Getting Ready for #ATA67: Nine Things to Do Before You Land in San Francisco
ATA’s 67th Annual Conference takes place October 28-31, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco, and those four days will fly by. The attendees who get the most out of the conference are rarely the ones with the best luck; they’re the ones who did a little homework before boarding the plane.
Here are nine things you can do ahead of time so you arrive ready to learn, connect, and enjoy yourself.
1. Order paper business cards now
Yes, still. Paper cards remain the fastest way to close a conversation gracefully in a noisy hallway.
Order them early enough so that a printing delay doesn’t become a crisis, and bring more than you think you need. Pro tip: slip a few into the back pocket of your badge holder so you’re never digging through a bag mid-conversation. Consider adding a QR code that points to your website or LinkedIn profile: it makes it effortless for people to find you later.
Leave a little white space on the back, too. The note someone scribbles there is often what makes the card worth keeping.
2. Set up your electronic card as well
Not everyone will want paper cards, and you may run out. A digital business card (a QR code you can put on your phone) takes ten minutes to set up, and you will always have it with you.
Test it before you travel. Make sure that the link actually resolves, that it points to a page you’re proud of, and that you can pull it up in under five seconds.
3. Check the forecast (and pack layers)
San Francisco in late October is mild, but “mild” here means something specific: cool mornings, a bright afternoon, fog rolling back in around dinnertime, and wind off the bay. Plus, the Hyatt Regency sits right on the Embarcadero, where that wind is very much a thing. Highs usually hover in the 60s Fahrenheit and drop into the 50s after dark.
The practical takeaway: layers. A jacket or wrap you can put on and take off all day will serve you better than any single “perfect” outfit. Check the forecast the week before you travel and bring comfortable shoes: you will walk far more than you expect, both inside the venue and out.
Meeting rooms, meanwhile, have their own climate. Some are chilly, some are warm, and you won’t know which is which until you sit down.
4. Think about what you’ll wear each day
The unofficial ATA dress code is business casual, with a wide range of interpretation. Some attendees wear suits; many don’t. You’ll be comfortable in slacks or a skirt with a blazer or a smart sweater. Nothing here requires a new wardrobe.
Two things worth planning for: first, Thursday and Friday tend to be slightly dressier, especially if you’re presenting, attending the Job Fair, or hoping to meet agency representatives. Second, Saturday is a different animal: sessions run all day, but many attendees check out of their rooms that morning and head straight to the airport afterward. Travel-friendly clothing is common on Saturday. Just remember that the Closing Session and the ATA67 Dance Away happen Saturday evening, so if you’re staying through, pack accordingly.
The one rule that matters: if what you’re wearing makes you self-conscious, it will get in the way of your networking. Choose comfort you can stand up in for twelve hours.
5. Prepare your elevator speech, then practice it out loud
An elevator speech is a short, ready-made introduction you can deliver in the time it takes to ride a few floors. ATA has an excellent guide(opens in new tab) to writing one. Here’s the short version of the guide: a good elevator speech runs about 90 words, leads with the value you provide rather than your job title, and sounds like something a human being would actually say.
Write yours, then say it aloud until it stops sounding memorized. Record yourself if you can bear it. Ninety words is shorter than you think.
6. Ask before you pitch
Here’s the part that turns a speech into a conversation: find out who you’re talking to first.
“Where are you visiting from?” or “What brings you to this session?” takes three seconds and changes everything that follows. What you say to a colleague in your own language pair is not what you’d say to an agency project manager, a fellow freelancer looking for a collaborator, or a student attending their first conference. Same core message—different emphasis, different level of detail, different closing.
Networking is a two-way street. Have a few open-ended questions ready alongside your pitch: “What session are you most looking forward to?” or “How long have you been in the profession?” work far better than “So, what do you do?”
7. Build your agenda before you arrive
Review the full agenda(opens in new tab) and the Schedule at a Glance(opens in new tab) in advance and download the conference app as soon as ATA makes it available. Add the sessions that interest you to your personal schedule.
Don’t worry about schedule conflicts. Scheduling two or three sessions in the same time slot isn’t a mistake, it’s a good strategy. You’ll walk in, get a feel for the room, and sometimes discover that the session you almost skipped is the one you needed. Having a backup already saved means you’re not scrolling through the program in the hallway.
Build in some empty time, too. The hallway conversation that runs long is frequently the best part of the day.
8. Look up who’s coming, and reach out first
Once the attendee list is live in the app, spend twenty minutes browsing it. Look for people in your language pair, your specialization, your region, or your division. Look for the speakers whose sessions you’ve saved.
If you find someone you would like to meet, you could send a short message through the app: explain who you are, why you’d like to meet, and offer a concrete suggestion. “I’ll be at the Thursday coffee break. Would you like to say hello?” is far easier to answer than “Let’s connect sometime.”
A handful of these sent a week ahead of time can transform your first morning from wandering into a room full of strangers to walking in with two appointments already on the books.
9. Update your ATA profile
People will look you up during the conference and after it. Make sure what they find is current.
Check your listing in the ATA Directory(opens in new tab) and your profile in the conference app: current photo, current language pairs, current specializations, working contact information. If writing about yourself makes you feel uncomfortable, ATA’s Writing Your Public Profile(opens in new tab) walks you through it.
While you’re at it, do the same for your LinkedIn profile and your website. The conference generates a lot of “who was that person I met on Friday?” searches, and you want the answer to be findable.
Last, but not least: come to Buddies Welcome Newbies
If this is your first or second ATA conference, put Wednesday, October 28 at 4:45 p.m. on your calendar right now. Buddies Welcome Newbies pairs first-time attendees with experienced conference-goers who will answer your questions, share tips, and give you a friendly face to look for in the hallways. It happens right before the Welcome Reception, so it’s the ideal way to start the week. Even if you didn’t sign up when you registered, come anyway.
Do the preparation: print the cards, save the sessions, write the pitch, and then walk in ready to be surprised by the conversation you didn’t plan.
See you in San Francisco.
About the Author
María Paula Plazas is an ATA-certified English-to-Spanish translator and the founder of MediVerba(opens in new tab), a medical translation company specializing in clinical trials, health insurance, and employee benefits. Paula served as administrator and assistant administrator of ATA’s Medical Division from 2021-2025, and was the recipient of ATA’s Rising Star award in 2023. Paula is a seasoned speaker and enjoys sharing tools and resources with the translation community through her blog(opens in new tab) and social media(opens in new tab).