Last year, the French Language Division (FLD) of the American Translators Association organized a series of virtual coworking sessions for the 2023 rentrée. They’ve been such a hit that the FLD has continued to host them ever since. But what exactly is virtual coworking? If you struggle with accountability, are craving a connection with colleagues, or just need to set aside time to finally check that pesky task off your to-do list, you may want to consider joining our next session. Let me tell you why.
What is virtual coworking?
Virtual coworking is very much what it sounds like. A group of people meet on an online meeting platform for a set period of time to work on an individual task of their choosing. Participants do not work on projects together; rather, they each work separately on something they’d like to make progress on that day. The purpose is multifold:
Provide a structured environment where everyone can hold each other accountable
Boost productivity while fostering a sense of community
Enjoy time with colleagues you might not otherwise get
It’s such a popular model that you can even pay to do it. Thankfully for FLD members, these coworking sessions are completely free. What’s more, your coworkers will all be fellow French translators and interpreters!
What happens during the FLD virtual coworking sessions?
The FLD virtual coworking sessions start with a five-minute check-in where we all introduce ourselves and briefly state what we’re going to work on. Then, we work uninterrupted for 25 minutes, take a five-minute break, and work again for another 25 minutes. During the work periods, everyone is muted, but attendees can keep their cameras on for extra accountability.
The sessions end with a five-minute wrap-up where we share what we worked on and answer an optional question. In past coworking sessions, these have been questions like, “what are your goals for the year?” or “what is a helpful resource you recently discovered?”
What should I work on during a virtual coworking session?
The beauty of coworking is that you can work on anything you want! Some of the tasks past participants have worked on include:
Marketing
Accounting
Finally responding to that email
Tracking down and following up on unpaid invoices
Working on an ATA conference presentation
Drafting and issuing a quote
Personal tasks, like scheduling a doctor’s appointment (they don’t always need to be “work” related!)
And last but not least, writing this article
Coworking sessions are a great opportunity to tackle tasks you’ve been neglecting or ones where you find yourself getting easily distracted. However, you are also free to work on regular day-to-day work in the virtual company of your peers.
What are the benefits of virtual coworking?
I attended nearly all of the coworking sessions organized in 2023 and found them to be very beneficial. To me, the main benefits of coworking are:
Accountability
Since we all state our goals at the start of the sessions, there is an extra dose of pressure to accomplish them. I find that if I verbalize a goal to others, I am much more compelled and likely to actually do it. The Harvard Business Review agrees!
Focus
Working in the company of others makes it harder to give in to distractions. You don’t want to be the only one “procrastinating” when you can see everyone else working! You probably won’t be checking your phone, finding something else that needs doing around the house, or getting distracted on social media, which means you actually make progress toward your goal.
Productivity
These coworking sessions are structured into short bursts of time, ideal for accomplishing things you’ve been dragging your feet on. Working against the clock can also make certain tasks more palatable and attainable. For example, instead of the looming, intangible concept of, “I will work on marketing today,” you can work on marketing for the duration of the session and maybe even set a more tangible goal (like “I will send three marketing emails”).
Connection with FLD colleagues
These coworking sessions are also a chance to check in with all your fellow FLDers. And it’s a nice break from the isolation of work-from-home life.
The connections don’t have to end when you leave the Zoom meeting, either! During the sessions, I discovered two French translators who also live in Chicago. I’ve met up with one for coffee and have plans for an in-person coworking session with the other.
How do I sign up?
Attendance is open to all FLD members. The FLD aims to host one coworking session a month. Stay tuned for the next one!
Elizabeth Eckardt is a French and Spanish to English translator based in Chicago who has been translating since 2014. She is ATA-certified in both language pairs and has an MS in translation from New York University. She specializes in medical, legal, and official document translations. For more information, visit elizabetheckardt.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.
As freelance translators, marketing and prospecting are part and parcel of the job, whether we enjoy them or not. Regular, consistent investment can make a big difference in your workflow and keep your pipeline flowing, so you can worry less about dry spells.
In this article, you’ll learn more about French pôles de compétitivité and how researching the ones relevant to your specializations could help you do more targeted marketing and expand your client portfolio.
First things first: what is a pôle de compétitivité, or competitiveness cluster?
Competitiveness clusters were devised by the French Directorate General for Enterprise, or DGE, in 2004 to encourage growth and job creation in flourishing markets. DGE cluster policy objectives include fostering R&D, developing and implementing new technologies, and strengthening innovation ecosystems. Clusters were set up to help businesses strengthen their innovation muscles and overcome market challenges. Designed to be regional hubs bringing companies of all sizes, research labs, and training establishments together according to common denominators like core business or sector, strong networks between top clusters have helped encourage more collaborative R&D.
Cluster members benefit from guidance as they grow and develop, enhancing the value of their products, services, or processes and helping them launch new ones onto the market. National and local authorities are closely involved in clusters, which are firmly embedded in their local landscapes—with many hosted on business park campuses and in public buildings.
How can competitiveness clusters boost my direct client marketing efforts?
Using cluster member directories can help you save time sifting through search engine results pages to build your target company list—making them a critical element for maximizing the time you invest in your marketing. And with a message template at the ready, you’ll be able to tailor your pitch and reach them more quickly (and effectively).
In addition, many cluster websites have news pages with posts and articles that provide interesting information about smaller companies that may not have a person handling their marketing and communications full-time yet. They can also be a good way to learn about upcoming events and opportunities to meet people in the cluster. When companies are in their early stages, the founder/CEO may also be the main salesperson—and end up running the booth at a trade show or conference.
How do I conduct research on pôles de compétitivité in my areas of specialization or interest?
If you don’t find what you’re looking for among the ones listed there, or after you’ve identified French competitiveness clusters that you’d like to follow, you can always expand your search to professional associations and unions. Use keywords like ‘syndicat+profession X,’ ‘association d’entreprises du secteur Y,’ ‘centre de recherche (universitaire) industrie Z,’ and so forth in your favorite search engine. I pulled up a couple well-known examples, such as GIFAS, the French aerospace industry association, and La French Tech, for startups. Last but not least, reading a well-crafted email from you about your excellent translation and English writing skills could also make French PR professionals’ eyes light up!
And don’t forget about overseas departments and territories. The Cap Energies cluster is one example that has active groups in Guadeloupe and La Réunion, though it is based in Aix-en-Provence. Speaking of DROM, or département et région d’outre mer clusters, Qualitropic focuses on the bioeconomy. Mayotte, another overseas department, happens to benefit from quite a strategic location. There, the ADIM international cluster aims to reach countries in Eastern Africa and as far away as the UAE.
To broaden your scope beyond France’s borders, you might also find it worth your while to consider European clusters in other Francophone countries. Expanding your search to a broader geographic area could bring you more diverse results. You can use the EU Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP) map-based search tool to find names and websites. Who would have thought that Luxembourg has its own maritime cluster? Another surprising find for AV translation and creatives is the media industries Twist cluster in the Walloon Region of Belgium.
Putting your favorite French clients’ company registration codes to work
I will share one more technique based on the French company registration system that can help you identify new potential prospects. When a business is registered, its legal representative must select an APE or NAF code that corresponds to its core business from the INSEE (French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) classification system. Its website has a search tool based on this classification system, also available in English. You can browse them to find a few NAF codes for the sectors you work in. Here is an example of how it works (translated by yours truly):
Let’s say you run a convenience store. To determine the APE code for your core business, here’s the classification system you would follow:
Section: G Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
Division: 47 Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
Group: 47.1 Retail sale in non-specialized stores
Class: 47.11 Retail sale in non-specialized stores with food, beverages, or tobacco predominating
Sub-class: 47.11C Mini-markets
The APE code for your convenience store is therefore 4711C.
Here’s my step-by-step guide to using NAF codes to find new prospects:
Step 1: Select one or more NAF codes. For translators and interpreters in France, the code is 7430Z.
Step 2: Go to verif.com and enter the NAF code into the search engine. When I enter the code for translators and interpreters to search for companies in the Bouches-du-Rhône department/PACA region, I found over 3,000 registered with this as their core business, including my own!
Alternative: If you do not know the NAF code, you can also type in the name of a company and find out which code is used on its profile page. Then, go back to the search engine and enter the code and any other parameters to create your own list. If you want to search for your clients’ competitors in another region, be sure to select the relevant region from the dropdown.
Step 3: Use your sleuthing skills to find the company website, LinkedIn page, or employee profiles to locate a point of contact and email address. If you like, you can also pay for verif.com to compile lists of companies for you using this basic data.
Step 4: Add companies of interest to your list.
Step 5: Modify your message template to fit the company you’re contacting. Don’t forget to put a reminder in your calendar to follow up!
Some final thoughts
To avoid going down rabbit holes, marveling at the many new companies you discover, I find it helpful to set some parameters for my marketing time and quantify goals.
For example, if I want to spend one hour developing new leads, I can break up my time as follows:
15 minutes – Search for five new companies using a relevant NAF code on verif.com.
15 minutes – Peruse company websites to evaluate whether they might need my services.
15 minutes – Identify three people to contact at those companies and try to find direct email addresses or their LinkedIn profiles.
15 minutes – Send personalized emails or direct messages to the contacts whose information I was able to find.
I hope this article has given you new ideas for drumming up new potential leads and reinvigorated your direct client marketing plan!
If you have had luck doing something similar in the US, Canada, or elsewhere, the À Propos team wants to hear from you! Contact the À Propos editor, Ben Karl, at ben [at] bktranslation [dot] com with your ideas or submission.
Amber Marcum Combaud is an ATA-certified French to English translator specializing in corporate and brand communications (including CSR), academic translation and editing, and certified translation of official documents. After obtaining her B.A. in French and Linguistics from the University of Virginia, she became a translator in 2007. She completed the professional certificate in Translation program offered by New York University in 2010. Since 2016 when she began freelancing, she has served a wide range of corporate clients, translation and communications agencies, as well as local businesses and individuals seeking to expand their horizons abroad. Amber lives and works in Marseille, France, where she is always pleased to connect with colleagues in person and virtually. Drop her a line directly amber [at] amc-communication [dot] com or find her on LinkedIn.
To make our Continuing Education Series Podcast more accessible and searchable for FLD members and the general public, we are now offering transcriptions of our episodes right here on À Propos. Many thanks to our volunteer transcriptionists, who are credited at the bottom of each transcription. If you’re interested in helping us transcribe podcast episodes, email divisionFLD [at] atanet [dot] org.
HOW TO LISTEN TO THE ORIGINAL EPISODE
SOUNDCLOUD: You can listen to or download Episode16 and all previous episodes on Soundcloud here.
ITUNES: This episode and all previous episodes are available on iTunes here. You can subscribe or listen online. Like what you hear? Rate us and review us! It really helps get the word out.
Episode 16: State of the FLD June 2020
Cathy-Eitel Nzume: Hello and welcome. This is Cathy-Eitel Nzume, host of the Continuing Education Series, a podcast we produce as a benefit for the members of the French Language Division of the American Translators Association. This series tries to offer educational content about the craft of French to English and English to French translation and, of course, about our division.
For today’s episode, it is my pleasure to welcome our wonderful administrator, Jenn Mercer, and Andie Ho, our dedicated assistant administrator, for our state of the French Language Division session.
Jenn Mercer: Thanks for having us.
Andie Ho: Thank you for having us.
Cathy-Eitel Nzume: You’re welcome! We have so many things to talk about today, I’m not sure where to start. Jenn, would you like to start off by telling our members about the highlights of the year?
Jenn Mercer: This is not a year that is bursting with highlights, but one big change that I think everyone has heard is that we have a new podcast host. Thanks, Cathy-Eitel; welcome to the team. Otherwise, I think we have all been adjusting to the new normal in many cases. Some of us have less work, some of us are maybe doing a different variety of work. Interpreters are being forced to adjust to either a lot of remote work or going onto the front lines with healthcare workers. Hats off to all of them!
Cathy-Eitel Nzume: Jenn, I recently joined the Discord platform. Can you tell us about FLD’s online presence, social media, websites, and new platforms, such as Discord? As a reminder, this is all managed by the volunteers of our Leadership Council. Can you tell us what the Council has been up to, or can you tell us what are the rules and the purpose of the new platforms? I know these are a lot of questions at the same time, but could you please tell us a little bit about our online presence?
Andie Ho: I’m going to jump in here and talk about our website, and that is at www.ata-divisions.org/FLD/. There you will find information about the Leadership Council, upcoming events, and our blog/newsletter, which is being run by Ben Karl; he is doing a great job at that. We have our Twitter account, which is @ATA_FLD. We have our Facebook group, which is ATA French Language Division. That one you have to be an FLD member for, so if you just click to join the group, you will be let into it once it is confirmed that you are a member. We have our LinkedIn page, and that one is called French Language Division of the American Translators Association. And then we have our listserv, our email list, which has moved. It is now under Groups.io, instead of the Yahoo group that we used to be under. If you are not subscribed, and you would like to subscribe, contact me or Jenn, at divisionfld [at] atanet [dot] org and we will get you all set up.
Jenn has news about our new social media options.
Jenn Mercer: This is a very isolating time because of the coronavirus. Myself, I work in an office all alone, what would be different? But somehow it still is. Because of that isolation and because it sounded like fun, we started a monthly zoom meeting. We have established a regular schedule now; it’s going to be on the second Thursday of each month. It’s hosted by Eve Bodeux, who is our former French Language Division administrator. You can find information for that on the FLD mailing list, the listserv we mentioned before. It is on Facebook, and you can also find it on our new Discord server. The Zoom meeting is once a month, but Discord is available anytime you feel like chatting. If you are familiar with Slack, Discord is a lot like that, but it is just a smaller, simpler server. You can get an invite link for that in the monthly announcements for our social networking, or, again, you can email divisionfld [at] atanet [dot] org and we will get you connected. Both this and the Zoom sessions are FLD member benefits, so just for us. There are rules posted in the Discord chat, but if you are familiar at all with FLD and the ATA, you probably know a lot of these already: be respectful, be professional, and never, ever discuss specific rates in any form.
Cathy-Eitel Nzume: Thank you so much, Jenn. Andie, sadly we are all aware of what is going on around the world right now, namely, the world is facing the challenging COVID-19 virus. Have you been keeping busy during the quarantine?
Andie Ho: Keeping busy hasn’t been the problem, the issue for me has been staying sane! A friend of mine put it really well yesterday. He said, “no matter what your situation is at home, there is some aspect of your life that makes quarantine and the pandemic especially hard for you.” Whether you have kids or you don’t have kids, you are living with someone or you don’t live with someone, somehow you have some sort of exacerbating circumstance. Personally, to be completely honest, I spent March in denial about Covid, and then I spent April hyperventilating. Like many, though not all, translators, and especially interpreters, my business is at an all-time low. But now that I have had some time to collect myself and my thoughts, I have reached the acceptance phase, as I call it, of this crisis. Now I am focusing on improving my business, whether that is through continuing education and webinars, or redesigning my website. I am also thinking about the future, about what things I can do now so that I can pull the trigger on them once the economy comes back and once things become somewhat normal again. I’m not going to lie, the pandemic has been pretty hard on me; but I am an optimist by nature—I continue to hold out hope that we will come out of this better than before. That said, I would be remiss not to mention that we have FLD members and ATA members who have been personally hit by COVID-19, or who have had family members come down with it, and even die from it. I am confident that I speak for everyone when I say that our hearts go to those colleagues of ours. Stay strong, stay healthy everybody.
Cathy-Eitel Nzume: Absolutely, thank you. Our hearts go out to all of the people who have been affected by this disease. Jenn, I have heard from many fellow translators that the corona crisis has also had a big impact on their workload. I know I share the same issue. Can you tell us how it has been for you, how you think it will affect the ATA convention in Boston—any word on that? Do you have any suggestions for our fellow colleagues?
Jenn Mercer: My situation, Andy said it really well. She mentioned she is in the acceptance phase. I started off in the denial phase. I said, lockdown, seriously, how is that different from my normal life? I work from home already…. Until I realized that no one was contacting me. No. One. So, I have absolutely seen a decline. I have started to see some tiny signs of life in different corners than I usually work, but I’m not complaining. I think none of us can really say for sure what things will be like in October. Personally, I have not made plans, I am just waiting to see what happens. I have a couple of quotes from a recent ATA board meeting. I don’t speak for ATA, but these are some things to keep in mind. This is from the treasurer:
Our initial estimates of potential losses for the Boston conference indicate that cancelling at this time would result in the greatest loss; holding an in-person event would result in a smaller loss, and holding a hybrid event would result in the smallest loss. At this time, we assume we will have a loss for all 2020 models.
I think we all feel that deeply. Also:
Although the situation is changing really fast, it has been determined that there will be an online component for the 2020 annual conference.
That is information I have. I think we can all understand that is only some information. As admin, I saw a lot of exciting ideas for the French track coming through. I’m actually starting to hear from people who have received acceptances. It sounds great. I just don’t know what form it will take. Also, of course, we all need to be concerned about our own health and risk factors, as well as, some of us, our finances might not be as robust, and you always have to take a look at your own situation, and your own health, in anything, I think.
Cathy-Eitel Nzume: Thank you. As a reminder of what we have accomplished so far, the Continuing Education Series aired fantastic episodes about legal translation, sustainable development, genealogy, and even a translation slam. As for the upcoming ATA annual conference, we are accepting suggestions from all members and non-members who would like to share their knowledge with the division and other colleagues during the conference. Don’t be scared! No public speaking experience is necessary. If you are interested, please email us at divisionfld [at] atanet [dot] org. We are interested in all topics, all subjects. Speaking of topics, we have one English to French topic about poorly written source content that needs a guest speaker. If you are interested in discussing terrible source content, or anything else, please get in touch.
Thank you, Jenn. Andie, thank you so much for joining me today. Have a great summer and, hopefully, see you soon in Boston.
Jenn Mercer: Thanks.
Andie Ho: Hope to see you there!
Cathy-Eitel Nzume: This concludes our episode for today. You can subscribe to the Continuing Education Series podcasts on SoundCloud at soundcloud.com/ata-fld or on iTunes by searching for Continuing Education Series in the iTunes store. You can contact the FLD at divisionfld [at] atanet [dot] org. Visit our website at www.ata-divisions.org/fld or get in touch with us on social media. This is Cathy-Eitel Nzume signing off. Thanks for listening, et à bientôt.
ATA Podcast host Cathy-Eitel Nzume is a certified French to English and English to French Court Interpreter, translator, Department of State Certified Linguist and legal professional. She specializes in legal and conference interpreting as well as legal and financial translation. You can find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathyeitelnzume/ or on Twitter at @CathyENzume.
Andie Ho is a certified French to English translator specializing in the food industry. She earned her M.A. in translation from Kent State University and is now based in the Houston area. She currently serves as the ATA’s French Language Division administrator. You can follow her on Twitter at @JHawkTranslator or email her at andie [at] andiehotranslations [dot] com.
Jenn Mercer is a certified French to English translator.
Transcribed by Virginia (Ginny) Layton-Leal. She is a French and Spanish to English translator specialized in wellness and evidence-based complimentary medicine, and a French and Spanish medical interpreter with experience in medical examiner and medical weight loss interpreting. She holds a Certificate in Professional Translation and Interpreting (Spanish) from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a BA in Romance Languages (French/Spanish) from Mount Holyoke College. She is a member of ATA and NETA. When Ginny is not working with words, you will find her at an East Coast swing dance.
Welcome to the 17th episode of the French Language Division’s Continuing Education Series. In today’s episode, Podcast Host Cathy-Eitel Nzume and Andie Ho, the new FLD Administrator, recap ATA61, discuss new FLD developments, and let you know how to keep abreast of FLD announcements.
Cathy-Eitel Nzume is a certified French to English and English to French Court Interpreter, translator, Department of State Certified Linguist and Legal professional. She holds a Master’s degree in International and American law from Howard University, as well as a Master’s degree in European and International law from the University of Amiens, France. She grew up in her beloved country of origin, Cameroon that she left to study abroad. She specializes in legal and conference Interpreting as well as legal and financial translation. You can find her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathyeitelnzume/ or on Twitter at @CathyENzume.
Andie Ho is a certified French to English translator specializing in the food industry. She has a Master’s in Translation from Kent State University and is based in the Houston area. Visit her website at www.andiehotranslations.com or find her on Twitter at @JHawkTranslator.
HOW TO LISTEN
SOUNDCLOUD: You may listen to or download Episode 17, and our previous episodes, on Soundcloud here.
ITUNES: This episode, and our previous episodes are available on iTunes here. You can subscribe or listen online.
For SoundCloud and iTunes:
Welcome to the 16th episode of the French Language Division’s Continuing Education Series. In today’s episode, Cathy-Eitel Nzume welcomes Jenn Mercer and Andie Ho to discuss the State of the FLD and the upcoming ATA Conference that may or may not be in Boston. For more information about our podcast, please visit the French Language Division’s website here: www.ata-divisions.org/FLD/category/podcast.
Last year, the French Language Division (FLD) of the American Translators Association organized a series of virtual coworking sessions for the 2023 rentrée. They’ve been such a hit that the FLD has continued to host them ever since. But what exactly is virtual coworking? If you struggle with accountability, are craving a connection with colleagues, or just need to set aside time to finally check that pesky task off your to-do list, you may want to consider joining our next session. Let me tell you why.
Elizabeth Eckardt is a French and Spanish to English translator based in Chicago who has been translating since 2014. She is ATA-certified in both language pairs and has an MS in translation from New York University. She specializes in medical, legal, and official document translations. For more information, visit elizabetheckardt.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.
Amber Marcum Combaud is an ATA-certified French to English translator specializing in corporate and brand communications (including CSR), academic translation and editing, and certified translation of official documents. After obtaining her B.A. in French and Linguistics from the University of Virginia, she became a translator in 2007. She completed the professional certificate in Translation program offered by New York University in 2010. Since 2016 when she began freelancing, she has served a wide range of corporate clients, translation and communications agencies, as well as local businesses and individuals seeking to expand their horizons abroad. Amber lives and works in Marseille, France, where she is always pleased to connect with colleagues in person and virtually. Drop her a line directly amber [at] amc-communication [dot] com or find her on 