Minutes of the 2026 SLD Annual Meeting

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Slavic Languages Division

of the American Translators Association

September 26, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT

Held online via Zoom

Steven McGrath, Administrator; Natalia Postrigan, Assistant Administrator (not present)

Also present: Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya, Paul Gallagher, Shelley Fairweather-Vega, John Riedl, Yaroslav Perepadya

The SLD Annual Meeting was called to order by Steven McGrath on September 26, 2026, at 2:35 PM EDT.

Having been duly circulated to the membership, the 2025 minutes were approved unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

2026 ATA Conference

• Short descriptions were provided of conference sessions of interest to SLD members, which can also be found on the SLD Blog.
• Session writeups by conference attendees are welcome, including impressions from first-time attendees.

SLD communications and social media

• Blog: Eugenia Tietz-Sokolskaya reported that the division’s website and blog are persisting, though developments are slow. She welcomes help writing and soliciting contributions. Paul Gallagher reported that he has been interviewed and will make that article available soon.
• Google Group listserv: No comments.
• LinkedIn: Mikhail Yashchuk submitted a report to Steve indicating business as usual. A recent poll had only four respondents, who indicated their interest in LinkedIn extends only to reading, not posting content.
• Facebook: No comments.
• Slovo podcast: Volunteer coordinator needed. Please contact Steve to volunteer (steven@mcgrathtranslations.com).

ATA exam prep webinars

Eugenia ran a certification exam prep webinar (Russian to English) last year with about 20 participants, but no exams were taken that year. The webinar may have dissuaded people who weren’t ready from signing up. There have been several practice tests. She could hold another one if there is interest, but there are no plans to do so at present.

A Zoom networking event may be scheduled for January or February.

SLD dinner at the Annual Conference

Scheduling has proven difficult this year. Thursday evening is difficult because of Literary Division events; Friday evening all options required too much money up front for a reservation. As an alternative, SLD hopes a less formal gathering of members can be arranged. Shelley will try to coordinate a lunch meetup on Thursday or Friday.

NEW BUSINESS FOR 2027

• Call for volunteers: All meeting attendees are already volunteering in some capacity. Paul stated his willingness to continue serving on the Leadership Council.
• Sourcing Candidates for the Division Leadership Positions: Steven’s and Natalia’s terms will be up at the end of 2027, so a new Administrator will need to be elected. Nomination procedures have changed, and there will be no nominating committee for division elections. This year, people who would like to volunteer to run should email divisions@atanet.org.
• 2027 ATA Conference (Henderson, NV), Oct. 26-29
  • Proposed topics: Impact of AI on language jobs; translating for immigration; insider views on education and evaluation (those at institutions who receive our translations). The call for speakers will come over email by early February, with a deadline around March 1.
  • Distinguished Speaker candidates, not ATA members, near Nevada: We will need an idea by December. Candidate ideas can be sent to Steve.
• Plans for blog: Eugenia welcomes all contributions of interest to SLD members. She provides light editing and will accept almost anything.
• Volunteers are welcome for social media, website, and blog teams.

OPEN FLOOR FOR QUESTIONS AND FEEDBACK

• A suggestion was raised to hold more frequent meetings of the membership and/or the Leadership Council, online throughout the year.
• There is a consensus that morale is generally low in SLD due to current events; participation may increase as conditions change. One idea for ways SLD can increase participation is to host a discussion about how to run client communications around use or nonuse of AI. This includes client education. John is still researching translation quality in AI.
• Introduction of new member: Yaroslav Perepadya
  Yaroslav is a new ATA member from Ukraine, in the US since 2022. His native languages are Ukrainian and Russian. In the US, he has worked for the IRC and California Department of Social Services, translation section.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 PM EDT.

Faithfully submitted by Shelley Fairweather-Vega

September 29, 2026