From the President-Elect
Corrine McKay
corinne@translatewrite.com
San Francisco. Our 56th Annual Conference in Miami was a huge success by all measures, with higher than expected attendance: over 1,600 attendees from 52 countries. We anticipate an even larger crowd in San Francisco, making it a not-to-be-missed event for translators and interpreters around the world.
As usual, we have lots of exciting educational sessions, networking events, and special programs on tap for you. Our registration statistics tell us that about a third of our attendees are first-timers, while another third have attended more than five conferences. So, we aim to strike a balance. We offer sessions for translators and interpreters who are still finding their specializations and establishing a solid base of regular clients, as well as sessions for those who have been in the business for several decades and want to keep up with new developments in their specializations and business skills and network with other seasoned professionals.
At every Annual Conference we try to maintain and improve on the aspects of the conference that people love, while adding some new experiences and events to keep things fresh. This year, we’ve restyled the Wednesday before the conference as its own “mini-conference,” with in-depth and hands-on seminars by some of our most popular trainers from past conferences. This change will offer a much-needed opportunity for in-person training, and it also allows us to feature our Division Guest Speakers during the main conference, where all attendees can see them without paying an additional registration fee.
ATA President David Rumsey and I recently went to visit our host hotel for ATA57, the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. It’s the same hotel that hosted our very successful conference in 2007; just steps from the waterfront and the Ferry Building, with many restaurants and cafes right in the vicinity. Staying at the conference hotel is the best way to be in the heart of the action at the conference, and the hotel’s newly remodeled lobby (with a 20-story atrium!) and brand new lobby restaurant and bar are sure to be lively networking and social locations for attendees to ATA57. We anticipate that ATA’s room block will fill up quickly, so make sure to book your room as soon as you see our announcement!
I’m honored to be your president-elect and conference organizer, and we appreciate the support of every one of our 10,500+ members. Feel free to contact me with any suggestions you have for the conference, and a big thank you to our local host chapter, the mighty Northern California Translators Association, for all of the tips they’re compiling for the rest of us!
See you in San Francisco!