The GLD at the 57th ATA Conference

GLD at the 57th ATA conference opening event

Here we are already in 2017, and the ATA conference in San Francisco seems so long ago. But for those of you who did not have the chance to attend the conference in San Francisco or who missed out on the GLD events, let me tell you a little bit about it!

GLD presentations

Various GLD members held inspiring presentations throughout the conference.

On the newly renamed Advanced Skills and Training (AST) day, Judy Jenner gave a three-hour course on attracting direct clients. Seasoned professional Jill Sommer held a course with Allison Bryant on using OCR and advanced formatting in Word to recreate the formatting of PDFs in translations. This year’s guest speaker Philip Boehm also spoke in depth on the voice in literary translation. And not least, financial translators were lucky to have another opportunity to take part in Robin Bonthrone’s masterclass on International Financial Reporting Standards.

In the German language track, Ulrike Walter-Lipow explained celiac disease, gluten sensitivity and the gluten-free diet. Philip Boehm offered two sessions, one on translating for the theatre and another on how to deal with “foreignness” in translation. Geoffrey Cox talked about editing strategies to take German to English translations to the next level. Marion Rhodes shared German immersion strategies for expatriates and other German enthusiasts. Silvia Fosslien and Margot Lück-Zastoupil discussed the challenges of gender neutrality in German translations.

GLD at the 57th ATA Conference Presentation on Gender Neutrality
Margot Lück-Zastoupil presenting on gender neutrality in German.

And as in previous years, the GLD was well represented in all areas of the conference! I hope I didn’t forget anybody. Some of this year’s GLD presentations, as well as presentations from past conferences can be found here.

GLD networking event

We wrapped up a busy Thursday filled with conference sessions and met in the lobby of the hotel for a short walk to the venue. Town Hall, a bustling and popular tavern situated in the heart of the Financial District, reserved their loft space for our event.

Located in the first story of a historic building overlooking Howard Street, our group spent well over two hours chatting, eating and drinking. Since our event was capped at 80 attendees, the size of the room was just about right. A few tables around the room’s edge offered seating to those who were quick enough to grab a chair, and the rest of us mingled through the standing crowd.

The food was plentiful and a uniquely different interpretation of southern fare. The menu featured crab cakes, potato latkes, ribeye skewers, charred squash, chicken mini-tacos, smoked salmon on toast, roasted meatballs, bacon-wrapped shrimp and mushroom profiteroles. My mouth is watering just recalling how tasty it was! Unlike some previous years, the food was also plentiful, with servers still bringing out appetizers even after many had left.

A cash bar was set up in our room, easy to reach and not overly crowded after the initial rush. Despite the high drink prices (this is San Francisco after all!), we all enjoyed spending a few hours in this ambiance, mingling with each other, re-connecting with old friends and discovering new ones.

GLD at the 57th ATA Conference GLD Networking event
GLD members mingling at the networking event.

If you are planning to attend this year’s conference in Washington DC, keep your eyes open for information on our next GLD networking event. It is sure to be a memorable one, with plenty of locals living in DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia to scout out the best locations. I hope to see many of you there!

GLD annual meeting

The annual meeting of the German Language Division was held on Friday, November 4. There are a couple of things that made this year’s meeting special. For starters, the GLD was formed in this very city 20 years ago. And this was also the final annual meeting held with Michael Engley at the helm as administrator. But more on that in a moment.

Members of the GLD Leadership Council each presented the highlights of their respective area. First, Jessica Lucio told us all about the new GLD website, which you are looking at.

Next up was Matt Baird, our newsletter editor. He described all of the main features of interaktiv, how to find past issues and what to look for in upcoming issues. He also thanked his team of editors, layout experts and contributors, all who have worked so hard to make our newsletter a real benchmark publication.

Carlie Sitzman presented her report on two areas: the proofreading pool and new members. She even had handouts for all new members providing links and information on all GLD resources.

Karen Leube was next to take the podium, reporting on the activities of GLD members in Europe. That is a growing and very active group! They have another event planned in February in Karlsruhe, where renowned translator, author and trainer Christiane Nord will be the guest speaker.

Sandy Jones spoke next on all things social media. The GLD Facebook page (now at 250 likes) and new Twitter account have been outfitted in a matching look. Visit the Twitter account at @ATA_GLD and let’s get more followers.

Gerhard Preisser, our listmaster, shared his annual report, equal parts entertainment and information. In summary, we continue to grow while the number of posts has actually dropped. More members, but less activity? His message to all of us: “Come back, we need you.”

After the reports section, Ruth Boggs was introduced as the new Administrator. She addressed the group (in German!), welcoming everyone, and thanked Michael for two years of hard work. With a nod to all the changes that the GLD has undergone over the past twenty years, Ruth is looking forward to another excellent conference in 2017 on her home turf in Washington D.C. A number of excellent suggestions for potential guest speakers were gathered.

The full minutes are posted here.

GLD at the TweetUp

The TweetUp wasn’t a GLD event per se but it was organized by our Social Media Coordinator Sandy Jones and turned out to be quite popular among GLD members. What the heck is a TweetUp I hear you ask? A TweetUp is a face-to-face meeting of people who know each other from the social media platform Twitter. It was lovely to get to meet and talk to fellow Tweeps (Twitter users) in real life, even though having breakfast and tweeting at the same time did require some proper multi-tasking skills.

GLD members Marion Rhodes, Judy Jenner, Sandy Jones and Matt Baird at the TweetUp.

If you’re a Twitter user yourself or considering joining Twitter, you should check out the brand new GLD Twitter account. And don’t forget to follow us.

If you’d like to get some more impressions from 57th ATA Conference, you should check out the conference review written up by brand new GLD member and first time attendee Claire Cox.

And if you missed it, make sure to watch the conference video:

Pictures by Michael Engley, and Jessica Lucio.

One thought on “The GLD at the 57th ATA Conference

  1. Thanks for sharing my post, Jessica. I thoroughly enjoyed the conference and it was great to meet so many members of the German Language Division too. We in the UK tend to forget, as I’m sure some of you do too, that there are a lot of German translators on the other side of the pond! I’m also enjoying seeing via the mailing lists that you face similar concerns .

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