2020 workshops

Online, 17 April 2020

March 2020 – Venue booked, facilitators prepped, sign-ups rolling in, and then the pandemic struck. Barcelona was on lockdown and our planned workshop day was off. We had two choices: one, scrap the event completely; or two, go online. We plumped for option two.

Never one to shirk a challenge, CPD chair Marije de Jager set about adapting the programme and trialling Zoom software with a bit of help from our friends at the ITI Spanish Network.* And after several rehearsals to test out the tech, we were all set for our first solo online training event.

April 2020Michael Farrell, translator and web specialist, kick-started proceedings with his workshop on website creation and cultural customization. Practical in design, this workshop was a hands-on session – attendees were immediately able to put Mike’s theoretical introduction into practice.

After discussing best practices for web design, cultural customization and search engine optimization (SEO), participants got stuck into WordPress themes, menus and widgets, creating their own pages and posts in the process.

Web design workshop
Michael Farrell presentation


Mike’s aims were two-fold: first, to give attendees the tricks and tools they need to promote their services online; and second, to make them more comfortable working within their clients’ content management systems. Attendees were suitably impressed, with one commenting it was probably the best workshop they’d ever attended.

Following a generous lunch break, another group of nearly 20 participants logged on for our second workshop of the day, this time with physician, medical writer, translator and nutrition expert Carolina Rojido. The focus of this session was human nutrition and climate change. Over three hours, Carolina delved into the history of nutritional science and explored how scientific findings have influenced modern policies.

Nutrition workshop
Carolina Rojido presentation


A workshop for subject-matter specialists and those wishing to develop their expertise, this session moved beyond terminology to examine the evidence supporting sustainable diets and scrutinize the link between human consumption and climate change. Carolina’s mastery of the topic shone through, with attendees praising not just her command of the subject but her in-depth knowledge of the relevant scientific literature.

We'd like to thank our facilitators, Mike and Carolina, for pulling out all the stops to tailor their workshops to the new online format and being such pros on the day. Credit also must go to Council members Emma Goldsmith and Rob Lunn for hosting the sessions and, of course, to Marije de Jager for supporting our facilitators and juggling all the behind-the-scenes details.

Though in-person training is our stock-in-trade, we were delighted to offer a virtual solution, especially as we don't know when we can meet again. We are grateful to all workshop participants for embracing the digital format and supporting MET’s first online adventure.

*Go to the Hive to read Lucy Brooks’s review of the SpanNet-MET spring workshop that took place on Zoom.