10 translation conferences you should not miss

I still remember the first conference I attended when I joined the industry 12 years ago. After graduating from the university, I met all those big names we have heard of so many times… It was more like a fairy tale, where the little prince was looking at the famous knights he always wanted to learn from.
12 years passed by, and I attended a conference last week, where I met a large group of these people again, with a slight difference compared to the first event back to 2005: we became partners, co-workers, and – with many of them - friends in the meantime. This was the point when I realized, how much I would have lost if I had missed those events in the past…
 
Back then, I had the impression that conferences are all about learning – which is partly true: you can learn a lot about how to improve your business in a time and cost-efficient manner, get firsthand information on the latest trends… But conferences are also about meeting new people, formal and informal meetings, making business, networking, and… having fun. Yes, the combination of these can make a conference successful. Though there is one important element that will make a conference successful and useful: YOU, the attendee.
 
As the end of the year approaches, the conference season is becoming very busy again. You will surely have a lot of translation projects to complete, and there will always be a good excuse to skip a conference… But please bear in mind: you’d never know why a conference will be important for you. What you should surely know though is that each event you skip might be a lost opportunity.
 
To make the selection a bit easier, we have compiled a short list of conferences the memoQ team will be attending by the end of the year.
 
Check them out, sign up, schedule a meeting and let us help you make your translation workflow more effective, meet with other companies, attend parties, or… Just have an informal chat with the memoQ guys… We are looking forward to meeting you all over the world!
 

Elia Networking Days Bucharest

12-13 October, 2017  I  Bucharest, Romania

Elia’s Networking Days is an unmissable annual forum for translation company professionals. This two-day program addresses a range of challenges, with a chance to update skills, gain a new perspective of the changing business landscape, and exchange viewpoints with peers.
 

tekom/tcworld Conference

24-26 October, 2017  I  Stuttgart, Germany

The tcworld conference is the leading global event and marketplace for technical communication, a truly must-go event. Localization and translation solutions, authoring tools, technical documentation, visualization, management of product data, video creation, language technology, service management and content management are just a few of the countless topics the tcworld conference addresses.

ATA  Annual Conference 58

25-28 October, 2017  I  Washington, DC, USA

If you are a freelance translator (or a language service provider) located in the Americas, the annual conference of the American Translators Association is THE EVENT you should not miss! Get ready to join along with 1,800 attendees from more than 60 countries, learn about the most recent trends, and listen to presentations you will not hear elsewhere – e.g. Kilgray’s executive director Peter Reynolds will talk about how to run a better translation company using better data.
 

GameConnection Europe

1-3 November, 2017  I  Paris, France

Gaming is one of the fastest developing industries to date. Companies usually underestimate the importance of localization – however, this is THE KEY to open to new markets.

memoQ is the #1 software for managing games localization, used by companies like WARGAMING.NET, Gameforge, SEGA Europe, and many others.
 

LocWorld35 Silicon Valley

1-3 November, 2017  I  Santa Clara, CA, USA

If ATA58 is the event for freelance translators, LocWorld35 is THE ULTIMATE STARTING POINT for translation companies and enterprises that want to learn about industry trends, meet tool providers, and understand, how technology can optimize their workflow and improve their ROI dramatically.

 

Medica 2017

13-16 November, 2017  I  Düsseldorf, Germany

Medica is the world's leading trade fair for the medical industry. Same as with games localization, translating manuals, guides, videos, training and other materials is essential to be successful.
Growing your business and implementing new technologies is part of a longer (experimenting) process – so is the search for new conferences. Our team is also on this path now, since this is the first time the memoQ team attends Medica.

 

OTTIAQ – Annual Conference and Continuing Education Day

17-18 November, 2017  I  Montreal, Canada

OTTIAQ is the link between three professions whose members—certified translators, terminologists and interpreters—share a sense of pride in their skills. If you are a freelance translator or a language service provider located in Canada, this is the event you cannot miss!

 

Nordic Translation Industry Forum (NTIF)

23-24 November, 2017  I  Helsinki, Finland
 
NTIF establishes a forum where language industry representatives from the Nordic and Baltic countries can exchange ideas and knowledge in an engaging environment.

 

30 November 2017 – Tokyo, Japan  I  4 December – Osaka, Japan

Following the success of last year’s events, Kilgray’s memoQ Days return to Tokyo and Osaka to help translators, translation companies, and enterprises understand how translation technology can optimize their workflow, lower overhead and make their entire translation process more efficient.
 

MIGS 2017

11 – 13 December  I  Montreal, Canada

The Montreal International Game Summit brings together hundreds of international experts to one of the largest hubs of video games development in the world so that they can share their knowledge with the local and international developers attending the event.
 
Schedule a meeting and learn from our localization experts before rubbing shoulders with them during the MIGS networking cocktails and other special events over the 3 days.