On the day that my furniture arrived at my new flat—I was in the process of moving from the UK to Germany—I set off to fly out to beautiful Bologna to attend the BP19 translation conference. It is one of the biggest international translation conferences in Europe and always a pleasure to attend.
This year’s conference format was a little different from last year’s: attendees had the opportunity to book half-day seminars on Wednesday, the pre-conference day, which were followed by two full conference days, one with talks on different topics in several tracks and one with TED-style 20-minute talks for all attendees.
Having attended one of her talks the previous year, I decided to book Jo Rourke’s workshop on social media for translators. She introduced us to the different algorithms of various platforms and useful strategies on how to choose the right platform for us (and our clients), as well as how to raise awareness for language services in general and our niche work specifically.
In the afternoon, I finally had some time to explore Bologna itself. Sunshine and warm temperatures of about 20 degrees Celsius greeted our group of about 40 translators who set out to learn more about the city’s past, present and culinary delights.
Thursday, the first actual conference day, turned out to be very marketing-heavy for me. I attended talks on topics such as strategies for attracting direct clients, successful marketing strategies and how to gain valuable repeat clients. But also topics such as data protection and transfer, and GDPR compliance played an important role in my conference schedule.
As always, the coffee and lunch breaks as well as the gala dinner that evening provided valuable opportunities for meeting up with friends and colleagues, getting to know new people and forging potential partnerships.
The last conference day, Friday, was packed with shorter talks in a TED-style format, during which colleagues from all over the world presented their own experiences, useful tips and strategies and covered topics such as time management, productivity hacks, conflict management and the importance of soft skills.
In the end, I unfortunately had to pack my bags again that evening and leave Bologna (to finally start unpacking those boxes piled up in the flat). With a suitcase full of Bolognese delicacies and a head buzzing with new ideas, I can now take a brief rest before heading out to the next conference.
A huge thank you to Csaba and his wife for organising another amazing conference and thank you to all the speakers who shared their knowledge and insights. I am looking forward to seeing you at BP20 in Nuremberg!