Face-to-face simultaneous interpreting

 

The challenge

We were invited by the University of Parma to provide simultaneous interpreting at an annual international business conference. More specifically, the event focused on customer loyalty, providing examples of successful case studies in order to share new approaches to customer loyalty both in Italy and internationally.

The purpose of the 2021 conference was to share international case studies and the research carried out in 2021 by the relevant university department on Italian businesses and consumers.

The conference was held as an in-person event and a virtual event at the same time, meaning that both the speakers and interpreters took part live via video conferencing. Therefore, there were various technical aspects and services to be taken into account during the translation.

In addition to this, we provided the translation of the text of videos of certain sessions, by providing subtitles and subsequently broadcasting them on-demand during the event.

We also provided hostess services by creating a dedicated team for welcoming and assisting participants throughout the event.

Solution

A Project Manager was tasked with selecting and appointing our top professionals for the various services required.

Having an interpreter who was confident in handling simultaneous interpreting both in person and virtually as well as being extremely competent in the specialist subject matter, were key factors in delivering a successful interpreting service.

The work leading up to the event such as for example preparing for the on-demand content, was also challenging. Translating directly from video is not usually the ideal solution, but it was the solution agreed on this occasion due to specific customer requirements.

In this case too, our long-standing expertise was key, as well as our linguistic competence and relevant specialisations.

We liaised extremely closely with the client, exchanging the necessary documentation and any useful information to ensure that the service we provided reflected the importance of the event.

The result

Our client was impressed by our interpreter’s high level of linguistic and technical competence, as well as by how well they translated the video, considering the highly-technical nature of the subject matter.