ATA News and Activities
Broadcast Announcement
ATA Division Update: Italian Language Division News
ILD Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting of the Italian Language Division (ILD) was held on November 2, 2007, during the ATA 48th Annual Conference in San Francisco. At this meeting, I agreed to serve as Acting Administrator until a division election can be held in November 2008. Francesca Marchei has agreed to serve as Acting Assistant Administrator. At the time of the ILD Meeting, the division had 773 members.
Each ATA division offers its members a variety of services and resources. Here is an overview of the what the ILD offers:
ILD Website
The division hosts a website where you can download all previously published ILD newsletters. To access the site, click ATA Italian Language Division Website.
New ILD Forum on Google
The division has had a longstanding listserv managed by Marcello Napolitano on Yahoo! Groups. Many thanks to him for his longstanding dedication to the ILD.
Unfortunately, the list has not been active. In fact, less than half of the current ILD membership is enrolled. We need another meeting place.
Thanks to Marcello’s suggestion, we have created an ILD Google Group. A Google Group offers more features than our current Yahoo list. We will try to make this forum a more active place to exchange ideas on Italian<>English translation and interpreting. Francesca and I have volunteered to moderate these ILD group discussions.
To subscribe, click ATA Italian Language Division Google Group and follow the instructions to join. As your nickname, please enter your first and last name as recorded on your ATA membership card. This will enable the group moderators to verify that you are an ILD member.
ILD Newsletter
If you became a member of the division prior to July 2005, you might remember that Francesca and I edited an ILD newsletter. Lack of time has not allowed us to continue. The division needs an editor, ideally two – a native Italian speaker and a native English speaker. Chiara Giusti Castillo has already volunteered to take care of the newsletter layout.
If you are interested in volunteering your services as an editor, please email Francesca or me. There were several division members at the November ILD Annual Meeting who expressed some interest in serving as editors. We need you to contact us if you are still interested. As former editors, we are available to offer some guidance on creating this kind of newsletter. An honorarium of $200 per issue is available in appreciation of time volunteered.
ILD Distinguished Speakers for the ATA Annual Conference
Each ATA division has the choice of inviting two Distinguished Speakers to submit presentation proposals for the ATA Annual Conference. If these proposals are accepted by the Conference Organizer, ATA will offer some financial assistance towards their travel and hotel accommodations. The caveat is that to be eligible for any compensation, the Distinguished Speaker is required to give either two 90-minute presentations or one three-hour seminar and one 90-minute presentation.
This is a wonderful opportunity for ILD members and other conference attendees to hear a presentation from a renowned linguist. Francesca and I will work to make this happen for the ATA 49th Annual Conference in Orlando, FL (November 5-8, 2008). At the very least, we can lay down the foundation for inviting ILD Distinguished Speakers to the ATA 50th Annual Conference in New York City, NY (October 28-November 1, 2009).
What we need now are some concrete suggestions for who might be a good ILD Distinguished Speaker. While some possible presenters were suggested during the ILD Meeting in November, at this point we're looking for specific recommendations and contact information. If you have any ideas or suggestions for ILD Distinguished Speakers, please email one of us; just click Francesca or Roberto to send an email.
One Final Note
Interaction among ILD members is essential for our division to succeed and provide valuable member benefits. I invite you to join the ILD Google Group and participate as much as possible. All discussions on future activities of the Italian Language Division – as well as hopefully interesting discussions on translation and interpreting issues – will take place in this group forum.
Thanks for your attention. Please do not hesitate to give me feedback on what we can do together to make our division successful. I hope to meet you soon in the new ILD Google Group and, of course, at the ATA Annual Conference in Orlando next November.
Roberto Crivello
Acting Administrator
ATA Italian Language Division
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