The American Translators Association (ATA) held its 60th annual conference October 23-26, 2019, in Palm Springs, California. The meeting drew nearly 1,400 attendees from 52 countries.

The ATA conference offers translators, interpreters, company owners, project managers, educators, students and others in the language services industry a chance to learn and network. It is the largest annual translation and interpreting gathering in the United States.

The core of the conference is the three days of educational sessions: 170-plus sessions covering 30 areas of specialization and languages. “There is something for newcomers to the profession, mid-careers, and the old-timers,” said president-elect and conference organizer Ted Wozniak.

In addition to the professional development opportunities, the conference offers chances to network, from the Buddies Welcome Newbies program for first-time attendees, to Brainstorm Networking, where attendees gather in small groups to work through challenging business scenarios to various division events. ATA has 22 divisions of special interest groups.

One of the highlights of the conference is the annual job fair. The two-night event brought together almost 30 language services companies and hundreds of translators and interpreters.

Throughout the conference, the exhibit hall was bustling with 67 booths featuring tool providers, language services companies, government agencies and schools. A feature of the ATA exhibit hall was tool providers featuring tool stations with tech support, not sales reps, to help attendees better use their tools.