It’s still only July and like many of you, by this stage of the year the extent of my forward planning goes about as far as fantasising about my much-needed summer holiday next week. Life post-holiday is quite low down on my priority list right now, but there have been a couple of events which have caught my eye recently. I’m pleased to report that I’ve managed to muster the energy to reach for my pen to mark them in my diary now, as I’m sure the dates will have crept up before we know it:

The first, on 25th September, is the Chartered Institute of Linguists Members’ Day in Bloomsbury, London. The programme consists of a series of seminars with titles including ‘Translators or Consultant Linguists?’ and ‘Training Translators and Interpreters in the Next Ten Years’, and will finish off with a lecture by my favourite linguist, Professor David Crystal OBE HonFCIL.

The second is a webinar entitled ‘Specialising in legal translation’ by Ricardo Martinez of City University, a good one for those of us who specialise in legal translation. The webinar itself is run by eCPD Webinars. After ITI’s first webinar yesterday morning, in collaboration with eCPD Webinars, it seems that this training format is something translators and interpreters want to see more of, and I hope it will continue to grow.

The third is Portsmouth University’s 10th annual translation conference; this time entitled ‘Translating Multimodalities’. I attended this conference for the first time last year, after intending to go for years, and was not disappointed. As a translator ‘at the coal face’ I rarely get a chance to discuss the slightly more theoretical aspects of translation or explore other areas of work with languages, and this conference allows me to do that without offering up too many abstract theories.  Take a look for yourself here: http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/academic/slas/conferences/translationconference/

12 September, ITI London Regional Group Marketing Workshop, University of Westminster, London.

This is an all-day event with talks and workshops on a variety of marketing-related subjects, including:

- marketing yourself as a freelance translator or interpreter

- website dos and don’ts

- a practical workshop on how to write good promotional copy

- assertiveness and negotiation skills.

Speakers include Heidi Kerschl MITI, Keren Lerner of Top Left Design, Eamonn O’Rourke (freelance copywriter) and little ol’ me, MITI. I’ll be tackling assertiveness and negotiation skills, for example dealing with stressful client relationships, setting boundaries and finding a happy place between being a doormat and a prima donna.

This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about how to market and promote yourself as a freelance professional, network with with colleagues and make new contacts.

17 October, Novotel, London City South, ‘Starting out as a Translator & Specialised Translation’.

In the morning session, I’ll be giving a presentation especially aimed at newcomers to the profession, although it will also be of interest to established translators. I’ll also be following this up with a CIOL webinar later in the year.

The afternoon session will be devoted to “Specialised Translation”, a subject of ever increasing importance to translators. Ricardo Martínez Perales, a sworn translator, will talk about legal translation and Noemí Rey, a long established technical translator, will give a presentation about the mechanical engineering field.

And don’t forget the ITI Annual Translation Workshop at the University of Westminster, London, on 18 October! For more information, follow @ITIEducation on Twitter.