The 2022 ITI Conference in Brighton was much anticipated by all. It has taken me a couple of months to get this debrief of sorts written up. I wanted to watch all the session recordings on my list before I started writing and then client work took over.
This review is a summary of my personal experience of the ITI Conference, what worked for me and what didn’t and what I’ll take forward into my everyday working life. Part I will cover the pre-conference prep and what it was like to actually meet people in person. Part II will focus on the talks and my main takeaways from the conference.
Pre-conference prep
Over the past few years, I’ve become increasingly involved in the ITI ecosystem, volunteering for networks, partnering with ITI colleagues for revision clubs and attending the ITI walking weekend. The ITI Conference would be the first big event where I expected to know a lot of people before I arrived and it was set to be a fantastic opportunity to actually meet them in real life.
In addition to deciding which talks I would attend live, an important part of my conference preparation was, therefore, to find out who was going and when they might be free to meet up (perhaps at the French Network dinner or the Spanish Network lunch).
Somehow I ended up totally on brand with the conference, which was – I had to protest a number of times – a complete coincidence! I had actually planned at least one of my outfits to match my brand colours in case I had time to get headshots (I did). It was entirely unforeseen that my turquoise glasses and nail varnish would match the conference lanyards too.
Given that I was travelling by train, I had actually planned out my entire conference wardrobe. I knew I wouldn’t have time to wash anything overnight, and I was absolutely not going to risk not having fresh clothes every day.
One final minor piece of preparation was getting my digital business card ready. I wasn’t expecting to use it much, given how little I had used it at the CIOL Conference earlier in the year, but I wanted to have it ready just in case. As expected, I got it out for just a handful of people, since all delegates who wanted my details had access to all my information on the conference platform anyway.
Meeting up
Being able to talk to people I had only ever seen on my computer screen, but who I had connected with over our shared passion for translation, was one of the highlights of the conference for me. Having travelled down on the Sunday night, I was able to meet up for dinner with one of my revision club partners, Carmen Swanwick-Roa. We also went out with our third group member, Claire Ivins, the next day for a delicious Ethiopian meal. We had been working together for over a year before ever meeting in person, so it was nice to relax in a more social setting.
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I found the first major event of the conference, the drinks reception on Monday night, fairly overwhelming, having not been around so many people for a very long time. Unfortunately, the acoustics at the Grand Hotel were not well-suited to large crowds and I know I wasn’t the only one who found it difficult to hold a conversation. I actually had to go outside for a breather and to rest my ears (and my brain) a few times. Even so, I enjoyed chatting to some new colleagues and some old ones from the East Anglia network, before heading to the French Network dinner.
Given that being able to meet up in person and talk to colleagues was a big draw of the conference, I found the breaks between sessions far too short. There was just about time to get a drink, say hello and then work out where you had to go next. The rush was a bit much for me at times and I skipped a couple of the live sessions I had planned to attend to take a breath after getting lost in discussions with colleagues.
This was somewhat compensated by the events put on by the networks, in particular the French Network dinner on Monday night and the Spanish Network lunch on the Wednesday. Both of these events were an excellent opportunity to socialize with colleagues, and conversation topics ranged from translating children’s videogames to the challenges facing translation as a profession. We were so busy eating and chatting at the Spanish Network lunch that we missed the first afternoon session. That speaks volumes about the quality of the company, the conversation and, of course, the food!
I was also pleased that a fair few members of the new ITI International Development & Cooperation Network were able to join us for an informal lunch on the beach. It was pretty windy and the seagulls were circling, but we still had a good time. It would be nice to organize a bigger and more formal meal next time, once the network is properly up and running.
I, like everyone else, was very much looking forward to dressing up and socializing with colleagues at the Gala Dinner. It did not disappoint. I had such fun sitting with a few other members of the East Anglia network, who I have gotten to know quite well over the years. The food was great, everyone made an effort to get glammed up and the ITI Awards ceremony filled me with such a sense of pride in and respect for our profession.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in putting on the conference. You brought so much joy to so many and put on a fabulous celebration of our profession.
Links:
International Development & Cooperation Network
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