Join SpanSIG for its first meeting of the year. The topic will be film translation from Spanish to English and we will have the opportunity to offer our professional critique.

As always, we invite you to spend a couple of hours with your SpanSIG colleagues and enjoy a light breakfast.

At the conclusion of the meeting, we will raffle a couple of books that you might find interesting.

We’ll see you from 10:00 to 12:00 at the International Center of Austin. See sidebar at right for directions and parking instructions.

The expertise of Conference Interpreters is very much needed in today's global economy. Come and listen to two of our distinguished members — Maurine McLean and Tony Beckwith — share their experiences as well as tips on how to polish up your interpreting skills.

Join us at our ICA location on 2nd Street between Brazos and San Jacinto on Saturday, March 13th from 1 to 4 p.m. Find directions and parking information in the sidebar on this page.

The Interpreter’s Special Interest Group will be meeting on Saturday February 13th from 10 AM to 12 noon at the AATIA headquarters in the International Center of Austin on 2nd street and Trinity. In the meeting Joseph Brettell, a Licensed Court Interpreter will present on certification exams for court interpreters, training materials available to aspiring court interpreters, and the realities and practice of court interpretation. We will have a practice session of real texts which are commonly seen in the courts. All interpreters or other interested parties are welcome. See you then!

AATIA is pleased to present a complimentary translation memory tool webinar for freelancers during our next membership meeting on January 9. A qualified trainer from Across Systems will demonstrate how to put this tool into practice.

Please join us at the International Center of Austin. The meeting begins at 1:00 and the webinar begins at 1:30. 

If you are unable to attend the meeting, you may also join us online by registering via this link:
 https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/473840274

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer

Mark your calendars!

AATIA’s Literary Special Interest Group—the LitSIG—has (mostly) finalized its schedule for the rest of the year:

• November 21, 2009
• January 23, 2010
• February 20, 2010
• March 27, 2010
• April 24, 2010 (Poetry Month!)
• May 22 (or 29), 2010

All meetings take place on a Saturday from 2 to 4 pm, unless otherwise noted.

For more information about specific meetings, including location, or to learn more about LitSIG in general, contact the LitSIG coordinator, Liliana Valenzuela, at litsig@aatia.org.

For those who won’t be attending the ATA’s 50th Anniversary conference in New York, the AATIA’s November 14 meeting is the next-best thing! Four Austin members will provide a debriefing on their experiences at this milestone event in the Big Apple.

Pat Bobeck, who translates French and Spanish into English and specializes in (among other things) geology, petroleum engineering, and environmental sciences will talk about her visit to New York.

Esther Diaz, Administrator of ATA’s Medical Division, will also share her perspective on the conference.

And literary translators Liliana Valenzuela and Tony Beckwith will discuss their conference presentation, “Two Heads are Better than One: A Literary Translation Story,” and explain how they jointly translated a book of 73 stories riddled with jokes, puns, plays on words, cultural references, and onomatopoeia.

Join us and get a first-hand report of what’s going on at the heart of our industry. As always, there’ll be refreshments and lots of good networking on Saturday, November 14, from 1 to 4 pm at our downtown space at the ICA premises (check www.aatia.net for the address, directions, and parking instructions.)

Watch this blog for more details!

Free parking is available at the Convention Center parking garage, which is on the west side of the building that houses our offices. Enter from Brazos Street, inform the attendant that you are attending an AATIA event, and sign a garage parking record sheet. There is no charge. 
 

The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) will be meeting this year at the Pasadena Hilton Hotel in sunny Pasadena, California, November 11-14 (note the new dates!). Featured speakers will be John Nathan of UC Santa Barbara, Ilan Stavans of Amherst, and Michael Henry Heim of UCLA, whose work is associated with Japan, Latin America, and Europe, respectively. For information on panels, workshops, readings, special events, and registration, go to the ALTA website.

The next membership meeting of the AATIA will feature a special presentation by Jorge Ungo, Southwest Region Manager for Pacific Interpreters, current President of the Texas Association of Healthcare Interpreters and Translators (TAHIT), and a board member and membership co-chair of the National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare (NCIHC). From wikis and blogs to social bookmarking – this presentation will demystify the world of the Web 2.0 to demonstrate how translators and interpreters can connect more effectively with colleagues and share important tools and resources.

At the meeting this Saturday, the candidates for the 2010 board will share their platforms and plans. Don’t miss this opportunity to inform yourself in preparation for the upcoming on-line election.

In recognition of the contribution to our profession by St. Jerome, the patron saint of translators, Michael Blumenthal will discuss the historical significance of the principle translator of the Vulgate Bible, share some lessons his work can teach, and announce plans for the International Translation Day celebration.

Please join us at the ICA office on September 12^th at 1 p.m. for fun, facts, and food.