathable webapp becomes its own capsule event community, where discussion takes place on forums and via PM, with schedule information and help desk all at your fingertips.

From February 24-26, the event opened in the afternoons (CET) online through Remo, with plenary and breakout rooms for presentations and a lounge where attendees could hang out and have informal meetings.

One of the most surprising effects of using Remo was the sensation of “teleporting” oneself from table to table, or even room/floor. As a user, you could easily see which tables were having active discussions by checking the participant photos—if the camera icon appeared, that meant the person had their camera activated and it was more likely that you could strike up a conversation.

Remo also hosted the speaker presentations and attendees could watch these by clicking on the screens in the upper portion of the room layout. As with most internet-dependent tools, at times there are technical issues, but during my experience, there were none so dissuasive as to make me lose patience and leave the event.

MY PERSONAL TAKEAWAYS

As amazed as I was with my experience of the EDF Electric Days event in December, Remo is the best virtual event platform I’ve tested to date due to ease of use and interaction. It really made connecting feel more natural, and it’s the closest I’ve come to feeling like I’m attending a live, in-person conference after more than a year of cancelled, rescheduled or online events where I felt more like a spectator.

Through it, I made connections with new potential partners without the inconveniences that travel can represent, or without blocking off entire days to stay flexible and available to clients.

Elia Together at Home truly delivered what it promised: an opportunity to network with peers and vendor managers and exchange with professionals in the industry. As my first online event of 2021, it boosted my motivation to get out into the virtual networking world and gave the rest of the events on my schedule quite the experience to live up to.

Many thanks to organizers, speakers, Elia members and fellow attendees for an enjoyable conference.

Interested in meeting?

If you attended Elia Together, but we did not manage to connect during the event, let’s pick a time for a coffee break in the next few days 😊

Do you work with a language service company? If you think my experience and specializations could be a good fit for your clients, drop me a line and let’s talk.

Links of interest:

https://elia-association.org/

https://www.atanet.org/mentoring/

https://pathable.com/

https://remo.co/