2024 - METM from two angles
Anne de Freyman went to her first Mediterranean Editors and Translators Meeting this year, while Paul Appleyard is a longer-standing attendee.
New experience, lasting impression
I had long been wanting to attend a METM, and had followed the conferences with great envy on social media over the years – until Carcassonne was announced as this year’s location. All the stars lined up to make that one possible, and even a Ryanair flight couldn’t deter me. I’m a regular visitor to Carcassonne for family reasons, so I am a bit blasé, but I have to say that the actual meeting venue, bang in the centre of the medieval Cité, was stunning. And being there at 8.30am before the tourists was a real treat.
My highlights? Definitely the two keynotes, on translation rights by David Bellos (did he or did he not advocate getting get rid of them?) and on ‘Reimagining academic writing as an act of love’, by Julia Molinari. Academic writing is a topic I would normally run away from, but her approach and her delivery were so engaging I really want to know more. Attending Sara Blackshire’s talk on turning her passion for knitting into a specialisation was a non-negotiable, and I only wish it had been longer! The interactive EN-FR translation session was also hugely enjoyable, and I really must speak to the ITI French Network organisers about stealing the idea.
Another talk I’m glad I picked in the parallel sessions was Terri White’s on ‘Career development: embracing specialisation and navigating change’. She echoed my thoughts on the value or otherwise of ‘CPD by the kilo’ (my words, not hers) and the scarcity of CPD for experienced translators. So obviously I attended a half-day workshop, on statistics. Yes. A super important topic many of us probably need to know a whole lot more about. And maybe economics too.
METM24 felt like a big annual family reunion with an amazing array of fun social events throughout. The themed dinners are such a good idea. I loved how easy it was to navigate and how you didn’t get overwhelmed by an overpacked programme. And there isn’t enough space now to talk about the gorgeous food...
Anne de Freyman FITI
Anne is a freelance English to French translator specialising in international development, working primarily and directly with international organisations and NGOs. She is from Provence but has lived in Yorkshire (currently in York) for the past 30 years.
Returning to a conference that’s a calendar fixture
I finally joined MET during lockdown. That year, I signed up in good time for the online conference, and the following year, as soon as it was announced, for my first face-to-face conference. And now it’s become a fixed point in my calendar – although it’s so popular that there’s always a danger I won’t be quick enough one year.
So, in 2024, the conference headed to the south of France for the first time in MET’s history.
The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Crossroads: coming together, crafting the future’, and indeed it did feel as if we were at a bit of a crossroads in our professional lives, with the focus on the future. From what I’ve heard (and read), every single session was brilliant, as were the two keynote speakers, David Bellos and Julia Molinari, both of whom delivered talks which demonstrated, amply, why they’re both considered so highly. I very much enjoyed Aleksandra Chlon and Nelia Fahloun’s interactive translation session, and, while all the sessions were brilliant, I’d like to give a particular shout-out to Michael Farrell’s presentation on GenAI prompt engineering for language professionals. His demonstration of the possibilities offered by AI, as well as its limitations, was engaging from start to finish, with examples that made sense and, more importantly, left me wanting to find out more.
Beyond the formal sessions though, one of the things that makes a MET meeting stand out from the packed conference crowd is the range of off-METM things on offer. This year, people could choose from walking tours of the Cité, trying yoga, or else getting an introduction to Occitan or to the editing process.
And of course, there was the choir. Once again, Ruth Simpson worked magic, knocking the choristers into shape in just two incredibly packed hours over a couple of days, after which everybody got to stand up and sing at the truly excellent gala dinner. I’m not going to admit just how many notes I got wrong, but it’s such fun, and surely that’s what’s important?
Fingers crossed that I’ll get tickets for Barcelona next year. See you there?
Paul Appleyard
Apart from a brief foray into pre-sales, Paul's entire career (so far) has been in the translation and interpreting sector. He is a Qualified Member of ITI in both translation and interpreting, and also a member of the American Translators Association, the Société française des traducteurs (SFT) in France, and the British Computer Society. Paul is a director of a language service provider with his wife, who is also an MITI. He is a former ITI board member and served as ITI chair between 2020 and 2022.