The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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Vol/53 No/6 2014 DECEMBER 2014/JANUARY 2015 The Linguist 7 FEATURES Debbie Butler offers a behind-the- scenes tour of Members' Day 2014 O rganising any successful event relies on good forward planning, good communication and getting help from colleagues. The preparation for Members' Day 2014 began in March. The first thing to do was to set a date on a Saturday in early October when our President and Chair of Council were available. I started researching venues. As many of London's beautiful buildings offer rooms for hire, it was a question of searching web pages to find somewhere with a room large enough to hold 130 people for the Threlford Memorial Lecture, break-out rooms for seminars, and good catering facilities. The newly refurbished BMA House fitted all these requirements. Providing a programme of seminars required input from colleagues, so we met early in April, and it was suggested that Eleanor Sharpston, Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, would be an ideal speaker for the Threlford Lecture. We were lucky that she was free on the day and accepted the invitation. A programme of seminars that we felt offered a good variety of topics began to emerge, and I set about approaching possible presenters. With Julie Hobbs, I created a plan for communications with members to let them know about the event, starting with All in a day's work a 'save the date' email in March and an announcement in The Linguist. As well as mailings, the website was a key source of up-to-date information about the day. As the event approached, final arrangements were made regarding technical requirements for the seminars and lecture, and the lunch menu was decided. I visited the venue with the membership team, as they would be meeting and greeting members on arrival and directing them to the correct rooms, so they needed to be familiar with the building. Two days before the event, we packed up everything we would need to set up the venue, printed name badges, assembled delegate packs for members, including the programme for the day, a notepad, pen and feedback form, and sent it all over by courier. On the day itself, the membership team arrived at 8.30am to set up the registration desk and be ready to greet members as they arrived to enjoy a fantastic day of networking, seminars and socialising. Translator Natchaon Chucherdsak MCIL is based in Australia and works in English and Thai. "I had already planned a trip to England when I received an email about Members' Day, taking place at the same time. I thought it would be interesting to meet everyone. After looking at the list of seminars, I chose 'Decoding the Situation: How translators can use the CIOL Code of Professional Conduct to resolve ethical and business dilemmas' by Janet Fraser FCIL, and 'For Your Eyes Only: The world of the GCHQ linguist'. I have had training in codes of ethics before, organised by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) Australia, but it was very helpful that Janet pointed out the particular clauses of the CIOL's code that applied to those situations. The GCHQ seminar opened my eyes. I did not know about this career before. Now I can advise my blog readers about possible career opportunities. The presenter gave a funny talk, while keeping a straight face. Previously, I had been to meetings in Bangkok, organised by the Translators and Interpreters Association of Thailand, but attending Members' Day gave me a new experience. It was good to finally meet the people who I had talked to when I applied for membership. This event was well- organised, the food was tasty, and the people seemed very friendly." A MEMBER'S VIEW A MEETING OF MINDS Participants at BMA House (below); and (l-r) Executive Director Ann Carlisle, Eleanor Sharpston, CIOL President Nick Bowen and Chair of Council Keith Moffitt (top)