NB: Due to the coronavirus NETA is currently holding all of its board and monthly meetings virtually.

NETA board meetings are held four times a year, generally in September, January, March, and June. Final dates, times, locations, and agendas are announced in advance via email. Due to the coronavirus, NETA is now holding all of its board and monthly meetings electronically.

Attendance Policy:
Any NETA member may attend a board meeting as an observer. Once you've received an email with the meeting agenda, we ask that you tell the board which agenda item(s) you are interested in via email to board@netaweb.org. At the meeting, you will be invited to speak about those items. Board members may or may not discuss those items, depending on time constraints. NETA members can sit through the whole meeting, unless the board moves to proceed in a closed session.

Board meeting dates for 2020-21: September 12, January 16 (back-up January 30), March 13 (back-up March 27), June 19 (back-up June 26).

General meetings are usually held once a month from September through April on Saturday afternoons.

2019-20

September 21: 14th Annual Translation Bash, 1:30-4:30 Email mcomenetz@gmail.com, tell us your language pair, and receive a copy of this year's English passage. Translate that passage at your convenience before bash day, and join in as we debate the ins and outs of each sentence. We'll have a facilitator in place for English>Spanish. If you work into another language and would like to participate on September 21, just write to us. We'll keep a tally and let you know about other people who sign up to work in your language pair. If a given group is large enough, we will attempt to find a facilitator. Smaller groups and pairs can readily work on their own.

October 19: Code Switching in Intercultural Communication, 2:00-4:00  Different approaches to translation or interpretation of bilingual (multilingual) communication may challenge the practitioner when s/he needs to transfer embedded cultural codes from a language other than the dominant language of the source message (SM), be it in written or oral form, into target communication. The purpose of this presentation is to review code switching practices, its implications, and various ways in which code switching (CS) is transferred into a target message (TM). We will highlight issues specifically related to code switching in culturally challenging multilingual communication encounters. A PowerPoint presentation and pertinent handouts will complement this talk.

Our speaker, Jenya Krein, is an educator, a certified medical interpreter and a translator. A native of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia, she holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Tampa and a BA in Human Services from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. She served at the Office of Multicultural Health of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. As Community Connections Program Director funded by the U.S. Department of State, she worked in cultural exchange arranging homestay and internships for visiting professionals. As Russian Program Director at Brighton House, she served the local Russian community and facilitated access to services and healthcare for Russian-speaking seniors. Ms. Krein is also a translator, author, and editor, and a member of PEN America, writing and publishing both in her native Russian and in English. Her novels, short stories, essays and translations of poetry and literary prose have been published in the U.S., in Russia and in Europe. Her Eliot Weinberger essay translations were included in the Paper Tigers collection (Ivan Limbakh Publishing House, Russian, 2007) and Moscow's Esquire magazine (Russia, 2007).

November 16: Adding Value to Your Language Services, 2:00-4:00  We will explore how we can use the "value added" concept to make time spent working more profitable and enjoyable. Let's stop being at the mercy of outside forces. If we craft a unique brand and specialized services, we will have more control over our work and the rates we charge, whether it be interpreting, translation, recording or any other language service.

Our presenters, Rudy and Sarah Heller, have been a highly respected team in into-Spanish translation for over 30 years. They also co-authored the Spanish version of Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur audio language-learning program. Originally doing business as Spanish/English Services, they changed the company's name to Heller Language Solutions in order to incorporate other languages into the portfolio. This was in response to client requests to manage multiple language projects.

Rudy got his start in freelance translating when he was still in high school in Colombia, translating family business projects. He has continued working in all aspects of the language profession for over 50 years. He is ATA-certified from English into Spanish and was an ATA grader for almost 20 years. Rudy is certified as a Federal court Interpreter and continues to interpret in the federal courts as well as at conferences. He has also worked as talent and director/producer at recording studios.

Sarah was born and raised in the U.S. and earned a B.A. in Spanish. She lived many years in Colombia. Sarah has over 20 years of experience working in the language profession as a project manager and editor. As a graphic designer, Sarah is skilled in the Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign®, Illustrator®, Acrobat®) and Microsoft PowerPoint. She specializes in taking existing English graphic elements and modifying them so that they have the same visual appeal with Spanish content.

December 7: Annual Holiday Party, in Woburn, MA

January 18: Author and Translator Describe Challenges in Working on a Full-length Book on Violence Against Women, 2:00-4:00 In this #Me too/Las Tesis moment, a translator and bilingual author worked together to get the words and tone "just right" for a readership that would extend across national boundaries. In this talk they describe the process they followed, the interactions, and specific terms that posed challenges, such as: victim (f), survivor, abuser, stalking, and gender in the abusive dynamics.

Our author-presenter, Lisa Aronson Fontes, PhD, is an internationally known expert on child abuse and violence against women. As researcher, activist, expert witness, and author, she works to protect the most vulnerable people from violence. She has written widely about interpreting for children in crisis. She authored the books Invisible Chains: Overcoming Coercive Control in Your Intimate Relationship, Interviewing Clients Across Cultures, and Child Abuse and Culture, as well as numerous journal articles. She is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Fontes is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

Our translator-presenter, Rudy Heller, got his start in freelance translating when he was still in high school in Colombia, translating family business projects. He has continued working in all aspects of the language profession for over 50 years. He is ATA-certified from English into Spanish and was an ATA grader for almost 20 years. Rudy is certified as a Federal court Interpreter and continues to interpret in the federal courts as well as at conferences. He has also worked as talent and director/producer at recording studios.

February 22: How To Be an Interpreter or Translator and Not Go Broke, 2:00-4:00  In this webinar we will consider the business of interpreting/translation from a variety of perspectives to develop a successful business plan. This includes, among other things, evaluating the quality of the product being offered, how the client sees it, how to promote it, what the competition is, what the market may bear, the cost of doing business, basic accounting and invoicing, follow-up practices for sustainability, and client follow-up and satisfaction. This presentation will be responsive to the needs of the audience. Resources will be provided.

Our presenter, Helen Eby, is a certified English-into-Spanish and Spanish-into-English translator, a certified court interpreter, and a certified health care interpreter. She was a medical school student at the University of Buenos Aires for two years. She graduated from the Escuela Nacional en Lenguas Vivas as a teacher of English and Spanish. One of her major interests is supporting translators and interpreters, which is why she co-founded The Savvy Newcomer blog and ¡Al rescate del español!, a blog about improving Spanish writing. She also co-founded the Oregon Society of Translators and Interpreters and the Spanish Editors Association. She has established training programs for medical interpreting and translation in Oregon.

March 28: Editing and Proofreading: From Paper to Digital, 2:00-4:00  This presentation will provide a brief introduction about how editing and proofreading were performed on paper copies and then describe how those marks transfer onto digital tools such as MS Word and Adobe Acrobat Reader free edition, with a preview of an InCopy page set-up. We will also show how to create a practical editing and proofreading digital environment, with tips on folder structure, configuration settings and useful reference materials. Editing and proofreading will be defined as separate tasks within the translation and desktop publishing processes. The intention is to help editors and proofreaders maximize the use of their tools, showing translators ways of improving their self-editing skills and giving interpreters strategies for reviewing their ad hoc assignments. Examples and typical cases will be provided in English and in several other languages spoken in the NETA footprint region.

Our presenter, Erika Schulz, earned her MA in Spanish translation from Kent State University and holds a Bachelor's degree as a scientific, technical and literary translator and another as a teacher of English as a second language from Argentina. Erika has worked as a freelance translator since 1991 and has 15 years of teaching experience in Argentina and the U.S. She has also cultivated her interest in medical interpreting over the years.
As a full-time translator, Erika worked for SDL Boulder and in 2005, joined Victory Productions, an educational publishing house based Worcester, MA, working as a senior Spanish editor, translator and project manager for clients such as Scott Foresman, Pearson, Harcourt, SBG and OSV. In 2016 she joined the Center for Health Impact, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting equal access to health care. At CHI she serves as Director of Translation Services, organizing multilingual projects in different file formats and environments for local and state agencies managing health care and social benefits programs. Erika has been an ATA member since 2002 and a NETA member since 2006.

April 18: Dimensions in Translation and Interpretation: Standard and Environmental (BYOGT: Bring your own green translator), 2:00-4:00  This presentation addresses the role of the translator and interpreter with an ecological twist. From theory to practice, from both strategic personal and interpersonal focuses, we will discuss classical views while also exploring a new approach incorporating the environmental dimension and its effects on the tasks and perspectives of the language worker. The main goal is to further improve the quality of our art in relation to the natural world. We believe that translators and interpreters can play a vital role in the preservation of nature for future generations. Get ready for a "green language journey," complete with music and visuals!

Our speaker, educator and translator Laura Rojo MacLeod, is a graduate of the Universidad Nacional de Tucumán and the Instituto Cultural Argentino de Lenguas Vivas. She worked as a bilingual executive secretary, a translator and interpreter, a product researcher, a group instructor, and in other key roles for various companies and institutions in Argentina, where she also served as board member, translator and coordinator of the International Federation of University Women in Tucumán. She has translated material in fields ranging from education to construction and from meteorology to marketing. There has always been an educational component to her activity, too. For example, in Argentina she created and taught a bilingual translation/conversation workshop for office staff as well as an intensive communicative program for the hospitality industry, whereas right here in Massachusetts she started the first bilingual after-school program in her town. She is also the founder and owner of Amherst Bilingual Studio. Her bilingual publications include poetry as well as educational, environmental and human resource material.

Laura's interest in the environment is long-standing. Over thirty years ago she translated the first United Nations Environmental Program handbook for UNESCO. Subsequently she organized and presented a variety of ecological projects, seminars and materials in her role as project manager, and later president, of the first NGO in northwestern Argentina. Her work at Amherst Bilingual Studio includes an environmental component. And she is a longtime Sierra Club outing leader, to cap things off. Her ongoing focus is global environmental ethics in decision makers. She's a member of AATI, FWI, LWV and NETA.

July 25: Virtual summer social gathering