METM16 presentation
Sarah Griffin-Mason, Portsmouth, UK
Editors, translators, interpreters and other language professionals work in a largely unregulated sector where increasing downward pressure on resourcing is coupled with a widespread belief amongst language service buyers that new technologies can streamline work processes and increase speed and accuracy with no negative impact on the quality of content produced, even in more challenging projects.
Sarah Griffin-Mason is Chair of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) and she recently joined the Programme Committee for the ASLING Translating and the Computer (TC38) conference. She currently teaches half-time on the MA in Translation Studies at the University of Portsmouth while running a freelance business as a translator, editor and educator. She initially trained as a transeditor with the InterPress Service in Latin America and has accrued nearly 25 years of translation and editing experience both in-house and freelance.
Ways forward for professional associations and communities of practice in knowledge sharing and peer training
Sarah Griffin-Mason, Portsmouth, UK Editors, translators, interpreters and other language professionals work in a largely unregulated sector where increasing downward pressure on resourcing is coupled with a widespread belief amongst language service buyers that new technologies can streamline work processes and increase speed and accuracy with no negative impact on the quality of content produced, even in more challenging projects.
In this environment, language service providers and freelance workers wishing to remain in business over the next 20-30 years must keep themselves abreast of developments and be appropriately prepared to argue the value of the services they provide.
Particular attention must be placed on leveraging technological advances to the advantage of language professionals, maintaining a living rate of pay while also offering an acceptable bottom line for clients.
The future development of MET, and thence its members, would undoubtedly benefit from work with peer associations, combining efforts to build on ‘best practice’ while keeping a firm eye on ‘next practice’. This can best be achieved through peer-to-peer sharing of expertise and the exploration of synergies in terms of knowledge, approaches and strategies between leading language-related professional entities worldwide.
Sarah Griffin-Mason will describe some of the elements the ITI is currently working on in strengthening two distinct Communities of Practice: the internal community of ITI members and the external community of related entities in the world of language services.
She will describe some of the projects underway within the ITI before briefly outlining wider initiatives being undertaken with other related professional entities and active groups within the sector.
This session should appeal to anyone concerned with the future of MET and involvement with professional entities in general, as it will describe a number of strategies that should help associations and their members improve the quality of their provision in coming years.
Sarah Griffin-Mason is Chair of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) and she recently joined the Programme Committee for the ASLING Translating and the Computer (TC38) conference. She currently teaches half-time on the MA in Translation Studies at the University of Portsmouth while running a freelance business as a translator, editor and educator. She initially trained as a transeditor with the InterPress Service in Latin America and has accrued nearly 25 years of translation and editing experience both in-house and freelance.
