Last February, we had the first 2018 meetup of the ATA Portuguese Language Division (PLD) in São Paulo, and, fortunately, I was able to join the group for a lively and fun get-together. It was my first time at such an event promoted by the PLD, and those who know me might think, “Really?”, since I am everywhere when it comes to networking with colleagues, from courses to conferences to happy hours. And I have to say, what a blast I had!
First for the location: it was perfectly chosen to please everyone. Ideally located near Paulista Avenue, with charming live music, delicious and varied food, and beverages. I even had coconut water straight from a coconut – that is Brazil!
On that day, I was attending the second day of an AIIC course on marketing and negotiation for interpreters given by Julia Poger, held nearby. Many of the students, as well as Julia herself, went to the meetup. It was a great opportunity for all to get to know other translators and interpreters from São Paulo, to put a name on some of the faces we already knew from profile pics on social media, and to see some colleagues and friends from our area again.
In fact, how good it feels to be able to do that! Leave our (home) offices and be motivated by the conversations held with all sorts of professionals from the T&I world: beginners, professors, coworkers, and some extremely experienced translators and interpreters, such as Ângela Levy – the first interpreter in Brazil, just shy of her 90th birthday. Yes, she was there, joyfully sharing her stories and enjoying being with everyone else.
I was happy to see and catch up with my dear interpretation colleagues, such as Jayme Pinto, Paula Ianelli, Renato Geraldes, Cecília Tsukamoto, Flavia Romano, Marly Moro, and Daniele Fonseca; my professional partner Cátia Santana, with whom I organized the 2017 Brazilian Meeting of Translators Specialized in Healthcare (TRADUSA); and to meet the lovely translator Elenice Barbosa in person, who was the meetup organizer. That is just to name a few – I kept the conversation going with so many people that time flew!
It seems I am becoming a devoted fan of the PLD meetups. I am looking forward to going to the next one to meet other interesting people who speak “translation and interpretation.”
Luciane Camargo
has been a translator since 2007 and conference interpreter since 2011, working with Portuguese, English, and Italian. Engaged in organizing workshops and conferences such as TRADUSA in Brazil, she also worked as a teacher of translation and interpretation studies at Associação Alumni in 2017. She holds a degree in Languages from University of São Paulo, Translation and Interpretation from Associação Alumni, and a post-graduation degree in Conference Interpreting from Estácio University. Besides being a member of ATA, she is also a member of APIC (Professional Association of Conference Interpreters), ABRATES (Brazilian Association of Translators and Interpreters), and SINTRA (Brazilian Translators Union).
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