Minutes of the Law Division Annual Meeting (Virtual)
American Translators Association
October 18, 2020
Present:
Administrators
Paula Arturo
Elizabeth Herron-Sweet
Leadership Council
Ana Gauz
Grace Isaía
- Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 1:33 p.m. by Paula Arturo.
- Administrator’s Welcome and Remarks
Paula Arturo thanked the attendees for their presence and started by mentioning the Division survey conducted earlier this year, which received a lot of responses. The point of the survey was to find out, as a new division, how to better serve our members, and to be democratic. The members showed interest in having a journal. The ATA Board, however, did not agree it was a good idea to do it while the division is still in its formative stage. Paula mentioned being approached by another journal willing to collaborate with the Division and encouraged members to write to the Administrators to learn more.
- Blog
Paula discussed the Division Blog and the small volume of content contributed to it. This seems to be changing and members are welcome to submit posts to Liz, assistant administrator and blog editor.
- Website
Paula mentioned the calendar on the Division website for training opportunities, which is open to anything of interest to members (lawyer-linguists, interpreters, legal translators, newbies). The calendar’s purpose is to share educational opportunities about the law, translation, linguistics, etc. Its nature is non-promotional. Members should contact the administrators to have events shared in the calendar.
She informed members about a big change in how the website looks: the menu bar has been cleaned up and items are easier to find. The blog and the calendar can be accessed through the website, which also displays our history and links to social media.
- Social Media and Listserv
Paula mentioned the Law Division has a Facebook page, Facebook group, Twitter account – more active lately – and that the Division needs its members to engage and be active.
- Nominating Committee
Paula reminded members of the incoming election year and the need for volunteers for the Nominating Committee. The Division already has 2 volunteers but, ideally, she would like to have 3 in total. She pointed out that joining the Committee is a great way to be involved with the direction the division is going to take and is an opportunity to bring in new people.
- Leadership Council and Volunteering
LC members stay for a year. Paula will be inviting some of the current LC members to stay and reminded all that this is an opportunity to join. The Division also needs volunteers for other activities, such as social media, blog, and reaching out to potential authors of content.
- Newsletter
Paula mentioned the intention of having a newsletter for the Division. The webmaster has proposed having blogposts feed the newsletter, as well as having content exclusive to the newsletter.
- Webpage
Some changes are being implemented, such as adding a slider, as well as other changes to make the Division webpage more user-friendly. Paula welcomes suggestions for changes and improvements.
- Webinar Track
Through the survey, members revealed being more interested in webinars about translation proper, not so much in the business aspects of the profession. Members were invited to propose a webinar or recommend someone who could offer one.
There is an upcoming webinar on Comparative Law, in Portuguese.
- Questions from Members and Closing Remarks
Paula invited everyone to submit suggestions by email to her for next year’s Distinguished Speaker and reminded members about Fernando Cuñado, Distinguished Speaker for this year’s ATA Annual Conference.
While responding to a member’s question, Paula clarified that the Division would like to have more interpreters in the LC, but it just happens to have more translators.
Someone volunteered to help with social media.
Paula informed that not all webinars are paid by ATA.
She mentioned that she would also like the division to offer informal talks, but it is difficult to find people willing to participate (possibly due to low activity on social media).
In the end, Paula reminded attendees about the meet-up at night and thanked all for attending.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:05 p.m.
Submitted by
Ana Gauz, member of the Leadership Council
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