Many thanks to Carmel Capati, Wisconsin Court Interpreter Program Manager and Director of State Courts Office of Court Operations, and Joanna Garber, author of the below, for allowing us to reprint this article from the Fall 2013 edition of the Wisconsin Court Interpreter Program (CIP) Newsletter, which can be accessed here.
MATI 2013 Conference Perspective
By Joanna Garber
Sometimes it’s good to get out of your comfort zone, see new faces and recognize the ones you saw last year at the Midwest Association for Translators and Interpreters (MATI) conference. This year’s MATI conference was held in Chicago, IL where the atmosphere and the speakers were interesting and informative.
The MATI board headed by Christina Green put together an excellent conference. It was a captivating event for newbies breaking into the interpreting business as well as for seasoned court interpreters. We also had good representation of translators both new and experienced.
While all of the speakers were outstanding, two in particular really stood out. One of them was Prof. Alexander Rainhof from California who touched upon the never exhausted topic of ethical issues surrounding the interpreting profession. The other notable speaker was Atty. Cain Oulahan from Milwaukee who provided an overview of the ever-changing world of immigration laws.
I met some great people from Illinois who are working hard to develop a court interpreting program similar to the one that we, in Wisconsin, have enjoyed for years. By chance I was seated next to Sophia Akbar, the new Language Access Program Coordinator for the Illinois Court System. I hope we can give them our support and continue the good work in our state.
I was very happy to devote one Saturday meeting new colleagues as interested in the interpreting and translating profession as me.
