at the University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, W1B 2UW
An all-day event with talks and hands-on workshops on a variety of marketing-related subjects, including: - marketing yourself as a freelance translator or interpreter - website dos and don’ts - a practical workshop on how to write good promotional copy - assertiveness and negotiation skills.
This workshop will be of interest to both established translators and those new to the profession and will cover all aspects of marketing yourself and ensuring you don’t sell your services under value.
Speakers: Heidi Kerschl MITI
Heidi’s talk is entitled: “From minor to major: Successful marketing strategies for translators”. Her blog: http://heidikerschl.blogspot.com
Keren Lerner
Keren Lerner is a website designer and usability expert and runs a website agency called Top Left Design – http://www.topleftdesign.com
Eamonn O’Rourke
Since 1975 Eamonn has worked at most of the top advertising agencies in London, New York and the Middle East. He has worked as both copywriter and art director and has been involved in diverse media from direct mail to TV and radio, winning awards in all of these areas.
Philippa Hammond MITI.
Philippa Hammond MCIL MITI is a freelance translator based in London. Philippa is running a workshop on client relationships and assertiveness.
Cost for the full day is £25 for LRG members, £35 for non-LRG-members. This includes all refreshments and a light lunch.
Cost: £21 for a 3-course meal + coffee/tea.
This year’s LRG Pub Crawl will take us to Belgravia. We'll meet in our first pub, the Wilton Arms (51 Kinnerton Street), at 6pm. The nearest Underground Stations are Hyde Park Corner and Knightsbridge.
Our second pub is the Nag's Head (53 Kinnerton Street) and then the Star Tavern (6 Belgrave Mews West). All of these pubs serve food. We will be staying an hour in each pub so you can order food in whichever one you would like. However, please do not order food 15 minutes before we are due to leave for the next pub. You would have to catch up with us as we will not wait.
If we feel like moving on to yet another pub, we can go to the Grenadier (18 Wilton Row) for a nightcap.
Increasingly, freelance translators and interpreters are advised that
specialisation is the key to success in a highly competitive marketplace. This
applies in particular to translators and interpreters working into or out of
major European languages, who have to compete with many other colleagues working
with the same language pair.
So, how do you go about specialisation when you don’t have a specialist field
to start with? How do you choose your specialism and find your niche? These and
other questions will be addressed by our panel of speakers, and questions from
the floor will be encouraged to make this an interactive and lively event.
Our panellists include mentors on the ITI Professional Support Group, which has
a module dedicated to the issue of specialisation.
The event is free for LRG members, (£10 for non-members).
Bob Symonds has offered to organise a visit to Eltham Palace, one of South-East
London’s hidden architectural gems for either Tuesday 5th or Wednesday 6th
May.
Tickets normally cost £8.20 (£6.60 concessions), but a group discount applies
for groups of 11 or more, bringing the price down to £6.97 per head (£5.61
concessions). Admission is free for English Heritage members.
Havila Peck and Ann Pattison will talk about the benefits of Westminster
University’s Open Access modules, the part-time courses recently advertised in
ITI Bulletin, and explain the registration process. Philippe Galinier will then
talk in more detail about the Sci/Tech module, which he recently completed.
This will be followed by a presentation by Doug Lawrence and software developer
Istvan Lengl about the translation memory package MemoQ.
Ana Luiza Iaria and Peter Linton will give an overview of the latest productivity-enhancing software packages and address some issues translators may encounter with incoming file formats.
The event is free to LRG members, (£10 to non-members). Please note, however, that booking is essential!
One of our popular LRG Dining-out evenings is planned for September. This event is now organised by Lorna Sandler. Further details will be sent to all LRG members by email nearer the time.
Yilmaz, our Interpreters’ Representative, and his wife, Hannan, have kindly offered to host a garden party at their home in South Woodford. A full Turkish barbecue and soft drinks will be provided. For alcoholic drinks, please bring your own. Numbers are limited, so please book early avoid disappointment!
This year’s LRG Pub Crawl will take place in the Fleet Street area. A specialist guide will show us around some of the most famous and interesting haunts of this area. Do join us for this annual highlight of the LRG events calendar!
Venue: upstairs room of the Norfolk Arms pub, 28 Leigh Street, London WC1H 9EP (corner of Sandwich Street).
This workshop will give you the opportunity to practise the craft of writing and show you how this can improve the quality of your translations. Writing is like a muscle that has to be exercised: the more you write, the better your writing will be.
Ann Pattison, a freelance translator and writer, as well as a lecturer at the University of Westminster, will teach us some of the tricks of the writer’s trade. If time allows, there will be a hands-on session in which you will be encouraged to write to a stimulus.
at the University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW (nearest tube: Oxford Circus)
The conference will give a complete overview of interpreting work. Speakers will be drawn from the full spectrum of the interpreting world – from conference and business interpreting to diplomatic interpreting, interpreting for the tourism industry, health interpreting and, of course, police & court interpreting. There will also be a session on interpreters’ aids and gizmos.
The conference fee for the whole day, including lunch and refreshments, is £15 for LRG members, £25 for non-LRG members.
This is the third ‘Meet the Client’ event organised by LRG – following its sell-out success last time (in February 2006) now at a bigger venue. Representatives from four translation companies will explain what they are looking for in freelance translators and describe some of the dos and don’ts of approaching translation companies for freelance work. Companies represented this time will include Atlas Translations, Choice Language Services (tbc), Comtec and Dora Wirth Languages.
The event is free to LRG members, £5 to non-members.
This event will qualify as CPD.
Alan Wheatley, ITI General Secretary, and Amanda Conrad, ITI representative on the joint ITI/CIoL committee setting the criteria for admission as Chartered Linguist, will present the new Chartered Linguist category and provide information as to how people might work towards and apply for Chartered Linguist status. The meeting will take place in an informal setting and there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions. However, please note that numbers are limited. Please book now to avoid disappointment! Food and drink are available at the downstairs bar, before the event.
The event is free to LRG members, £5 for non-members.
Changes in technology affect workflows and the way things are done in publishing and other written media. Increasingly, as translators, we are
faced with strange and unfamiliar file formats. Our speaker, Nick Rosenthal, will explain some of the changes that are going on in the world of technical
authoring, discussing issues such as content management systems, XML workflows, DITA and DocBook.
Already, we have had to learn to cope with pdf file conversion though many of us are still struggling even with this. What other new developments are
on the horizon? And how can we best prepare for them?
Nick Rosenthal is Managing Director of Salford Translations Ltd, and one of the mentors on the ITI Peer Support Group. Nick will talk us through the
latest developments on the IT front, focusing in particular on technical documentation and other fields that are especially relevant to the
translation industry.
Where: Hammersmith Lower Mall, 5 minutes walk from Hammersmith tube station. Right by Hammersmith Bridge (north side).
See Photo Archive for report and pics of this event.
Speakers will include Alan Wheatley, ITI General Secretary, to talk about the new ITI membership category of Public Service Interpreter.
Peter Linton, Pamela Mayorcas and Betti Moser will report back from the ITI Conference. For LRG members who were unable to attend the conference themselves this will provide an opportunity to get a flavour of the event and give an overview of the excellent presentations. For those of you who were there, this may still be of interest in terms of giving everyone a chance to reflect and discuss some of the issues raised.
Venue: upstairs function room of Edgar Wallace pub
These days there are many web sites catering for translators and interpreters. They provide useful business benefits - you can look for jobs, advertise your services, check out agencies, ask for help on difficult words, etc. They are particularly useful for novice translators. If you are not familiar with them, or want to understand what they can offer you, come along!
Peter Linton will talk about how to get the best from online translator forums, such as ProZ, Aquarius, and others. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.This event qualifies for CPD. For more about CPD, see www.iti.org.uk/
Cost: free for LRG members £5 for non-LRG members (so why not join LRG first, then it's free)
PDF file of slides used in the talk
List of some websites:
An excellent buffet, mince pies and mulled wine awaited us once again this year. A splendid reward for sitting through the brief but worthwhile AGM.
ITI had a stand at the show and members of LRG were invited to join the ITI exhibition crew. Turned out to be very busy. Lots of people, it seems, want to become translators and/or interpreters. All the more reason for attending LRG events and filling up your CPD.
Fabulous view over London by night, with a knowledgeable guide.
Then we dine out at a charming Italian restaurant near London Bridge.
A workshop on the recording of terminology in the context of day-to-day translation work and its efficient retrieval for subsequent translations.
How to select terms, what is worth noting, what is not? Where to note terms, on paper, on cards, in a dictionary, in a Word or Excel file? What data do you add, gender, part of speech, examples of use?
Details, timetable, biographies of speakers ( PDF file)
Speakers: Magdi Abbas, former Chairman of the Association of Police and Court Interpreters and lead interpreter at the Lockerbie Trial, and Susie Kershaw FITI, commercial interpreter and language consultant.
In negotiation – be it in court or in business – the interpreter is often the key link between the different parties involved. Among other things, this role requires an awareness of and sensitivity to cultural differences.
topAnother one of the LRG's fabulous Dining-out experiences arranged by Sarah Venkata. top
Dulwich Picture Gallery houses one of the world's most important collections of European old master paintings of the 1600s and 1700s. The collection is also one of the oldest in Great Britain, substantially put together in the years 1790 to 1795. For further information about Dulwich Gallery please see www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk top
A chance to ask all those questions you would love to put to your clients and agencies. And an opportunity to find out what translation companies are looking for in a freelance. Speakers are Heidi Kerschl of Salford Translations and Gillian Hargreaves of Zebra Translations, both experienced freelance translators themselves, with many years of working for a translation company and commissioning freelance work. They will be joined by Tim Langridge of Temple Translations and a representative from Atlas Translations. A question-and-answer session will follow the individual presentations. top
CILT, the National Centre for Languages is the Government’s recognised centre of expertise on languages. The organisation’s mission is to promote a greater capability in languages amongst all sectors of the UK population.
They are kindly hosting a session arranged by the ITI London Regional Group, which focuses for a change on the business and organisational aspects of translation.
At CILT, 20 Bedfordbury, London WC2N 4LB No charge top
Map of CILT location in Central London : http://www.cilt.org.uk/where.htm
Following the success of the E-Business Workshop held in January 2005 ('Driving Traffic to your Website'), we have asked E-Business to run another one of their free workshops for us. This time, the subject is not only relevant for marketing purposes, but also for the many amongst us who need to translate website content as part of our work.
Research shows that many thousands of pounds spent on an internet presence are often wasted because text is simply not 'user-friendly'. Writing for the web is very different from writing for hard copy. This workshop covers:
- what writing for the web can achieve for a small business
- how people read online content differently to hard copy
- practical exercises
- seven steps to planning a website writing task.
This is a free workshop and will be held at :
London Metropolitan University, Moorgate Campus, Room MG1-17 (Upper Hall).
Map of Moorgate Campus : http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/student-handbook/addresses.cfm
At the Hoop & Toy pub, 34 Thurloe Place, SW7 Nearest tube: South Kensington
As is the tradition, the LRG¹s AGM is followed by our Christmas jolly. This time we are trying out a new venue, the Hoop & Toy pub near South Kensington tube station. As usual, there will be a buffet and mince pies.
At Imperial College, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, Mechanical Engineering Building, Lecture Theatre 542
LRG are extremely proud to announce this event with Yves Champollion, the creator of the popular translation memory software Wordfast. Yves will present the software package and answer questions.
The event is free for LRG members, students at Imperial College and participants of the last Wordfast one-day workshop at Imperial College (18 June 05).
Mind your backs! advice and information from Chartered Physiotherapist, Diana Wilson
At the Edgar Wallace Pub, 40 Essex Street, London WC2
A People Bank event, in which members and visitors will hear Diana Wilson, of Physio-on-the-River describe the best way to lay out your office, PC and other equipment, in order to reduce back and neck strain. Diana has written extensively on this subject and will be offering advice on posture, equipment and useful exercises.
Diana worked in industry for many years before setting up her own Barnes-based clinic which offers general and sports physiotherapy, Pilates, video analysis and rehabilitation.
The LRG People Bank is also an opportunity for meeting and exchanging information with fellow LRG members and visitors.
Benefit from a 10% discount on all books and products at our favourite foreign language bookshop. This is followed by:
University Women's Club, 2 Audley Square (just off Curzon St.), London W1K 1DB
Intellectually stimulated after browsing the Grant & Cutler shelves, why not continue the evening by coming along to the next LRG Dines Out? This will be held in a charming building tucked away in a corner of Audley Square, Mayfair. This houses the University Women's Club, founded in 1886 by women students from Cambridge and London Universities. Today, the Club has well over a thousand (women) members but men are always welcome guests. And so, too, on this occasion!
Dress Code: smart
Price: £25 per person, 1 glass of wine and service charge.
This year¹s LRG pub crawl will double up as a country walk in the Mole Valley. We start at the Swan Public House in Claygate. The more energetic party will set off at 6pm to take the longer (and more picturesque) route, while the less energetic party can linger and then take a shorter route, which can easily be done in 45 minutes. Both parties will meet up again at approximately 7.45pm at the Prince of Wales, West End Green, where meals are available to replenish our energies. At about 9pm (while still daylight) we will start walking back for an optional call at the Swan or another pub in Claygate. If it¹s raining, we¹ll abandon serious walking and stick to the Swan, Foley Arms and Griffin in Claygate.
Another great event organised by Lucy Eratt, our Cultural Events Organiser. We will meet at the Box Office Hall at 11.40am. Entrance tickets are: £12.00 adult, £6.80 child under 16, £8.00 senior citizens, £34 family ticket (2 adults, 3 children).
To get to Hampton Court, take a train from Waterloo Station (10.27am arriving at 11.02 or 10.57 arriving at 11.32 present timetable), cross the bridge and you are at the Palace gates, the Box Office is on the left hand side.
We shall visit the palace, have a walk in its beautiful gardens, have a coffee break and perhaps try the Maze (the famous Maze well-described and featured in Three Men in a Boat).
We are fortunate to have secured two excellent speakers for this event. The first speaker is Jane Streetly, Secretary of the UK and Ireland region of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), who has enormous experience of interpreting for organisations such as the UN, EU, FAO, ILO, WHO and IMO. Jane will be talking about the challenges facing the interpreting profession, and more importantly, the effect of the rise of Global English on Conference Interpreting.
Our second speaker is Josephine Bacon, one of the founder members of ITI and a very lively and engaging speaker. She will be giving us her views on the future of the interpreting profession, particularly with regard to public service interpreting, and sharing her wealth of experience with us. This promises to be an extremely informative and stimulating event and we look forward to meeting all our interpreter members there.
This event is free for LRG members and students of Metropolitan University, £3 for all others.
At the George & Devonshire pub (Function Room), Hogarth Roundabout, W4
Followed by:A workshop offered by the Inland Revenue to learn about all things to do with Income Tax, self-assessment, allowable expenses etc. This will be followed by lunch and then a guided tour of the nearby Fuller’s Brewery, finishing with a mini pub crawl and/or pub dinner afterwards. The tax workshop is free.
(two blocks from Oxford Street behind Selfridges (nearest tube Bond Street).
As a result of your responses about cultural events we are planning two visits -- the Wallace Collection in April, and a day out at Hampton Court later in the year. They are being organised by our Cultural Events Organiser, Lucy Eratt.
The Wallace Collection an intimate private collection, which not many people know about. It contains a fine collection of impressionists, and is well worth a visit. More about it at : http://www.wallacecollection.org
The exhibition is free. Just turn up at 3pm. If you are late, come in and join us.