Updates for FIT members
In part 1 of this series, I started covering some of the benefits available to FIT members. In this part 2, I’d like to briefly update you on several changes and recent initiatives that benefit our members. If you haven’t yet, make sure you read FIT’s Achieve Together document here.
FIT updates
In part 1, I referred to:
- Bringing leaders together and our special initiative for knowledge-sharing related to AI, which has since resulted in fruitful discussions. We hope to present our informative findings soon.
- International Translation Day (ITD) comes around every year and is a great way to showcase solidarity, community, and visibility. This year, FIT Council has chosen “Translation, an art worth protecting” as the ITD theme, highlighting copyright and translation. We will commission a poster to mark the day and celebrate the theme. Stay tuned!
New FIT initiatives
FIT has recently started the FIT webinar series, which kicked off to celebrate ITD 2023 with speakers from some of our prominent partners. You can also watch our ‘Role of Indigenous Language Translation in the Midst of Climate Change – Negotiating Displacement, Loss of Land, Language; and Culture’ webinar, which was very well-received. Expect to see a new webinar every month and watch for details on our social media channels. FIT’s webinars complement those of our very active Regional Centres and member associations. When webinars are paid, members of FIT associations benefit from the same rates as the organising associations’ members.
As an international organisation, FIT has MOUs with a growing number of international partners in many areas of common interest. In this way, topics such as copyright, fair remuneration for professional services, machine translation, educating (the next generation of) translators, terminologists, and interpreters, and many others can be given wider recognition and reach. A dedicated standing committee (the External Partners Standing Committee) is stewarding these valuable partnerships and ensuring ongoing cooperation. We are planning another interesting ITD webinar with many of them this year.
FIT’s triennial Statutory Congress and Open Congress
While a lot can be done virtually these days, in-person meetings are at the core of mutual understanding and cooperation. Decisions are made, content is shared, but most importantly, PEOPLE meet PEOPLE in person, get to know each other, socialise, forge connections, and share time and experiences. There is nothing like it on the World Wide Web. So, come and join us at the 2025 Congress, to be held in Europe in September 2025! The theme will be ‘Mastering the Machine: Shaping an Intelligent Future’. Details will soon be available via all of FIT’s communication channels. We look forward to seeing you there!
Alexandra Jantscher-Karlhuber, FIT Secretary General