Bump up your CPD with BP translation conference videos

You have until 4 November to take advantage of special discounts to watch BP conference videos. You can decide to watch just one, all of the BP18 videos, the current library (BP16 to BP18) or everything plus lifetime access to future videos. Your purchase (except buying just one video) will also give you chances to win a ticket to the next conference, BP19 in Bologna, at the beginning of May.

I wish this lifetime offer had been available when I bought access to watch the BP16 and BP17 videos on Vimeo in October 2017 at a discounted price. I think I’ll now wait until Csaba Ban, who organises the BP (business + practice) conferences, advertises another deal at a later date because I only managed to watch half of the BP16 videos before I lost access to them. The original email told me I had six months to view them after starting to watch the first one. This sounds like a long time, but life can get in the way of even the best-laid plans.

At most conferences there are two or three tracks anyway, so not managing to see everything is not such a big deal. Many of the BP16 talks didn’t grab me as I didn’t think the subjects would be relevant to either my business or my fields. If you’re short on time too, here are my recommendations:

Alison Hughes talking about what she spends her money on in her business, arguing that a small amount of money can actually go a long way. Besides some non-negotiable expenses (such as ITI membership, insurance, website and a conference), she also has an under £25 rule. The quality of this video isn’t particularly good in places, but definitely worth your time.
Marek Buchtel on managing rates and fluctuating workloads is a great example of a good conference talk. He seems relaxed, yet keeps the pace up and interacts with his audience. In fact the responses he elicits from the crowd are what makes this video so interesting and thought-provoking. I wrote about one of the many tips mentioned in this session in my previous post: if you stick to translating texts you do best, your income can improve without increasing your rates.
The translation industry talkshow hosted by Konstantin Kisin with Chris Durban, Steve Vitek, Gabi Nagy, Erik Hansson, Christelle Maignan and Paula Arturo. Again, what I particularly like about this discussion is that so many people, not just the panellists, get an opportunity to speak. I find it fascinating to listen to real stories rather than a prepared speech and it’s one of the main reasons why I launched the translation chat initiative.
Should we diversify or specialise? Inga Michaeli tells her professional story in her guide to becoming ‘untouchable’. As Inga is a creative translator of tourism guides and fiction novels, this talk is more aligned with my work than many of the others.
Jonathan Downie is entertaining in his session on the four Cs: connection, communication, content and creativity. If you focus your content on what will fit into a t-shirt message, you can eliminate rambling and get your point across.
Lastly, the memoQ presentation is quirky, fun and clever. Miklos Urbán and Marianna Nagy make a real effort to turn a rather boring session on a CAT tool’s features into an engaging topic. Unfortunately, they are let down by some erratic videoing that focuses on them speaking most of the time rather than on the screen shown to the live audience. This meant I got rather lost in some places, although I still came away realising I have so much more to learn about what memoQ can do.

These are just six of the highlights for me out of over 20 BP16 videos. Now that they’re selling at such a cheap price (€60 + VAT, if applicable, for lifetime access to all BP conference videos, the cost of a couple of webinars), it would be a shame to miss out on the chance to see some of the famous names in our profession in action. Although videos can’t beat that buzz you get from networking at a conference with colleagues that understand your job and are on the same wavelength, they’re far better than being left out of the loop completely. And they’re certainly a welcome addition to CPD activities translators and interpreters can pursue when attending a conference isn’t an option.