ATA-TCD Conference in San Antonio, Texas
McElroy VP of Operations Kim Vitray was pleased to organize and host the 8th Annual Conference of the Translation Company Division of the American Translators Association in San Antonio, TX, on July 26-29, in her role as Administrator of the Division. The event drew 89 translation company representatives from around the world, including visitors from Guatemala, Canada, Argentina, Singapore, Mexico, Peru, Germany, Netherlands Antilles, and New Zealand. We were especially pleased to have ATA President Marian Greenfield with us for the conference.
Our Thursday evening banquet was a thoroughly Texas affair, with barbecue and all the trimmings. Guests were invited to wear their boots and 10-gallon hats for the occasion, and you can see from the accompanying photo that our friends from Gold Sponsor Beetext entered fully into the spirit of things!
Conference sessions this year focused on workflow tools and project management. Presenters and topics included Ann Macfarlane, former president of ATA, “Leadership in Translation and in Life”; Ben Sargent, Common Sense Advisory, “The TMS Explosion: 15 Translation Management System Scorecards”; Michael Airaudi, PM Mentors, “Project Management—The Basics”; Charles Campbell, spanishbackoffice SA, “Using PMI to Advance PM Training and Enhance Company Profits”; and Tim Mora, American Society for Quality, “Applying Six Sigma/ ISO 9000 in Small Business Today.”
Our Saturday morning keynote event was a panel discussion of workflow tool vendors moderated by Ben Sargent of Common Sense Advisory. Participants were representatives from across Systems, Beetext, Idiom Technologies, The Language Technology Centre, MultiCorpora, SDL International, and XTRF Management System. Having recently published detailed research on translation management systems, and the day before having presented that research to conference attendees, Ben probed the vendors with both specific questions prepared in advance and spontaneous questions from the audience. A quite lively session ensued!
