| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | UK Regional Event - 22 November Thread poster: Russell Jones
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Russell Jones 
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:49
Italian to English
Given the enormous number of people "registered" for this event next month (240), I am puzzled that there is no forum discussion page (or at least one that I can find).
It would be helpful to have an idea of how many people have actually committed to attending rather than just putting their names on the mailing list.
There may also be people who would prefer alternative social events or informal arrangements to the £40 a head dinners (which apparently are very nearly... See more Given the enormous number of people "registered" for this event next month (240), I am puzzled that there is no forum discussion page (or at least one that I can find).
It would be helpful to have an idea of how many people have actually committed to attending rather than just putting their names on the mailing list.
There may also be people who would prefer alternative social events or informal arrangements to the £40 a head dinners (which apparently are very nearly fully subscribed in any event).
If I have missed something, I should be grateful for any pointers; if not, other comments would be welcome. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Jerzy Czopik
Germany
Local time: 08:49
Member (2003)
Polish to German
+ ...
| I'm going to be there | Oct 5, 2008 |
and booked the social events offered.
This is not a typical ProZ.com-conference, organised by us for us, but a different kind of conference. For our conferences we had a very lively exchange of informations, which was always very helpful. In this case there is no information, only the possibility to contact the organiser. However, this kind of information is only individual and so I also miss something like you proposed.
Therefore I also would be grateful to get to know who's really ... See more and booked the social events offered.
This is not a typical ProZ.com-conference, organised by us for us, but a different kind of conference. For our conferences we had a very lively exchange of informations, which was always very helpful. In this case there is no information, only the possibility to contact the organiser. However, this kind of information is only individual and so I also miss something like you proposed.
Therefore I also would be grateful to get to know who's really going to be there.
Best regards
Jerzy ▲ Collapse
| | | | Karen Stokes
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:49
Member (2003)
French to English
| I'll be there too | Oct 5, 2008 |
Look forward to meeting you both! I'd also be interested to know exactly who will be there.
Best,
Karen
| | | | Claire Cox
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:49
French to English
+ ...
I've paid my fee now too and look forward to meeting people I've only otherwise "met" online - as well as catching up with old friends. A list of confirmed delegates would be a good idea.
Best wishes,
Claire
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| Meagre programme | Oct 5, 2008 |
Am I not reading this right? There seems to be only one main programme scheduled with no alternatives running simultaneously. It doesn't seem very 'meaty' at all.
Or has the whole programme not yet been finalised?
Best
Tina
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Tina Colquhoun wrote:
There seems to be only one main programme scheduled with no alternatives running simultaneously. It doesn't seem very 'meaty' at all.
That's what I wondered (hence, partly, why I haven't paid yet).
But I know next to nothing about conference organisation.
This is mainly just a bump, though, to put this near the top of the pile for the start of the working week in the UK
| | | | Angela Dickson (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:49
French to English
+ ...
I've paid, and will be at the dinner on the Saturday. I have met the organiser and some of the speakers, and it should be a very interesting and fruitful weekend, and the price isn't too bad compared to other events I've been to.
I look forward to meeting you all there!
| | | | Russell Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:49
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Not at all Charlie. I am in exactly the same position as you and Tina!
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Russell Jones wrote:
Not at all Charlie. I am in exactly the same position as you and Tina!
Exactly the same here.
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If all else fails, I get to see my brother on his birthday and go to a concert while I'm in the UK, so the ticket's worth it just for that...
But I am really looking forward to meeting colleagues and talking informally as well as attending the sessions. I think a certain amount of non-organised time is very important, as a lot if interesting topics come up in the unscheduled chats at powwows. The same is sure to happen here.
I'm used to Danish prices, so I didn't worry... See more
| | | | Nikki Graham
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:49
Spanish to English
I initially registered for the conference, but have since decided not to go. I would like to deregister, but I can't see a button anywhere to do so. Perhaps others are in the same position as me, which is why there is such a long list of people.
| | | | | Some answers to your questions | Oct 6, 2008 |
I've just been made aware of this discussion, so forgive me for coming in late.
I will try and answer everyone’s questions all at once. Please don’t take this as me being impersonal, I’m just trying to reconcile giving comprehensive, clear and transparent information with a very hectic work schedule. If there’s anything I’ve left out, please just remind me and I’ll answer in a new message.
Let’s start with the numbers:
This conference is a c... See more I've just been made aware of this discussion, so forgive me for coming in late.
I will try and answer everyone’s questions all at once. Please don’t take this as me being impersonal, I’m just trying to reconcile giving comprehensive, clear and transparent information with a very hectic work schedule. If there’s anything I’ve left out, please just remind me and I’ll answer in a new message.
Let’s start with the numbers:
This conference is a conference sponsored jointly by ITI, CIoL and ProZ. It has been advertised not only through the usual ProZ channels but also in the ITI journal (“ITI Bulletin”) and the CIoL journal (“The Linguist”), which are circulated to many thousands of translators across the UK. It has also been promoted on the websites of exhibitors and sponsoring exhibitors such as Grant & Cutler, Lexicool, LTC, SDL Trados and others.
In other words, the event has received much more coverage than previous UK ProZ conferences and quite a few of the registered delegates are new to ProZ, having joined to sign up to the conference and its early-bird offer.
That’s one reason why the numbers are “so high”.
What this also means is that the cross-section of delegates will be different from previous CIoL, ITI or ProZ conferences in being drawn from all three communities, bringing them together to network and share experiences. All three organisations will also have foyer stands at the conference, where delegates will be able to meet representatives and members of the organisations to discuss the support they provide the profession and their plans for the future. This could be particularly relevant to many UK ProZ members following the recent launch of the Certified PRO Network scheme.
This partnership theme across the three organisations is part of the overall strategic partnership theme of the conference itself.
On to another question, still regarding the numbers: how many people have already paid? This of course keeps changing, and increasingly quickly, but currently around half of all the online registrants have already paid, which I am assured by Leonardo Fusero - ProZ Sales Manager and conference mastermind - is a higher percentage than normal for ProZ conferences at this stage. In addition, around thirty people have registered and paid for the conference direct without using the ProZ site.
So, yes, the interest is real, not a strange statistical quirk, and is a recognition not only of the topicality of the whole question of the translator’s role, but also of the high interest in the speakers themselves.
Jost Zetsche is well known as an authoritative, frank and stimulating industry commentator and speaker, above all but not only on matters technical, as well as for his very popular guidebook the Translator’s Toolbox, and regular e-zine.
Ros Schwartz, who is leading the style workshop, is an award-winning literary translator and a representative of the Translators’ Association of the Society of Authors. At the same time, she is also also one of the UK’s leading specialists in cross-cultural corporate communications. The workshop itself will be quite radical, presenting a series of technically perfect but strategically weak texts for analysis and amendment. It will be an exercise in strategical analysis as much as style and of interest to everyone, irrespective of the markets they work in.
Bill Maslen and his company The Word Gym are similarly one of the UK’s best-respected transcreation specialists. Bill has consistently been acclaimed as one of the most motivational and inspiring speakers at many UK conferences.
Cate Avery, is one of the UK’s top patent specialists with a tremendous reputation for her practical patent translation workshops.
Nick Rosenthal, owner of hi-tech translation company Salford Translations and President of the UK Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication was one of the very first translators with a regular column on translation technology and continues to be a leading maker and shaker in current trends.
Jay Kettle-Williams in one of the UK’s top high-profile language consultants to industry and an extremely sought-after speaker.
I could go on like this for each and every one of the speakers. Suffice it to say that any of these professionals could be the headline or keynote speaker promoting a normal conference. Getting them all together in one event to examine related themes and being able to hear them discussing how they work with their clients, presenting together with those clients, conducting workshops and engaging in outspoken debate with one another as well as with some of the leading translation technology companies in the world - these make the Translator as Strategic Partner a very special conference indeed. The high number of registrants reflects this.
Practical information on translation technology will also be provided, including a recommended products list. That will be part of my contribution. If you’d like to find out more about what I will be bringing to the conference, there’s a selection of articles from my 15 years’ contributions to translation journals and conferences etc. in the Resources section of my website, here: http://www.michaelbenis.com/index_files/Page341.htm
The whole conference has in addition been structured to support networking and debate, with the delegates being seated around large tables that allow mini-break-out sessions in the workshops while facilitating discussion and socialisation between sessions.
This will be particularly interesting because the conference has attracted a strong mix of delegates both across and from outside the translation industry (a further reason for the high numbers): end-clients, project managers and account handlers, translation company owners, technologists and of course freelance translators.
And then we shouldn’t forget the main theme of the conference itself: how the translator's role is changing and growing. This conference won’t just provide an array of interesting talks, it will equip delegates with an integrated series of approaches for strengthening their translation and customer support practices, together with their marketing. It’s a conference that has been designed by some of the industry’s most successful professionals to provide a framework that can help all attendees achieve immediate practical results. The programme has therefore been structured as an integrated whole and the different sessions inform and support one another. That’s why there isn’t a range of simultaneous smaller sessions, Russell, Tina and Nicole. We went for “meaty” in the quality and integrated coverage of the sessions, not the quantity of speakers and sessions.
Doing things any other way simply would have enabled us to offer so many practical opportunities to explore industry’s questions about the translation profession and to provide translators and translation companies with an immediate practical return on their investment, something many conferences are criticised for failing to deliver.
Lastly, about the meals: well, the same thinking is at work there, too. We’ve reserved private rooms to provide a secure and somewhat quieter networking environment than would be possible otherwise. Despite getting hold of the largest restaurant rooms available, with the capacity to seat up to 75 on the Friday and 100 on the Saturday, it’s clear that although - yes - there are till places left, many more people will be wanting places than there are places available. If the numbers keep rising, we can try and add rooms or venues, but only advance planning and advance booking will allow us to do that.
And lastly, for Nikki: some people have of course had to change their plans, to tell you the truth only about 3 so far. They have simply contacted me or Leonardo using the relevant links asking to be deregistered. If you would still like to deregister, please just drop me an e-mail. And thanks for asking the question so that others can see the answer. Just e-mail me at [email protected]
Thanks for asking the initial question, Russell, and effectively creating a discussion page for us. I hope this answer doesn’t come across as too long or too salesy. More than anything else I wanted to explain the interest that the conference has generated outside ProZ, and likewise the excitement about how the conference has brought so many different groups together, not to mention the opportunities this offers. I apologise for not having all this clearer earlier on.
Please don’t hesitate to ask any more questions. I can’t guarantee I’ll answer immediately, but answer I will.
Best regards
Michael ▲ Collapse
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Russell Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:49
Italian to English
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Michael for the comprehensive explanation, which answers many of my uncertainties.
What I do miss though is the set of forum pages on specific topics that were a feature of the ProZ.com international conferences. Clearly a lot of people will be visitors to the UK or to London and these pages would have enabled people to ask advice on travel, accommodation, costs, weather etc. or make arrangements for off-line discussions on topics of mutual interest or for socialising.
| | | | | And thank you for me + request for further suggestions | Oct 6, 2008 |
Russell Jones wrote:
Clearly a lot of people will be visitors to the UK or to London and these pages would have enabled people to ask advice on travel, accommodation, costs, weather etc. or make arrangements for off-line discussions on topics of mutual interest or for socialising.
Thank for these suggestions Russell. I will try and get something like this up and running as soon as possible. Apart from anything else it will make my life easier. many people have been e-mailing me direct with such questions and I have of course been asnwering them indivudally. A forum format would probably have worked better for everybody.
Amy other suggestions about how to improve the flow of information will be appreciated and responded to.
Best regards
Michael
| | | | | Forum created - please contribute | Oct 6, 2008 |
Dear All!
many thanks for this thread and the suggestion of creating a forum.
We've just done precisely that here: http://www.proz.com/forum/583, including a section where you can make further suggestions to help us provide you with all the information and discussion you need.
I look forward to seeing you there - both on the forum and in London... ... See more Dear All!
many thanks for this thread and the suggestion of creating a forum.
We've just done precisely that here: http://www.proz.com/forum/583, including a section where you can make further suggestions to help us provide you with all the information and discussion you need.
I look forward to seeing you there - both on the forum and in London...
Best regards
Michael ▲ Collapse
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