From the President-Elect
Veronika Demichelis
veronika@veronikademichelis.com
I think many of us (myself included) are still abuzz with excitement and gratitude for the opportunity to meet in Los Angeles at our Annual Conference. ATA63 was one for the books! After a few challenging years, we finally had a fully in-person conference again—and it was a truly unforgettable feeling. The energy of 1,100 attendees was invigorating, and it sure felt like a pre-pandemic conference! Thanks so much to all of you who joined our reunion in LA and for being part of this experience. I’m especially grateful to our 200+ first-time attendees—I’m so happy you joined us! We had our biggest turnout ever at the Buddies Welcome Newbies event, and I hope everyone felt welcomed and enjoyed your first ATA conference.
I really appreciated the warm welcome of our co-hosts, the Northern California Translators Association and the Association of Translators and Interpreters in the San Diego Area, who were there for us throughout the conference to help answer questions and share tips about the LA area.
I would also like to extend a big thanks to the ATA63 sponsors, including our Gold Sponsors—Pixelogic Media Partners, Trados, Translated, and WordFast—and our Bronze Sponsors—Alliant Insurance Services and TransPerfect. Also, thanks to all our exhibitors—check out their information on the ATA63 website!
Of course, ATA63 wouldn’t have been possible without our volunteers: Division Leadership Councils, session reviewers, event hosts, volunteers applying for approval for continuing education credits, speakers, and many other key volunteers. Thank you so much for your dedication and hard work.
And finally, but perhaps most importantly, thank you to our amazing ATA Headquarters staff and especially Professional Development Manager Adrian Aleckna. The staff are the people behind the scenes, processing your registrations, creating the conference schedule, updating the conference website, ordering badges, sending out daily conference emails and alerts, answering everyone’s questions—and taking care of every little detail. We truly appreciate all their hard work to make our conference great and making it possible for us to meet year after year.
I apologize for the technical problems we had with the conference app this year. I know this was frustrating, and I can assure you that we’ll address all the issues with our app vendor. In the meantime, the desktop version of the app is available, and ATA63 attendees can still peruse it to connect with others. A big thanks to all those who completed the session surveys and the Overall Conference Survey. Your feedback is invaluable. By sharing your thoughts, you become a part of the conference planning team for next year.
It’s hard to pick just a few highlights from ATA63! From the unforgettable Welcome Celebration on an outdoor terrace to the buzzing session hallways, smiles and hugs all around, a fantastic selection of educational sessions, the energy of networking sessions, and the bittersweet moment of watching the conference recap video, this year’s Annual Conference was very special. I’m so grateful we had this opportunity to meet in person at last. The inspiration, excitement, and connections will be long lasting—until we meet again next year!
Looking Ahead to ATA64
It’s my pleasure to serve as the conference organizer again for ATA’s 64th Annual Conference, October 25-28, 2023. We’re already hard at work planning next year’s reunion, and I can’t wait to see everyone in Miami, Florida, at the Hyatt Regency Miami!
As ATA Treasurer John Milan and President Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo shared in their statements during the Annual Meeting of All Members, it’s time for ATA to rethink our conference model. We want to make sure our Annual Conference is financially sustainable and offers a great experience to all our attendees—both those who are new to ATA and those who attend every conference. In the coming months, we’ll be discussing how to revamp our conference events and try some new ideas. We’ll be visiting the conference hotel soon and I’ll be sharing updates about what to expect at ATA64 in my future columns. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, I hope you’ll consider submitting a conference proposal this year. The call for proposals for ATA’s 64th Annual Conference will be out in January, so it’s time to start planning your proposal! (See the link in the sidebar and watch “How to Submit a Successful ATA Annual Conference Proposal” to learn more about developing and submitting a proposal for this event. It’s free!)
If you have any questions or feedback, or if you would like to help organize ATA64, please feel free to email me at president-elect@atanet.org.
Useful Links
ATA63 Video Recap
ATA63 Photo Gallery
ATA63 Sponsors
ATA63 Exhibitors
ATA63 App (login required)
ATA63 Website
ATA64 Video Promo
How to Submit a Successful ATA Annual Conference Proposal
Northern California Translators Association
Association of Translators and Interpreters in the San Diego Area