Working with agencies and other intermediaries is a fundamental part of the translation industry. Unfortunately, the bad players far outweigh the good, and pressure to reduce rates, accept poor payment practices and otherwise unacceptable behaviour is high.
Where other associations offer membership to both freelancers and agencies alike, the IAPTI differs. This presentation is one that you will not see anywhere else. This is a presentation by a freelancer for fellow freelancers –old, new and aspiring.
You will hear:
– The advantages and disadvantages of working with translation agencies.
– The hallmarks of the good, the bad and the ugly in translation agencies.
– The games agencies play: lines and tactics used by agencies to swing the balance in their favour –debunked and exposed!
– How and why you should stick to your guns: from convincing yourself to convincing the client.
– Knowing when to walk away.
The speaker will endeavour to raise awareness of the unethical business practices common among the bad and ugly of translation agencies. This will include listing, debunking and exposing the arguments and tactics used to convince clients they will get what they need, while ever-increasing their exploitation of naïve or desperate freelance translators.
The presenter especially hopes to provide a valuable warning to old, new and aspiring translators alike. In the true spirit of the IAPTI, this presentation also aims to “promote ethical professional practices” by outing the unethical.
Delegates are also invited to post (anonymised!) examples of outrageous, amusing or downright strange practice on the dedicated pin board.
These are then open for perusal by all delegates during the conference.
Rose Newell, MITI (Member of the IAPTI, Head of the IAPTI’s German Chapter and Qualified Member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting) is a German to English translator currently living in Hamburg, Germany. As an unashamed girl geek, Rose specialises in finance and technology. Rose is known in the translation industry for her informative, opinionated and witty blog, “The Translator’s Teacup” (www.lingocode.com/
Despite the title of her presentation, Rose does indeed enjoy very positive relationships with a number of quality-focused translation agencies, complementing her strong base of private clients in the IT, finance and marketing sectors.
