The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2020 - 5

ATA ELECTIONS
2020: FINAL SLATE
OF CANDIDATES
ATA will hold its regularly scheduled
elections during the upcoming virtual
2020 ATA Annual Conference to elect
three directors for a three-year term.
Candidate statements and photos
of the candidates will appear in the
September/October issue of The ATA
Chronicle and on ATA's website.

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
WALTER BACAK, CAE
walter@atanet.org

The slate of candidates for election
has been finalized.

Conference Planning During
a Pandemic

W

hat crazy times! Typically in this
issue, we would announce that
conference registration is open
and start promoting early registration
discounts, program highlights, and
various networking events. This year,
like everything else, plans were fluid.
But we now have some certainty. At
press time for this issue, ATA's Board of
Directors approved moving this year's
Annual Conference online.
The Board's decision was not taken
lightly. As the pandemic continued
over the past month, the Board acted as
swiftly as possible to make the change.
(Please see ATA President Ted Wozniak
and ATA President-Elect Madalena
Sánchez Zampaulo's columns for more
details on moving the conference online,
including working with the conference
hotel in Boston to make the change.)
As part of our planning, ATA
Headquarters has been working with
our meeting vendors since late March
on the logistics of offering livestreamed
and virtual sessions. To be clear,
livestreamed sessions are live broadcasts
of in-person sessions. ATA61 sessions
will be aired in real time from wherever
www.atanet.org

One certainty that we've taken

Director (three positions, three-year
terms):
Robin Bonthrone
Veronika Demichelis
Tony Guerra
Manako Ihaya
Elena Langdon
Lorena Ortiz Schneider
Robert Sette

from the planning process is that
future conferences will include
livestreamed sessions.

the speakers are located. For this year's
Annual Conference, all the 100-plus
educational sessions will be live-
not prerecorded.
As you know, the Annual Conference
is about much more than sessions.
We're also looking at how we can offer
exhibits, conduct the Job Exchange, and
foster networking opportunities. Even
though we're meeting October 21-24,
we do have time on our side as we've
been able to learn from other groups
that have already held virtual meetings
this year. The ATA Headquarters staff
and vendors are looking at what worked
for these other groups and what could
be done better. We'll share more about
these events as they develop.

One certainty that we've taken from
the planning process is that future
conferences will include livestreamed
sessions. This will provide greater
access to the top-level educational
sessions while still providing valuable
networking opportunities to those who
can attend in person.
We're committed to holding in-person
events once it's safe for all. As you're
looking down the road, the Annual
Conference schedule is Minneapolis
in 2021, Los Angeles in 2022, Miami
in 2023, Portland, Oregon in 2024,
and Boston in 2025. (Boston was
rescheduled as part of the negotiations
to cancel this year's onsite event.)
Registration should be online in early
August. We'll keep you posted along the
way. Please plan on attending whether
it's your first conference or your twentyfirst. The opportunity to share time with
colleagues is certain to be welcomed
by all, perhaps bringing a sense of
normalcy at a time when so much
is uncertain.
American Translators Association

5
http://www.atanet.org
The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2020
