Unlike translation of printed or online content, interpreting is a live activity, with results that you can see (and hear!) instantaneously. Consider it translation at the speed of light. If you have a conference, a meeting, or any event that requires live communication in a variety of languages, TRSB can help.
CASE STUDY: MULTILINGUAL CONFERENCE ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET
THE CHALLENGE
You are organizing a major training conference in the coming months, and you know that some of your participants are not very comfortable in English. Your boss, however, does not want to pay for a full interpreting solution for only a handful of participants. Yet, if you don’t provide some sort of support, it will reflect poorly on your organization’s reputation as being a fully bilingual company. What do you do?
OUR SOLUTIONS
A client came to us in a panic, concerned with the extremely costly estimates she had been getting from various interpreting agencies wanting to sell a full package, not thinking of the client’s actual needs. TRSB proposed a variety of options ranging in budget and scope. The solution that was chosen was a hybrid one: a mix of translated handouts to be distributed at the conference for easy reference, and a fully bilingual DVD of the conference speakers, which could be available to all participants following the conference via the web, thus allowing the client to save close to 30%, save face and ultimately make the event a success for both the client and the participants.
Whether it’s in person, via a webcast or over the phone, here is what we can do for you:
- A non-profit organization had their annual conference coming up, and the presentations and breakout sessions had to be available in both official languages. Some of the speakers were English-speaking, some were French-speaking, and some would be giving their presentations in a mix of the two languages. Due to the highly technical nature of the speeches, the client was hesitant to provide interpreting services to the attendees. Our seasoned interpreters and veteran technical director convinced the client to go ahead. We coordinated with the conference center to make all of the setup arrangements, ensured that the interpreters had enough background information to use as reference during the conference, assembled interpreter booths for each of the sessions, and distributed earphones for the attendees. The result was not only a high attendance rate for the conference but a wave of positive feedback from the attendees—a first for the conference organizers!
- An international human resources company wanted to participate in an interview process for a high-level director’s position in Montreal. The candidate in question requested an interpreter to ensure comprehension of the questions as well as his responses. Using a teleconferencing system, we provided interpretation services for both sides, translating both the questions and answers, bridging the linguistic gap. As a result, we helped the company make the best decision for this important hire.
- A global corporate training company wanted to host a series of workshops in North America with guest speakers from all over the world. The conference would be officially in English, but the attendees still needed some form of support in the smaller, more informal workshops, which often required one-on-one exchanges. We translated all of the handouts in French, German, Italian and Spanish, and deployed a team of interpreters in these languages to be onsite and provide ad hoc communication support throughout the week.