On June 4th, 2010, NITA’s vice president Judy Jenner will attend a day-long symposium for translators and interpreters held in the Dutch central city of Utrecht, where she will offer her presentation: “Lessons From Business School: The Entrepreneurial Linguist”. Judy presents during the morning session of the symposium, titled Zeker van je zaak.*
The symposium is organized by Annie Tadema and Astrid van der Weert, a professional translating duo with decades of international experience in the translation business, and the driving forces behind Tadema & Van der Weert Vertalingen, their joint venture.
Arguably facilitated by its great location, the event is also a wonderful occasion to link up with colleagues, aside from its main course comprising the two key presentations, aimed at expanding business horizons for language professionals:
- Judy Jenner‘s presentation The Entrepreneurial Linguist – see the eponymous website – draws on her ample experience running a translation business. Translators are generally great language specialists, but also often neglect the business end of their trade. Judy’s entertaining presentation encourages translators and interpreters to up their game, with tips and examples drawn from her past and current experiences with Twin Translations, the company she runs with her twin sister Dagmar, with a strong emphasis on topics like marketing, finances, and other practical business management issues, such as business negotiations (e.g. how to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement on price). As a natural companion and reference source for her presentation, the bookThe Entrepreneurial Linguist is available to attendants. Judy actively maintains her blog Translation Times.
- Cora Bastiaansen is an accomplished specialized literary and medical translator, Dutch editor of Global Voices Online, author of several books in Dutch (including one on how to best get into the language services profession), and guest lecturer at the Hogeschool ITV school for translators and interpreters; she shares her insights drawing from her ample experience in building and expanding a profitable on-line presence by employing social networking media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Hyves (a highly popular Dutch social network, somewhat between Facebook and LinkedIn). In her open and interaction inviting presentation, Ms. Bastiaansen will review these networks, their peculiars, pitfalls and most promising opportunities, to establish a solid and ultimately profitable on-line reputation. Cora has her blog at CoraBastiaansen.nl.
A really interesting idea of the event organizers is the opportunity offered to all attendants of the Zeker van je zaak symposium to have a portrait photo taken by a professional photographer, so as to have a fitting, high-quality and personable image for use on e.g. social media networks. The photogenic setting and immediate surroundings of the event location (held in the Centraal Museum Utrecht) undoubtedly will inspire some beautiful images!
The symposium Zeker van je zaak has a strong business-oriented focus and is a refreshing initiative by Tadema and Van der Weert. The Netherlands has a highly developed and fiercely competitive language services market, with occasional professional development events, organized by NITA’s Dutch peer organizations (such as the NGTV and ATVO) that are oft much more academic or highly specialized in nature. This event, with its practical, amenable and open business focus, and the informal networking opportunities offered throughout the day and at its conclusion, is a great occasion for language professionals to meet and mingle inter paribus, and is a welcome addition to professional development opportunities available in the Netherlands. We at NITA wish the organizers, the presenters and the attendants of this wonderful event much success, and hope that this leads to a recurring event! In Dutch: Heel veel goede zaken toegewenst, en moge het ‘Zeker van je zaak’ symposium tot regelmatige navolging leiden!
For more information:
See the announcement (in Dutch) of this event at the TW-Vertalingen site.
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*Notes: short and topical event mottoes are not always that easy to translate; the alliterating title “Zeker van je Zaak” bears a meaning somewhere between “Secure in Your Business” and “Certain of Your Case”. Nonetheless, Judy has reassured us that she plans on presenting in English, so as to accommodate fellow Nevadan linguists planning a short trip to the Dutch city.
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