Newsletter
Newsletter December 2001
The start of the conference season after the summer break was overshadowed by the tragic events in New York and Washington which saddened us and the rest of our colleagues around the world.
SIMCONSULT became five years of age on 1st October, giving us cause to reflect on what we have already achieved and to plan what we want to achieve in the future. In this newsletter we would like to thank you, our customers and colleagues, for the confidence you have placed in us.
In particular we would like to thank those who continue to entrust us with the organisation of interpreter teams, supporting us in our efforts to offer quality, professional services, those valued clients such as The European Surgical Institute, Airbus Deutsch-land GmbH, Fidelity Investment Services GmbH, Hapag-Lloyd, Schieder MMbel, BAT, Gruner und Jahr, the Ministry of the Interior and the Press Office in Kiel, Syscoplan and the International Union of Private Wagons.
As anticipated, this year has been somewhat quieter than the previous year. The general trend emerging over the past few years is towards more short-term planning and a larger number of smaller meetings mostly using a combination of German and English.
Again we are happy to report on a number of interesting conferences: the International Union of Private Wagons held their bi-annual congress at the beginning of October in Seville. SIMCONSULT deployed a total of 15 conference interpreters from Germany, France and Spain. It was a wonderful opportunity to combine our work with a visit to the beautiful Andalusian city of Seville.
In September we accompanied Fidelity Investments once again on their roadshow throughout Germany and our specialists in medicine worked twice at The European Surgical Institute. There was one conference on a rather unusual subject in November in Osnabrrck and Freising near Munich: Roche Vitamine GmbH expounded on the importance of vitamins in feeding farm livestock.
At this particular time of year vitamins are not only important for farm animals, but also for humans, especially humans on the go, another topic SIMCONSULT can report on: Susanne Schwarz travelled to Namibia at the beginning of October on the trail of the Etosha lions which she succeeded in meeting, albeit at a safe distance and with temperatures around 400C. Temperatures became more bearable in Cape Town, but then the subsequent visit was not nearly as exciting.
At the end of October George Drummond added to his list of exotic destinations with the annual Posteurop General Assembly meeting this time in Sarajevo. Afterwards he talked about his great admiration for our European neighbours and their ability to cope with the difficulties they are still confronted with. Susan Fergusson had the good fortune to work in Tokyo at the end of October during a two-day conference of CISAC (Interna-tional Association of Collection Societies). Her previous visit to Tokyo was more than 20 years ago and she was enthralled by the buzzing metropolis of today with all its contrasts and a population of more than 8 million inhabitants.
Things are also happening at SIMCONSULT on an international level. We are pleased to welcome our new "long-term assistant", Lisette Mächler from Columbia. Lissette Mächler is proud of her German ancestors and is continuing her studies far from home and family, here in Hamburg. She coped brilliantly running the office while Susanne Schwarz was on holiday, much to the relief of the partners who are always pressed for time and during the conference season and can only manage a quick phone call to the office during the conference coffee breaks!
This newsletter brings you our best wishes for the few remaining weeks of the old year and our sincere hopes for a peaceful start to the new year for us all.
Your SIMCONSULT-Team