Alisa Hamilton shares her first-timer impressions from the ATA Conference in San Francisco 2016:
Alisa Hamilton with Erling Dugan (middle) and Carlos Umaña (right).
ATA57 was my very first ATA conference. Truth be told, I had never attended a professional conference of any kind in my entire career and I had very little idea of what to expect. And I will be honest, my first impression was one of complete and total overwhelm. So many people rushing about, so many rooms, floors, sessions, exhibitors… and somehow I had to jump in.
Gradually I found my footing, thanks to some helpful tips from the ATA for first-time conference attendees and my wonderful Buddy (a conference mentor provided by the ATA). I sincerely appreciated all the advice and help that the ATA provided, and thanks to these I was enjoying my first conference in no time.
Some of the highlights for me were:
- The Advanced Skills Training Day
I really enjoyed the two classes I took the Wednesday before the conference officially started. These courses cost extra, above and beyond the regular conference registration fee, but I found them to be worth the additional expense. I enjoyed getting an in-depth look at my chosen topics and both presenters were excellent. Each class also had a half-hour break with refreshments provided in the conference room, so it was very easy to meet and talk with my fellow attendees and to make more meaningful connections than was possible in the shorter conference sessions.
- Division Events
I had a great time at all the language division events I attended. Even though I am not the world’s biggest extrovert, I found that it was very easy to talk to people at these events since we already had something so important in common- our working languages. I feel these events are where I made the most lasting connections.
- The Exhibit Hall
Following a very helpful tip from the ATA for first-time conference attendees, I did a thorough tour of the exhibit hall twice, once at a busy time between sessions where I could get and overview and then once again during a session when it was much less crowded and I could talk to the vendors I wanted to talk to. I wound up getting a lengthy, in-depth training session on a translation software tailored exactly to my needs because there wasn’t anyone else there.
- The Dance
It may seem frivolous, but the dance was one of my very favorite parts of the conference. It was great to be in a fun, relaxed setting with some of the people I had seen and gotten to know at the conference. The DJ played a wide variety of world music and the dance floor was full. It was a great ending to the week.
All in all I found the conference to be both educational and inspirational, and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to attend. I am already looking forward to ATA58.
Alisa Hamilton is a Danish to English translator, based in California.