Based in Derbyshire, I translate from German to English full-time and am also a visiting tutor in Applied Languages at the University of Sheffield. #ITIConf15 will be my first ITI Conference.
It’s about 160 miles to Tyneside from my base in the East Midlands and just 2.5 hours on a fast train, but I have to confess to never having disembarked between Durham and Edinburgh before. Attending the 2015 ITI Conference will rectify this omission and I am hoping to extend my stay and see something of Northumberland on the same trip.
Having been unable to attend the last Conference in London, I am particularly looking forward to the masterclasses and to learning from some of our most experienced colleagues. It’s a pity that I cannot go to all four workshops that day, but I am sure there will be excellent reports online and in the ITI Bulletin afterwards. After much deliberation I have opted for the talk by Andrew Morris on becoming the translators we want to be and Stefan Gentz’s technical journey into XML. I hope both talks will help me better navigate around and beyond the ‘tag soup’ that I have grappled with throughout my translation career!
A ‘Tweet Up’ is scheduled to take place on 23 April after the masterclasses, so if you’re not attending those, be sure to arrive in Newcastle in time for this vibrant pre-conference social. As I’m involved in bringing this Tweet Up North to Newcastle, you may well hear more from me in the run-up to the Conference. These informal gatherings for translators and interpreters take place across the North of England and the Midlands, but this will be the first time we’ve made it to the North-East (not for want of trying I assure you!).
The Conference Tweet Up will provide an opportunity for speed-networking and to discuss social media topics. Plenty of expert help will be on hand, as I shall be ably assisted by fellow delegates who host tweetups in London, Paris and ‘out West’. It promises to be a great evening and a fantastic way to make new contacts, whether you’re an old hand or have never been to an ITI Conference before. Watch this space and Tweet Up North on twitter and facebook for more details as we confirm arrangements over the coming months.
See you in Newcastle! #LinguistsUnite
