Musings from an overworked translator

Tips for the upcoming ATA conference October 7, 2016

It’s now less than a month until the ATA Annual Conference in San Francisco. I just wanted to share some administrative tips for those of you who may not be active on the listservs and might have missed it.

• Be sure to download the conference app and if nothing else please use it to submit session and conference evaluations. This will save ATA money and will ensure that the conference fee, which is now designed to break-even instead of lose money, will remain as low as it can possibly be.
• Bring your own tote or messenger bag to the conference. ATA decided last year to do away with them, since most people threw them out and, most recently, recycled them at the end of the conference. There will be an ATA messenger bag to purchase at the ATAWare table, but they sold out very quickly last year. So either bring your own bag or buy the messenger bag as soon as you check in.
• If you are planning on attending the Job Fair this year be sure to bring some printed resumes with you to hand to the companies there. The companies will have signs indicating exactly what they are looking for, so you won’t need 30. Maybe print out 10 just in case. Better to have too many than too few.
• Be sure to order and bring your business cards. I’ve been buying mine from Vista Print, but there are lots of affordable options. Just be sure to splurge a little and get one that doesn’t have an ad for the printing company.
• We will be in the Financial District again. This is close to the Embarcadero Center and the Ferry Building with its many restaurants and artisan food market as well as within walking distance of Chinatown and my favorite restaurant, The Tadich Grill (I highly recommend the cioppino). If you want to eat at the Slanted Door, which is also fairly close (1 Ferry Building #3), I recommend getting a reservation.
• For those of you who will still be there on Sunday, Jose, Joe and I are getting a group together for dim sum. Please let me know ahead of time if you’d like to join us so I can make the reservation. Dim sum is best enjoyed with a group.