Join us on Saturday, March 10, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for our next AATIA general meeting.

Judy A. Jenner

The Spanish Special Interest Group (SpanSIG) cordially invites you to its first meeting of 2012, scheduled for Saturday, March 3rd, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the AATIA office.

Molly Sheridan, an experienced translator and interpreter, will present “Sight Translation: Practicing a Strategy.” You will need paper, pencil, and a voice recorder — if you have one. (Many cell phones have recording capability.)

The AATIA office is located at 201 East 2nd Street. You can use the Convention Center Parking Garage (entrance on Brazos Street). In order to get free parking, when you exit just tell the attendant that you attended an AATIA meeting.

We hope to see you there!

SpanSIG Coordinators

January 14th general membership meeting

If you missed the first membership meeting of the year, no need to worry. Here’s a brief recap.
After our newly elected president, Rose Tempfer, welcomed everyone and introduced the new Board of Directors for 2012, Director of Communications Casey Butterfield gave everyone a preview of AATIA's new website. The website is expected to go live soon, so stay tuned for that announcement.

We began the year with a focus on court interpreting, led by our colleague Maurine McLean. Maurine shared her tips and her own experience in preparing to take the Federal Court Interpreting Exam. We had an excellent turnout with many new faces. We hope to continue to see you all at our general membership meetings. Mark your calendars for the following Saturdays from 1-4pm:  March 10th, May 12th, July 14th, September 8th, November 10th.

December 2011 Board meeting

2011 Board members met with incoming 2012 Board members on December 10, 2011, to wrap up the year and begin planning for 2012. The Board reviewed results from the survey distributed at November’s general membership meeting, which sought members' views on  professional development opportunities. Potential workshop topics in the works include a session on medical terminology, a Wordfast (translation memory software) training workshop, a TDLR-approved court interpreting workshop, and an introduction session on getting started in translation and interpreting. The dates and topics of 2012 workshops will be announced soon.

The Board approved the creation of an AATIA Twitter account to increase our members' exposure to potential clients. The Twitter account will also serve to send out announcements of AATIA events and of other local language-related events. AATIA will also soon add a LinkedIn account to its growing social media presence. The Board also approved the purchase of a camera and agreed that the Secretary would be responsible for photographing AATIA events.

Come network with fellow Interpreters and share tips, experiences, and most importantly to practice our interpreter skills: Simultaneous, Consecutive and Sight Translation in your language. So come and let's improve our skills!

Saturday February 11th from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Snacks and parking fee will be provided.

AATIA HQ at International Center of Austin

201 East 2nd Street

Austin, TX 78701

Join us on Saturday, January 14, from 1 p.m. to  4 p.m. for the first AATIA meeting of 2012.

Find out what it takes to pass the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination (FCICE).

Our colleague, Maurine McLean, is a Federally Certified Court Interpreter as well as an instructor for the Court Interpreting Class at ACC. She has graciously agreed to share with us her tips on how to prepare for this exam. She is creative and resourceful, and even if you are just a beginner (it is never too early to prepare), this is a presentation you do not want to miss!

So come see your fellow AATIA members, learn some valuable tips, and catch up after a busy Holiday Season. As always, delicious refreshments will be served.

The meeting will be held at AATIA headquarters, 201 East 2nd. Street, Austin, TX 78701. See you there!
  

At the September Membership Meeting, we heard from panelists representing international organizations in Austin: Global Austin, Panamerican Round Table, and the City of Austin's International Program.

The International Program publishes FYI International, an electronic newsletter about international business opportunities and meetings. You can see the current newsletter online. You can sign up to receive it directly each month.

We also learned about Austin's US Export Assistance Center through an interesting video presentation. The Center also publishes a monthly
newsletter of international export events. You can sign up to receive it by e-mail.

Come and learn about international organizations in Austin. We will have representatives from Global Austin, the Panamerican Roundtable, and the City of Austin’s Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office with information about their organizations and how we can benefit from each other’s international connections. In addition, we will have information about the Austin U.S. Export Assistance Center  of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Austin Sister Cities.

We will also have a presentation by President Carolina Modesto on Ergonomics — the science of designing user interaction with equipment and workplaces to fit the user in order to prevent repetitive strain injuries.

Last, but not least, we will introduce the candidates for AATIA's 2012 Board of Directors.

Don’t miss these interesting topics!

Date: Saturday, September 10

Time:     1:00 to 4:00 PM

Place:    AATIA Headquarters (map at right)

                International Center of Austin

                201 East 2^nd Street

                Austin, TX  78701

(Free parking available in Convention Center Parking Garage on Brazos)

We have an excellent program lined up for you on July 9.

First, Michele McKay Aynesworth will share some of her extraordinary experiences translating Une Saison gâtée [Season of Infamy: The Wartime Diary of Charles Rist 1939-1945]. Then, the Literary Special Interest Group will recap their special event this past January — One Hundred Bottles. If you were lucky enough to attend, you remember translator Achy Obejas regaling the audience with stories about meeting and working with Portela, as well as her work with Junot Diaz and Cuban crime fiction. If you missed it, here is your chance to see some videoclips of the event.

If interpreting is your field, you will enjoy a presentation on the new Texas Remote Interpreter Project. The State Office of Court Administration is implementing this three-year, grant-funded program to provide Texas district and county-level courts with remote foreign language interpreting in civil cases involving family violence between intimate partners. AATIA members Juanita Ulloa and Marco Hanson staff this project and will share first-hand information about it.

Date: Saturday, July 9
Time: 1:00 to 4:00 PM
Place: AATIA Headquarters (map at right)
            International Center of Austin
            201 East 2nd Street
            Austin, TX 78701

We'll see you there!