The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2017 - 14

RECAP OF THE COLORADO TRANSLATORS ASSOCIATION'S SEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE continued
from the Translation Magician: Increase
Your Productivity with the Right Tools."
The workshop covered advanced tips and
tricks for SDL Studio, as well as how to
enhance the translation memory search
experience, how to deal with complex PDF
files for CAT tool integration, and termbase
creation. Attendees also learned how to
prepare against computer disasters and data
loss. With so much to learn, attendees didn't
seem to mind staying beyond the scheduled
time to get the most from this workshop.

VOLUNTEERS: THE BACKBONE OF CTA

A group of attendees at Sameh Ragab's workshop

CTA's board of volunteers worked
hard to pull together a conference
that would offer attendees the
most for their money.

CTA President Marion Rhodes

Love Letters from the Field: How to
Manage Feedback without Losing
Your Cool (Presenters: Steve Lank and
Victoria Mendoza): Managing client
feedback effectively can be tricky, but how
we do it can make or break a relationship.
However, since much of the feedback
we receive is subjective, responding in a
way that's respectful yet authoritative is
critical. Using real-life examples, Steve
and Victoria demonstrated techniques for
approaching this often unpleasant task
in a way that allows communication to
remain professional and productive.
Take a Walk on the Client Side! How
to Better Understand Your Client and
Be a Great Partner (Presenter: Lynnette
Wennerström): When it comes to clients,
have you ever asked yourself, "What are
they thinking?" During her presentation,
Lynette offered a peek into a client's mindset
and provided tips on how to manage the
client-supplier relationship more effectively.
Panel Discussion: Change of Venue
(Presenters: Karen Williams, Eve
Bodeux, David Russi, and Rachel Sinn):
The panel discussed their experiences
spending extended periods as working
professionals in their source/target language
14

The ATA Chronicle | July/August 2017

countries of Germany, France, and Spain,
and how that has refreshed their cultural,
linguistic, and professional outlook.
Translators worldwide often struggle to
educate clients on the benefits of paying
for professional translation services as
opposed to using a bilingual employee
or a free machine translation service.
Karen, a German>English technical
translator who worked onsite with a client
in Germany, shared a compliment she
received that resonated with attendees:
"Anyone can become a microbiologist, but
what you do is amazing." Enough said.
Saturday's events concluded with a
reception at NCAR, giving speakers and
attendees a chance to mingle. As an added
bonus, attendees also had the opportunity
to purchase signed books by Tess Whitty,
Eve Bodeux, Corinne McKay, and Izabel
E.T. de V. Souza. In addition, Tess and
Corinne generously offered raffle prizes
for the conference. Two lucky attendees
won a chance to improve their business
with the help of professional training from
these renowned industry experts.
The Saturday snowstorm passed and
Sunday morning brought sunshine,
clear blue skies, and stunning views of
the snow-covered Flatirons. It was the
perfect backdrop for Sameh Ragab's much
anticipated workshop, "Tips and Tricks

CTA's board of volunteers worked hard
to pull together a conference that would
offer attendees the most for their money.
During CTA's annual meeting of all
members on Saturday, the current board
provided a recap of the past year and
thanked CTA's numerous volunteers for
their active involvement. There's no doubt
that CTA's members are the backbone
of this small but mighty ATA chapter!
In thanking CTA's board, Corinne
McKay said, "Even after seven years, the
conference keeps getting better, thanks to
your dedication."
The board was delighted to see many
new faces among the enthusiastic group of
attendees. There are already plans afoot to
make the 2018 conference even better!
Sharon Heller is a freelance
Spanish>English translator
from Northern Ireland. She
has lived in England, Oman,
Ecuador, and Yemen, and now
lives in Palisade, Colorado,
where she is also a part-time lecturer of Spanish
at Colorado Mesa University. She serves as
the social media coordinator for the Colorado
Translators Association, an ATA chapter. Contact:
sharon.heller.translations@gmail.com.
Katja Yeats has been working as
a freelance English<>German
translator since 2001. She was
born in Germany and came to
the U.S. in 1992 to complete
an exchange year at Montana
State University in Bozeman. She moved to the U.S.
permanently in 1993. She has an MA in German
literature from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
She is the current secretary of the Colorado
Translators Association, an ATA chapter. Contact:
katjayeats@gmail.com.
www.atanet.org
http://www.atanet.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2017
