On February 5th, 2025, the Law Division hosted its first webinar, Crafting Your ATA66 Proposal: Discover How to Share Your Expertise at ATA66! The session provided valuable guidance on navigating the submission process for the ATA Annual Conference. Liz, LawD Administrator, Katja, Member of the LawD Leadership Council, and Lenny, Member of the Law Division and experienced speaker, shared practical tips and insights on submitting and crafting compelling proposals.
Key Takeaways from the Webinar:
The webinar was packed with expert advice, focusing on four main areas: choosing the right topic, understanding the submission process, writing your proposal, and avoiding common pitfalls. Here’s a recap of the most important points discussed:
1. Choosing Your Topic: Know What to Submit
The first step to crafting a successful proposal is selecting a relevant and engaging topic. Liz, who reviews proposals that select “legal” as a subject matter, emphasized the importance of choosing topics that truly resonate with our members. To ensure alignment with members’ interests, Liz refers to the latest Law Division membership survey. You can check out the most recent survey results here, where item #10 highlights the top topics that received the most votes from our members.
As Lenny emphasized, it’s crucial to select a topic you’re passionate about. While you don’t need to be the world’s leading expert on the subject, you should have some experience in the field or topic you plan to present.
Katja explained that for her, it was important to choose a topic where she can help other legal professionals understand the business side of the profession and address common challenges.
2. Understanding the Submission Process
Once you’ve chosen your topic, the next step is completing the ATA submission form. Katja walked through each section of the form, offering tips on how to fill it out effectively. One key piece of advice: complete all fields on the form and follow the requirements for each section. Your submission should accurately reflect what attendees can expect, including key takeaways and goals.
Katja also stressed the importance of meeting deadlines and providing updates if any session details change after submission.
Finally, remember that the website doesn’t save your progress. If you’re not ready to submit your proposal yet, be sure to save your drafted information in a separate document so you don’t lose your work.
3. Writing Your Proposal: Tips for Crafting a Winning Submission
This section of the webinar focused on writing a proposal that stands out to reviewers. Panelists Lenny and Katja shared insights based on their experiences with the proposal-writing process.
Lenny, who had three proposals accepted last year, explained his approach to crafting proposals, covering everything from choosing a title to writing the description and bio. He emphasized that many attendees decide whether to attend a session based solely on the title. Additionally, once your proposal is accepted, the title, description, and bio you submit will appear on the conference website, so it’s important to make them compelling and accurate.
Katja stressed the importance of ensuring the session description matches the actual content of your presentation. Since proposals are accepted months in advance, attendees sometimes complain when the session doesn’t align with the description on the website. It’s crucial to stick to the plan you submitted or update the description if there are changes.
A key takeaway from Liz was the importance of tailoring your bio to reflect your expertise in the subject matter. Adapting your bio to highlight your experience in the field you are presenting is essential for building credibility with reviewers and, if accepted, the audience.
4. Common Pitfalls: What to Avoid
As with any proposal process, there are common mistakes that can affect your submission. Liz explained that typos, vague wording, and unclear descriptions are key factors in deciding whether to approve or dismiss a proposal. She emphasized the importance of having multiple people review your submission before finalizing it. Having a native English speaker review is especially important, as submissions must be in English regardless of your presentation language.
Another crucial tip was to avoid over-reliance on AI-generated content without proper review. While AI tools can be helpful, proposals that appear overly automated may raise red flags and doubt about the submitter’s expertise. Finally, make sure your proposal accurately reflects the session you plan to deliver—don’t deviate from the initial description after submission.
Submission Requirements and Process Recap
To help you craft your own successful ATA66 proposal, here’s a brief overview of the submission process and key requirements:
- Submission Form: Visit the ATA Call for Speakers page to access the submission form. Complete all sections, including session descriptions, speaker bios, and follow the requirements stated.
- Proposal Content: Ensure your topic is relevant to translation and interpreting and aligns with ATA members’ interests. Stay consistent with your topic throughout the process.
- Session Description: Your session description should be clear and accurately represent your presentation. Include practical takeaways for attendees. Follow the requirements shown in the form.
- Speaker Bio: Update your bio to highlight your expertise in the topic you’re presenting.
- Submission Deadline: The deadline for submission is March 3, 2025. Be mindful of this deadline to ensure your proposal is considered.
- Review Process: The Law Division Administrator and Assistant review submissions based on relevance, clarity, and alignment with the interests of the membership.
- Final Decision: The final decision on acceptance will be communicated the week of June 2, 2025.
- Presentation Submission: Speakers whose proposals are accepted must submit their complete presentation by September 1, 2025.
- Session Format: Each session is 60 minutes long, including a 15-minute Q&A period.
- Track Selection: You must choose a track—Translation or Interpretation.
- New Languages Available:
- English – Topics of interest for interpreters and translators in subject matters that are not language-specific.
- Southeastern Asian Languages – Topics of interest for interpreters and translators working from or into Southeastern Asian languages (sessions may be in Southeastern Asian languages or English).
- New Subject Matter/Topics:
- Grammar and Style – Topics related to grammar and style in the T&I profession.
- T&I in School Settings – Topics of interest for translators and interpreters working in school settings.
- Terminology – Topics related to terminology in the T&I profession.
- Language Access – Topics related to promoting language access in the T&I profession.
- Submission Limit: Each speaker may submit up to two (2) proposals total, either as a primary speaker or co-speaker.
Conclusion
The LawD webinar provided invaluable guidance for our members looking to submit a proposal for the ATA66 conference. With expert advice from experienced speakers and reviewers, attendees now have a clearer understanding of the submission process and how to craft a winning proposal.
Remember, the key to success is choosing a topic you’re passionate about, ensuring your submission is error-free, and aligning your proposal with what conference attendees expect. We look forward to seeing your proposals at ATA66 and hope to help you take your expertise to the next level!
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