Three years ago I was inspired to write
my very first blog post after a trip to Tarragona in Spain. I’d attended the annual gathering of the
Mediterranean Editors and Translators (MET) – the so-called MET Meeting (METM, pronounced ‘met-um’) – and this made me think about how international my work had become since I started freelancing.
This year, I decided it was time for a return visit. METM19 was in Split, Croatia, and I decided to combine the event with my annual holiday.
I spent a lovely few days acclimatising myself to Split and enjoying the wonderful weather. It’s a fascinating place with a beautiful seafront and plenty of historical interest (especially Diocletian’s Palace, which was built for the Roman emperor Diocletian in the fourth century AD and is now a maze of narrow streets full of homes, shops and restaurants).
Statue of Grgur Ninski by Ivan Meštrović
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A street in Diocletian’s Palace
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Bell Tower of Cathedral of Saint Domnius
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Split waterfront – the Riva
When it came to METM itself, my first activity was one of the ‘Off-METM’ lunches. These are small groups focused loosely on a theme (ours was ‘Feedback is a two-way street’), aimed at helping delegates to get to know one another before the conference itself. There were also various optional workshops that delegates could pre-book.
After lunch, we headed to the School of Medicine at the University of Split for the start of the official proceedings. To give you a flavour of the conference itself, I’ve briefly summarised the various sessions and presentations that I attended. Because MET is an organisation for both editors and translators, the programme featured some sessions that were relevant to one or other of these different professions, and some that were relevant to everyone.
Can we make the world a better place? Realities, roadblocks and rewards for language professionals who work for philanthropic causes
Chaired by Valerie Matarese, this discussion featured Timothy Barton, Karen Shashok and Sandra Young talking about their work – both paid and unpaid – with various charitable or humanitarian clients. It was an interesting insight into how language professionals can apply their skills in different ways (and in different parts of the world).
KEYNOTE:
Translation and writing in a corporate environment: making it count in the C-suite
David Jemielity from the Swiss bank BCV described how he has worked to raise the profile of the bank’s translation department. The department now has a much greater influence on the company’s overall communication activities, rather than simply being involved in translating the finished version of the text: ‘Our quality test changed from “Is that a good translation?” to “Is that effective communication?”’
David stressed the need to offer solutions, not problems, and to show your clients that you follow their particular field (for example, the terminology that is used). Much of this advice was relevant to editors as well as translators.
Friday’s proceedings came to a close with the welcome reception, at which we were treated to drinks, canapes and a Croatian speciality, soparnik (chard pie). This last item was a great talking point because of its size: it was very thin, but a couple of feet in diameter. Impressive stuff!
Soparnik (chard pie). Photo by Dana Szabados
Saturday dawned with yet another clear blue sky (this superb weather was getting tedious…) and I headed to the School of Medicine for a full day of METM activities.
View out to sea from the METM venue
Content marketing 101 for translators
Content marketing is a hot topic for editors and proofreaders, and one that has featured on the programme at previous
Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) conferences that I’ve attended. Translator
Maeva Cifuentes explained the concept and illustrated the benefits using the results of the content marketing activities she has undertaken for a client. She stressed the need to take a strategic approach and to evaluate results regularly.
Thinking of teaching a course on scientific writing?
Although I’m not thinking of teaching such a course, I found this presentation by Ann Bless really interesting. Ann described how she helps PhD students to improve their academic writing skills using a combination of guidance and peer critiquing. She included lots of salient points that were relevant for editors like me who work with individual academic authors. Ann’s book, Reader-friendly Scientific Articles, is worth checking out.
Building a language professional–academic co-working partnership
Translator Wendy Baldwin described her experience of LPACs (language professional–academic co-working partnerships). I’m familiar with accountability groups from the editing community, and these partnerships do seem to share some of the same aims. The idea of LPACs is that the partners meet regularly (either in person or virtually) to work on their own projects – whether writing, editing or translating. Each meeting starts with a sharing of goals for the session, and at the end of the hour the partners discuss what they’ve achieved, and whether they’ve met these goals. Wendy highlighted two main benefits of LPACs, namely the opportunity for knowledge exchange, and increased focus and motivation.
2019 MET General Assembly
MET council members at the General Assembly
As well as a review of MET’s activities over the year, the General Assembly included an announcement of the venue for
MET20: San Sebastián in the Basque Country. If the applause and the exclamations of delight were anything to go by, this was a very popular choice.
The chair invited questions and comments from the floor. One of these prompted a lively discussion on the need to consider the environmental impact of future events, including everything from travelling to METM to using plastic cups and conference swag bags. Plenty of food for thought.
And speaking of food, the General Assembly was followed by a buffet lunch, at which we once again enjoyed soparnik (among other tasty dishes).
Soparnik (chard pie). Photo by Dana Szabados
The pitfalls of comparison in scientific writing
David Barick used real examples to highlight problems with different types of comparison – both between variables in the results of a single academic study and between the author’s findings and those in the literature (where the tense used will be particularly important in drawing a distinction between current and previous research).
Preparing the winning quote – effective job estimates
Jenny Zonneveld
In this comprehensive overview of what should be included in a quotation for a client,
Jenny Zonneveld gave a detailed run-down of all the tasks involved at every stage of the process. She outlined the various factors to consider when preparing a quote, including the thorny issue of whether a fee per word, per hour or per project is appropriate.
Insights from 30 years’ collaboration: an analytical memoir from an author and his manuscript editor
Spanish clinician Jaume Canet has published many papers over several decades, and editor and translator Mary Ellen Kearns has provided editorial support for him throughout that time. In this presentation, Mary Ellen described the various stages of Jaume’s career, highlighting his prolific publication record and the types of support and input required over the years.
KEYNOTE:
The evolution of concision: editors’ role in changing English
Lynne Murphy’s The Prodigal Tongue
The closing keynote of METM19 was given by linguist
Lynne Murphy, author of
The Prodigal Tongue. The book’s subtitle is ‘The love–hate relationship between British and American English’, and Lynne described some of the differences in the language on the two sides of the Atlantic. Relating these to the METM19 theme (‘Making it count: communicating with clarity and concision’), and specifically the concision aspect, she explained the process of ‘densification’, in which language becomes more informationally dense over time. I’d heard Lynne speak before (at the SfEP conference and at Leeds Literature Festival), so I was expecting this to be an interesting and entertaining session. I wasn’t disappointed! (I hope Lynne will permit that last piece of punctuation: she allows her students one exclamation mark per year, and advises them to use it wisely…)
And with that, all that remained was for delegates to make their way to the closing dinner and afterparty. The four-course meal was served at a pace that could best be described as ‘leisurely’ (we were still waiting for dessert at 12.30am). I’m not sure whether this was a Croatian tradition, or whether catering for such a large group had proved challenging for the restaurant. Nevertheless, the food was tasty and I enjoyed the conversations over dinner, with Lynne Murphy on one side and Rebecca Warden from
International Correspondents in Education (one of my main clients) on the other. The METM choir also entertained us with a couple of numbers.
METM19 choir
Although the disco was just getting going as dessert was being served, I’m afraid I was ready to make my way back to my apartment as 1am approached.
I very much enjoyed my second METM and I hope it won’t be my last. The programme was interesting and varied, the people friendly and approachable, and the setting lovely. I met individuals from all over Europe and beyond, attended informative sessions given by presenters from a range of backgrounds, and came away with a renewed sense of the importance of language professionals in an increasingly globalised world.
Oh – and I sampled soparnik!
Sunset over Split
