What better year for Melanie Smith to be shortlisted for the Translator of the Year award than that of the Association of Translation Companies’ 40th anniversary celebration in London?
A regular attendee at the annual ATC conference, having followed the association around the country from Brighton to Manchester and now London, Head Translator Melanie Smith was delighted to be recognised for her outstanding achievements in the presence of esteemed colleagues from around the world. The ceremony itself was held at the gala dinner, which took place on the evening between the popular two-day summit on 22 and 23 September 2016. With dozens of nominations submitted in this coveted category, it was an achievement in itself for Melanie to have been shortlisted to the final three, let alone receive a special commendation from the judges.
But of course this wasn’t the only reason behind Anglicus’ attendance at the conference, as it also provided a fantastic opportunity to make new contacts, catch up with colleagues and learn more about our fast-paced industry. Jessica Rathke’s social media masterclass, for example, offered plenty of food for thought whilst also confirming we’re definitely taking the right approach with our online marketing strategy. Melanie’s constant stream of live tweets put us right at the top of the “Tweetwall” leaderboard in terms of the volume of people engaging with what we had to say, earning us an extra 70 followers in the process, so we must be doing something right (albeit with a nasty case of “texter’s thumb”)!
The summit covered topics as diverse as translation technologies, the impact of Brexit, ISO standards and exit strategies (not that we’re ready to throw the towel in just yet!), with a whole host of thought-provoking presentations, panel discussions and round tables. Who knows – we might even have been inspired enough to submit a paper of our own for next year! Here’s a selection of our favourite quotes and statistics from this year’s event – we’re sure you’ll like them too:
- Two thirds of the 49,000 translators and writers in the UK are women. – Konstantin Dranch
- Put yourself in a position to succeed. – Kimon Fountoukidis (Argos Multilingual)
- Decide. Plan. Act… in that order! – Benny Orr (Transperfect)
- Clients often don’t know the advantages of a tailored solution. Point them out and lead the way. – Claudia Di Lorenzo (MateCat)
- Only 6% of the internet is in English. – Claudia Di Lorenzo (MateCat)
- “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”? No – make changes before change happens to you. Be proactive and innovative! – Steve Chu (Treehouse Strategy)
- Feeling part of a team (and valued!) is so important – especially for freelancers! Keep people involved. – Antonio Tejada (Capita TI)
- Good translations come from processes with people at the centre. – Steve Chu (Treehouse Strategy)
- 1 minute of video has the same effect as 1.8 million words. – Helen Bowden (VoiceBox)
- People like people – not machines” – Helen Bowden (VoiceBox)
- Social media helps you punch above your weight. – Jessica Rathke (L10N Sales & Marketing)