Newsletter
Newsletter December 2022
Over 25 years of SIMCONSULT language services! SIMCONSULT was founded in Hamburg in 1996, so we celebrated our 25th anniversary the year before last. 25 years is a long time and during this time we have had many conversations with clients who needed interpreters or translators for the first time. Based on our experience in these meetings, we would like to give you some tips in this newsletter for working with professional conference interpreters for the first time.
Sometimes clients do not realise the difference between interpreting and translating when they first speak to a language service provider: Interpreting refers to oral language mediation and translating refers to written language mediation. In this newsletter, we provide tips for organisers of international events that require interpreting services.
Tips for organisers of international events
As the organiser of an international event (congress, conference, European Works Council, meeting, audit, etc.), you have two opportunities to positively influence the quality of the interpreting: By providing preparatory material for the interpreters and by using high-quality interpreting technology.
Preparation material for the interpreters
Even professional conference interpreters with many years of experience need to prepare for events in terms of content. The more thorough the preparation, the better the interpreter's performance during the event. Ideally, you should provide the interpreting team with preparatory material at least two weeks before the start of the event. The materials should include information about the event itself, such as the programme, a list of participants, local contacts, meeting point, etc.
To prepare the content, the interpreters need the presentations, speech manuscripts, guidelines or, for example, product presentation documents. Minutes from previous meetings or documents from previous events on similar topics are also always helpful.
If videos are to be shown at an event, it is essential that these videos are also made available in advance of the event. Videos are often spoken very quickly or content is presented in a very compressed manner. This makes interpreting videos particularly challenging for simultaneous interpreters.
Conference technology
An interpreting booth is the ideal working environment for interpreters. When setting up one or more booths, please ensure that the interpreting team has a good view of the presentations and the speakers. Speakers' facial expressions and gestures are part of the interpreting process.
Speakers should use headsets, especially at hybrid or virtual events. With headsets, the distance between the speaker's mouth and the microphone is always the same, which ensures an even volume.
Please bear in mind that the interpreters must be able to hear the speech well in order to interpret it into other languages. Poor sound quality always means an additional cognitive burden for the interpreters. This applies to face-to-face events as well as hybrid or virtual events.
Working hours and breaks
Professional conference interpreters receive a daily fee. These daily fees also cover the preparation of the content for the event. Typical assignment times are 8 hours of presence time and 6 hours of pure interpreting time in a team of two. If these times are exceeded, overtime fees will be charged or a team of three may even have to be deployed. These limits tend to be lower for hybrid and virtual events, as these events are often very compact and have few breaks.
Please plan sufficient breaks for your event, as simultaneous interpreting requires maximum concentration. A tried and tested arrangement for an event is two blocks of 90 minutes each in the morning, interrupted by a 30-minute coffee break. A one-hour lunch break is followed by another two 90-minute blocks, also interrupted by a 30-minute coffee break. If you plan enough breaks into your event, not only the interpreting team will thank you, but also your guests...
Copyright
The interpreters hold the copyright to the interpretation. If the interpretation is recorded or used in any other way, the interpreters must grant a right of use for it. Interpreters usually receive an additional half fee per day per interpreter for granting the right to use the interpretation.
Consultancy
The more comprehensive the information we receive about an event, the better we can assess your interpreting needs. It is always particularly helpful for us to have the event schedule so that we can get an idea of the event. On request, we can also sign a confidentiality agreement before you provide us with information about your event.
We will be happy to advise you on the interpreting services and conference technology you require! It is not without reason that we are called SIM - CONSULT.
AMPO International e.V.
This year, as in previous years, SIMCONSULT is donating to AMPO International e.V. (instead of giving Christmas presents to customers). AMPO International e.V. is a recognised charitable organisation that has set itself the task of giving young people, children and adolescents in need in the West African state of Burkina Faso a perspective on life.
It has been a pleasure to have you as business partners in 2022 and we appreciate your numerous orders for translations and interpretation.
We wish you a peaceful and successful 2023.