3rd Summit on Interpreting Keynote Address: The Digital Revolution and Multilingual Communication--A New Paradigm

The 3^rd North American Summit on Interpreting took place on June 15-16, 2012, in Monterey, California. For the Summit’s first time on the West Coast, InterpretAmerica reached beyond the confines of the interpreting world to invite a keynote speaker who would help the interpreting profession see just how it can not only fit into but also influence the technology-dominated world we live in.

That speaker was author, entrepreneur and technologist Scott Klososky. While Scott normally speaks to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and business and civic leaders from around the world, he didn’t flinch when we approached him to address an eclectic group of some 180 interpreters, agency owners, professional association leaders, interpreter educators, and end users of interpreting services. He took the time and effort to understand what interpreters do today and how they do it as he prepared his remarks. The result was an informative, engaging and thought-provoking presentation that we now offer to interpreters everywhere here on our blog.

The video is just over an hour long, so carve out some time and prepare to learn and to have your own perceptions challenged. We think it will be time well spent. We look forward to your comments after you watch the video. If you would like to have a copy of Scott’s slides, they may be downloaded here.

Be sure to mark your calendar for the 4^th North American Summit on Interpreting on June 14-15, 2013. For the 4^th Summit, we will be returning to the Washington, DC region. Keep an eye on www.interpretamerica.net for more information.

Finally, thanks to all the interpreters, technicians and dreamers out there who are helping our profession evolve and adapt to the 21^st century. This video is for you. We hope you enjoy it and hope to see you at next year's Summit on Interpreting!

InterpretAmerica Recognizes Lou Provenzano's Contributions to the Interpreting Profession

InterpretAmerica Co-Presidents are both in Monterey this week, wrapping up final details from June’s conference and initiating planning for the 4th Summit.

Over the next couple of weeks we want to highlight the unique contributions made by key sponsors, speakers and participants. 

Today we start with Lou Provenzano. We would like to honor Lou’s contributions to the interpreting profession during his term as CEO and President of Language Line Services:

"In 2009, when we were organizing the 1st North American Summit on Interpreting, Lou was the first business leader that we contacted to support the event," said Barry Slaughter Olsen, InterpretAmerica Co-President. "He immediately saw the potential in a conference that would bring leadership from the entire interpreting industry together to leverage our respective strengths."

Co-President Katharine Allen, who has wide experience in the medical interpreting sector, has worked with Lou Provenzano on many projects, including the initial dialog supporting national medical interpreter certification and on language access issues in California and nationally.

"Through Lou's support, Language Line became an early sponsor of the Summit. Lou personally lent his support as a speaker on misclassification issues during the 2nd Summit, helping us to spotlight this critical yet poorly understood issue. At this year's Summit, Lou helped kick off the Summit at the Language Line sponsored Festival of Cultures, celebrating the company's 30th Anniversary and Monterey as the Language Capitol of the World."

InterpretAmerica applauds Lou for the work he has accomplished to build the telephonic interpreting industry in the United States and internationally, as well as the personal commitment and passion he brought to his work.