I am a newbie to the ITI (December 2014) so this will be my very first conference. I am really looking forward to it. I will be delighted to see some colleagues again, some of whom are now friends, and of course to meet new ones. I signed up for the Buddies Welcome Newbies program (what a great idea!). This is a really nice aspect of translation conferences.

I would not imagine being a translator without being part of a professional group or association. To me, it is essential to meet colleagues, share, exchange ideas and compare practical experience, in order to give more visibility and more recognition to a profession that is very sedentary and not visible enough. Since 1996, I have been a member of APROTRAD, a regional association of translators. In this context, I was involved in the drafting of the European translation services standard (EN 15038) as part of the French mirror group. And now, I am a proud and happy member of the ITI.

I have been translating for more than 20 years, as a freelance since the very beginning. I work from English into French, mainly in technical domains such as electronics, medical equipment, IT. Translation is a great job where, on the same day, you might work on pacemakers or outboard engines, gain an insight into water resources in Africa or diabetes management, or spend a whole day quibbling with colleagues about the use of commas or capital letters. I am a happy translator and, as they say, translators never die: they just meet their final deadlines.