Following on from our article on interpreting (Need an interpreter? Four ways to prepare), we got in touch with one of the project managers from our Atlanta office who has been pretty busy flying interpreters out to assignments and setting up international conferences. Fatima took some time out from her schedule to tell us all about it…
It sounds like you’ve been managing some interesting projects recently. What’s been happening?
It’s been busy! We had two conference assignments (over several days) with simultaneous interpreting for Spanish, French and Russian. Both were in New York: the first was a conference on sustainable development at Cornell University organized by renowned German NGO and the second was a high level political conference with the German Consulate and UN. They involved a lot of planning and technical organization with a lot of schedule changes thrown in at the last moment, but it was a good challenge and both conferences were a success.
We also recently flew out our Ukrainian interpreter for a high-level business meeting in Houston for an Energy client, and our two Korean interpreters spent a week at a biotech company for a week long FDA audit!
What’s the most unusual language you have provided interpreting for?
Cebuano (a dialect from the Philippines) for a deposition. We’ve got a good network of professional interpreters, though, so we can usually handle requests even for uncommon languages.
Do you have any advice for people looking for an interpreter service?
Most definitely! Give us as much advance notice as possible so that we can find a good fit for your event. It’s not just a case of sending the nearest interpreter; we select a professional with the right subject expertise and professional experience from our network of interpreters. Without this, the resulting interpretation could fall way short of the mark. Interpreters have a special set of skills; it’s not something everyone can do.
What other interesting projects or events have been happening in the EVS Translations Atlanta office recently?
In recent weeks we’ve made it a point to meet with our existing and future customers in person to discuss and develop our relationship. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. In a business dominated by impersonal correspondence sitting down face to face and discussing how to best help a client achieve their localisation/translation goals is a rare treat. It’s a great way to develop trust between supplier and client, and it also helps to develop solutions.
In September our office will participate in the Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run. It’s one of the largest run events for in the U.S. and promotes health and fitness within the corporate setting.
We’re also growing rapidly; the office is now five times as big as it was three years ago!
What brought you to EVS Translations Atlanta and have you ever had the chance to visit any of the other EVS Translations offices?
I was already living in Atlanta since 2008 when I found this job. I’ve been working for EVS Translations since 2012. It’s great to be able to still use my German language skills regularly while being in the US. I haven’t had the chance to visit other EVS offices yet—maybe that’s something for the future!
