It’s nearly that time of year when we speed towards what feels like a hard deadline, wondering how we got here so fast. Is it another of those absurd hallucinations? Or is it just that we really were that busy? A busy end to the year means a calendar full of events, and FIT is no exception.
In the period since International Translation Day, FIT has been able to join and/or support important translation events, such as the tenth anniversary of NTC, the National Translation Committee of Singapore, the multilingual, translation-friendly Singapore Writers Festival, the Languages and the Media Conference, Translating and the Computer Conference, European Conference on Literary Translation, and ATA65, the American Translators Association’s 65th Annual Conference.
In addition, the Association of Hungarian Translators and Interpreters (MFTE), a FIT member in Hungary, celebrated its 35th anniversary alongside the conference and general meeting of FIT Europe, which you can read about in this issue of Translatio. FIT’s Executive Committee also held an in-person meeting hosted by MFTE in Budapest. It was a privilege to be able to participate in these events, and we thank them for their hospitality. Thanks to modern technology, I was, at the same time, also able to participate in the online meeting of members of FIT LatAm, sharing news on their projects and planning new events.
It is no surprise that technology is one of the main topics of discussion at any meeting these days, and many articles in this issue of Translatio echo those discussions. AI was also the impetus for my visit to Prague, hosted by our member JTP in the Czech Republic, to offer support for their efforts to advocate for the responsible use of AI tools by petitioning the government to amend its plans to employ unsupervised AI interpreting and to consider the impact that the resulting negative message about the importance of language skills and language professionals would have on the future of the profession. You can read a brief report of our meetings in this issue, along with those held in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I am proud to announce that FIT Council will hold its annual meeting in Ljubljana in March 2025, in conjunction with a forum hosted by our member SCIT Slovenia.
The incredible initiative and work of our Regional Centres and efforts by individual associations are awe-inspiring. This includes members’ innovative and varied CPD and training, as evidenced in this issue, and the various initiatives by universities and training institutions to support both students and the profession.
We are deeply grateful for the contributions of each and every person who works for the benefit of the profession. So much so, we like to see them recognised with awards. Just as APTI Panama awards the medal in honour of their founder, FIT also awards prizes at the FIT Congress, to be held next September in Geneva, Switzerland. Thanks to all who submitted nominations. Publicly acknowledging great work and contributions inside our community is vital, and we look forward to recognising you.
Working together, we can make our voices heard. Associations are the heart of FIT, and individual practitioners are the heart of associations. It’s always a pleasure to meet our members’ members in person and talk about their realities and concerns. I hope to meet many more of you before this mandate ends with the FIT Congress in September 2025.
Wishing you all a wonderful end to 2024 and a bright and successful 2025. We hope you enjoy this issue.
Alison Rodriguez, president@fit-ift.org