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ATA_PR_Video
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zad on Sep 20, 2007
ATA promo video
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- ata american translators association
- [♪ music playing ♪] This is an exciting time for the translation industry.
- In the past ten years, our industry has experienced tremendous growth.
- The rapidly evolving world economy has spurred ever greater demand for translation services,
- and translators and interpreters are, for the first time,
- visible and acknowledged as an indispensable force in the global arena.
- The American Translators Association has become recognized as a primary source of information
- for issues relating to translation in the United States—and increasingly in other countries.
- Through the ATA Public Relations Initiative, translators and interpreters are now in the media big leagues.
- ATA maintains a constant presence in the forefront of the media.
- Appearing in print, radio and television, ATA has delivered its message
- to an estimated 80 million homes throughout the United States and around the world.
- We are interviewed on national television and radio,
- and have been quoted in hundreds of newspapers, in wire service stories and on the web.
- [MSNBC] And on Capitol Hill this morning, a House sub-committee is holding a hearing on the espionage charges
- emerging from the terrorist detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
- So can a shortage of Arabic translators be part of the reason to blame?
- Joining me now from our nation’s capital is Kevin Hendzel, spokesman for the American Translators Association.
- Kevin, good morning to you.
- >>Good morning, Laurie. Thank you for having me.
- >>Well, we know there’s a lack of translators out there, especially post 9/11.
- I’m sure the U.S. military can’t get enough of them,
- but have they been cutting corners in their rush to deal with these detainees?
- >>Well, there has been some cutting of corners to try to hire translators and interpreters quickly.
- The military has a shortage of time. They’re fighting a war,
- and they’re basically paying the price for 30 years of neglect.
- The truth is the military and federal agencies simply have not trained enough translators
- in Arabic, Pashto, Dahri, Farsi and Urdu—and we are paying that price right now.
- >>Are they actually—is the U.S. military conducting thorough enough background checks on these translators?
- Well, in the case of Gitmo, they're passing them through what's called an interim check,
- which is basically a two week glorified criminal check, and that’s not a real, true security clearance,
- which is anywhere from six months to two years.
- But the thing to keep in mind here is that the military is trying to put people in place who get information from the terrorists.
- The truth is that the translators are the gatekeepers in this process—every piece of information
- we have on the War on Terror has to come through a translator or interpreter.
- [♪ Newsroom music ♪] News Channel 8
- Welcome back. Take it from a parent—it is sometimes hard enough understanding
- what’s going on in our kids' classrooms when we speak the language.
- Imagine how hard it must be for parents to do their jobs if English isn't the first language spoken at home.
- Area school systems, though, are working to make sure their communications home are accurately translated,
- but that itself is a very tall order. Here with some perspective on the problem is Lillian Calmetti.
- She is with the American Translators Association. It’s nice to have you here.
- >>Thanks, I’m glad to be here.
- >>We are talking about the schools sort of in specifics,
- but what’s going on there can be extrapolated all throughout our community
- where the notion of bilingualism is so very important.
- It’s not just English; there are lots of other languages being spoken here.
- >>That is absolutely right. This is a real problem. It is not going away.
- And it's not just the schools that are facing it.
- You’ll find this in city governments, hospitals, medical clinics, business—
- everyone really has to confront this, and the schools are finding that—
- Arlington County alone has to deal with 82 languages in the parent population—hard to believe.
- Most of it is Spanish, but there are a range of other languages.
- >>Tom West is in Phoenix. He’s a member of the American Translators Association,
- and a founder of Inter-Mark Language Services Corporation. Tom, good to have you with us.
- >>Good morning. Thank you.
- >>Are there unique challenges posed by needing to find so many Arabic translators so quickly?
- >>Oh, definitely. We feel that the message that the government needs to understand
- is that translation is a profession, just as much as law or medicine.
- There’s a lot of talk in the press that there’s a shortage of Arabic speakers. That may not actually be true.
- The problem is that there is a shortage of Arabic translators.
- abc 26 news
- AHEAD
- Coming up, language barriers made Katrina even more catastrophic for Spanish and Vietnamese speaking neighbors,
- and one organization is making sure it will never happen again.
- Lack of communication made evacuation tough for many of our
- Spanish and Vietnamese neighbors before Katrina.
- >>But tonight—thanks to the American Translators Association,
- getting information out the next time a storm hits may be a lot easier.
- Cindy Nguyen joins us now to explain—especially with our changing demographics.
- >>That’s right—Mike, Liz—more than 1200 translators and interpreters are in the Crescent City tonight
- to push some new changes to how information will get dispersed in case another big one comes our way.
- Certainly welcoming news to the large Spanish and Vietnamese communities here.
- Both had hard times last year.
- >>During Hurricane Katrina, both the Hispanic communities and—
- in particular, the Vietnamese community was particularly hard hit—
- and there weren’t sufficient resources for—to prepare these communities to evacuate
- and what to do after evacuation.
- >>The Translators Association also provided translated materials for the city’s evacuation plan
- and a number of public service announcements, all of which will help folks prepare for the next storm.
- And Liz and Mike—the last time the Association was here was 15 years ago,
- and they realized the decision to come back this time was crucial
- because they know so many people need it.
- >>Well, many of you here in the borderland speak more than one language,
- and today a workshop was held to emphasize what an asset that can be.
- >>Whether you work for industry or for the government, translation and interpreting
- mistakes can be very costly and even disastrous. It's critical that you get the translation right.
- ATA’s public relations initiative has reached critical mass in the national and international media.
- Journalists, producers and anchors with major television and radio networks contact ATA first
- when translation issues arise.
- We have gone from total obscurity to being quoted in leading media.
- We are on a first-name basis with reporters from The New York Times, Washington Post,
- USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The LA Times, The Houston Chronicle,
- The Atlanta Constitution and many other newspapers.
- We have appeared on national television and radio, including CBS, CNN, NBC, Fox and NPR.
- Newspapers from Beirut to Paris to Tokyo have cited ATA as the authoritative source in translation.
- It was not always like this. Ten years ago, our industry was invisible.
- Translators were not regarded as skilled professionals.
- Most people viewed us as clerical workers, somewhere between typists and data entry personnel.
- Interpreters were simply disembodied voices on radio or TV.
- The public’s only impression of us came from translated user manuals riddled with comical errors.
- Even translators and interpreters failed to see their work as a viable profession.
- For many it was a cottage industry, conducted on a kitchen table or out of a spare bedroom—
- a part-time job to make extra income.
- There was no need for professional standards, or for that matter, any professionalization whatsoever.
- What was the turning point? June 1st, 1996, Washington, D.C.
- In the first major regional conference in ATA history, keynote speaker Neal Inglis
- stood before a record crowd and declared: “The death of the poverty cult”
- that had plagued the translation industry for decades.
- Inglis deftly characterized the poverty cult as “Envying the success of others..."
- and "Gloating over the failure of others...” a pervasive sense that it is “better for everybody to fail...”
- “...than for a few to succeed.”
- Translators assumed that there was a limit to what they could earn and resigned themselves
- themselves to eking out a meager existence that would always require other sources of income.
- Under the poverty cult mentality, translators could never expect to achieve significant financial success,
- nor did they deserve it.
- Translators and interpreters suffered from their own negative self-image,
- and the pervasive nature of the poverty cult undermined the public’s image of us.
- In fact, we had no public image.
- There was no effort to influence public policy: no national advocacy or lobbying for translators and interpreters
- and no endeavor to promote the translation and interpreting professions through the popular media.
- What we needed was nothing short of a revolution in the way we perceive ourselves,
- and nothing less than an all-out effort to convey a message of professionalism
- and profitability to the greater public.
- Enter the ATA Public Relations Initiative.
- ATA understood that the translation industry was poised for rapid growth,
- and that the key to that growth was nothing short of a transformation
- in the way that our industry was perceived.
- ATA wanted to change the way that the public saw the translation industry
- and the way that translators saw themselves and their own profession.
- This ultimately resulted in a revolution, an explosion in national visibility for translators and interpreters.
- What is ATA’s Public Relations Mission?
- To communicate the need to use skilled translation and interpreting professionals
- to the general public, governmental and international organizations,
- educational institutions, and commercial users of translation and interpreting services.
- ATA adopted a specific targeted public relations strategy built on four pillars:
- Media and public outreach, Consumer and client education,
- Educational and standards institutions, and Lobbying and congressional oversight.
- Our goal is to create maximum visibility for the translation and interpreting professions
- and to amplify our message.
- What is our message?
- Whether you are an official at the CIA, Dell Computer or even in local government,
- translation and interpreting mistakes can be costly or even disastrous.
- You must have a qualified, professional translator to get the job done right.
- How are we conveying this message to the public? Through the media.
- 9/11 catapulted translation onto the front page.
- Translators and interpreters were no longer behind the scenes, they were the story.
- ATA leaders were interviewed in all major media, bringing critical perspective
- to what was clearly the most significant event in recent history.
- You can’t fight global terrorism without knowing the terrorists’ languages.
- It is easier to train a pilot to fly an F-14 than to train him to speak Arabic,
- and the latter may prove more important to national security.
- ATA continues to use breaking news in national security, health care,
- and a variety of other areas to get our message out to the general public.
- We retain a first-class media consultant who has developed relationships
- with preeminent media channels throughout the United States.
- When it comes to media attention,
- ATA is on the cutting edge.
- The ATA PR Initiative has grown and gathered momentum.
- In addition to our Media Outreach Program,
- ATA has cultivated excellent relationships with government officials,
- promoting the industry and cultivating a growing market for our services.
- We have also produced ‘Translation Getting it Right’
- a guide to buying translations,
- a groundbreaking client education tool.
- ATA’s exciting school outreach program is introducing
- the translation industry to the next generation of translators and their clients.
- We go to schools and speak to students.
- We promote translation as a career and explain
- the vital role that translators and interpreters play in the world today.
- Finally, ATAs partnership with the Red Cross and
- annual pro bono projects also enhance the public image
- of translators and interpreters.
- The world has changed in the last ten years,
- and so has the translation industry.
- Translation is respected; translation is attractive as a profession;
- translation is big business, and quite lucrative.
- By making the public aware of the vital role that translators and interpreters
- play in the global economy and national security, ATA
- is raising the status of our profession, and with it our bottom line,
- a direct benefit to our members and to the industry as a whole.
- But there is much more to be done, and we need your help.
- You too have a role to play in the PR revolution.
- No matter where you live or what association you belong to,
- [♪ music playing ♪] every one of us is a representative of our industry.
- What does public relations mean for you?
- Public relations means raising the profile of our industry.
- Public relations means educating the public about what we do.
- Public relations means cultivating fearless two-way relationships with
- our clients and letting them know that quality translations make a difference.
- Public relations—that means everyone of us is an ambassador for our profession.
- Where do we go from here? The ATA Public Relations Program
- has had remarkable success. ATA has been quoted in
- Congressional testimony and is increasingly viewed as the authority
- on translation and interpreting in the United States.
- ATA has taken center stage, giving the translation industry
- public visibility where none had existed before.
- The time has come for all language professionals
- and organizations to recognize the critical role visibility plays
- in the success of foreign language initiatives, ranging from education,
- public policy, legislation and local outreach to industry regulation,
- government funding, and the dynamics of the language services market.
- ATA stands ready to join with all language organizations
- to promote our common goals and objectives.
- Our industry is an industry in transition.
- We are the gatekeepers of information in the global information age.
- No matter how busy we are getting the words out,
- we also have a responsibility to get the word out.
- That is what the ATA Public Relations Initiative is all about.
- [♪ music playing ♪] ata american translators association


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