The Translation Company Division (TCD) of the American Translators Association will hold its 9th Annual Conference July 17-20, 2008, in a Rocky Mountain setting at the Inverness Hotel and Conference Center in Englewood, Colorado. The theme will be "TCD in the Rockies: Translation with Altitude."

• Thursday evening reception and banquet
• Two days (Friday and Saturday) of informative educational sessions tailored to the needs and concerns of translation company owners and managers
• Topics include industry trends, workflow tools, project management, sales and marketing, and behavioral interviewing
• Plenty of time and opportunity for networking, networking, and more networking!
• Optional Friday or Saturday evening activity in Denver, The Mile High City
• Sunday morning buffet breakfast

Every 14 days a language dies. By 2100, more than half of the more than 7,000 languages spoken on Earth — many of them never yet recorded — will likely disappear, taking with them a wealth of knowledge about history, culture, the natural environment, and how the human brain works.

National Geographic’s Enduring Voices Project (conducted in collaboration with the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages) strives to preserve endangered languages by identifying language hotspots — the places on our planet with the most unique, poorly understood, or threatened indigenous languages — and documenting the languages and cultures within them.

When I first joined the AATIA I served on a committee. All the members were — coincidentally — also Spanish translators. Given that random twist of fate, someone suggested that we write to each other in Spanish to discuss the business at hand. That struck me as a brilliant idea, since it would allow me to communicate informally in Spanish, which would be very helpful as most of my communication is in English. To my surprise, one of the members announced that she felt too intimidated to do that, saying she felt insecure about her command of written Spanish, and dropped out of the committee.

In my youth I was an actor in a theater group. Like the other actors, I’d read from my script during the early stage of rehearsals. But as we got closer to opening night the director would urge us to put down the script and act — really act. We rehearsed in a warehouse, with other group members sitting just a few feet away. I always felt intimidated and hung on to my script like a security blanket, defying the director and saying, “I’ll be fine when we’re actually on stage, with lights and an audience.” It took me a long time to realize that I was wrong, and that I was squandering a wonderful chance to get into my role in front of my peers, who were there to support me and encourage me, not sit in judgment of my performance.

I think that the committee member who didn’t want to write emails in Spanish was making the same mistake. Being involved with a group of translators is a chance to practice speaking and writing one’s “second language.” This is a priceless opportunity, which absolutely should not be squandered.

The March issue of The AATIA Letter, now online as a pdf, features Frank Dietz’s article "Getting Your Files from There to Here"(posted here earlier) and Tony Beckwith’s mini-memoir "The Caledonian Ball," plus the news about AATIA’s HQ office in the heart of downtown Austin and the new blog (you’re reading it!).

AATIA Angels make monetary contributions to the association above and beyond any dues obligations and volunteer activity. According to Director of Finance Al Favela, the following have contributed toward the 2008 budget:

Tony Beckwith, Albert Bork, Michael & Marta Blumenthal, Tomoko Carroll, Sonia Hart, Yolanda Zamarrita Linehan, Ralph McElroy Translations, Leon McMorrow, Rita Pavone, Ezequiel Quijano, Maria Victoria Delgado Ryan, Kathi Stock, Phillip Thomas, Liliana Valenzuela, and Nereida Samuda Zimic.

The Board of Directors expressed thanks to these Angels for their generous support of the association. Others who want to become AATIA Angels, even non-members, may contribute via the PayPal button at the bottom of the membership page.

Michael Blumenthal will speak at the American Translators Association Spanish Language Division Conference, which will be held March 28-30 in Philadelphia. The abstract of his bilingual presentation, titled “The Pancreas: Function and Dysfunction,” follows:

Homeostasis, the dynamic balance of neurological and chemical processes in the human body, is maintained by constant feedback and regulation involving the brain, nervous tissues, and a great number of glands and organs. One important and essential organ that helps maintain homeostasis that many translators and interpreters do not know much about is the pancreas. Pathological conditions of the pancreas can be chronic or acutely life threatening. The goals of this workshop include: identify the pancreatic anatomical structures with which medical translators and interpreters must be familiar; discuss function and dysfunction of the pancreas including pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis, and diabetes; become familiar with the most common diagnostic and laboratory tests; and provide a useful Spanish<>English glossary of terms.

& Noah Nordskog" href="http://aatia.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/julienoahnordskog.jpg">& Noah Nordskog" src="http://aatia.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/julienoahnordskog.thumbnail.jpg" />AATIA Secretary Julie Nordskog and her son Noah were featured in the CBS 42 news cover story, “Volunteering as a Family Project,” broadcast on February 18. The video clip and text of the story are now available on the KEYE TV website.

If you’ve been dragging your feet about registering for the information session on ATA certification, drag them no longer! The registration deadline is Monday, February 25th. Contact Laura Vlasman, ATA Certification Coordinator for AATIA, for more information.