Here’s my review of METM19, the 15th Mediterranean Editors & Translators Meeting, held 26-28 September in Split, Croatia. Attendees chose which workshops and talks to attend and which social activities to take part in. We made some choices months in advance and others on the spot. Everyone’s METM19 was unique. The photo gallery below is a report of my METM19 experience.
(Click the first image below to view in carousel format.)
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- METM19 kicked off early for me with a Hive Team meeting over dinner on the Wednesday evening. We discuss day-to-day business on our online platform, but nothing beats a face-to-face meeting.
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- Down to work on the Thursday: a three-hour workshop by Mary Ellen Kerans on “Two aspects of information ordering that affect flow within sentences and beyond”. I listened and learned so much from MET founder, Mary Ellen, and from editing in a foursome with my peers.
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- A chance to meet new people and catch up with old friends at an off-METM Thursday dinner table. ‘Siblings: rivals or best friends?’, hosted by the Nocera sisters, was a perfect ice-breaker to share stories and get to know each other better.
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- The conference proper started on Friday with a panel moderated by Valerie Matarese on “Can we make the world a better place? Realities, roadblocks and rewards for language professionals who work for philanthropic causes.” Admirable on all counts. Karen Shashok’s AuthorAID project in the Eastern Mediterranean is particularly commendable.
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- After the Friday afternoon sessions, we made our way back to the School of Humanities for the welcome reception, set up outside on a balmy late-summer evening. Another chance to mingle, this time over a glass of local wine and chard pie.
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- Back to business on Saturday morning with Jennifer de Beyer on “Reproducibility in research, reporting guidelines, and language professionals”. Jennifer explained the need for reporting guidelines and noted that translators and editors can help their authors adhere to the guidelines in their fields (e.g., CONSORT for clinical trials).
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- My presentation on “Improving a source language after years of immersion” was a chance to share my experience of an intense six months of Spanish language learning with peers who could really relate to the plateau I’d been stuck on for too many years.
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- Wendy Baldwin on “Building a language professional–academic co-working partnership”. Wendy gave a fascinating account of her structured co-working sessions with academics. A win-win situation for both parties.
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- As MET membership chair, my perspective of the General Assembly was unique. We’re lucky to always get such a good turnout – this time over 100 MET members were present to discuss sustainability, the printed programme, conference content and more.
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- An exhilarating performance by the METM19 choir. We sang “Tulipan, Jorgovan”, conducted by Marijo Krnic, and “I Will Follow Him”, conducted by Ruth Simpson. Ruth whipped the choir into shape with her infectious enthusiasm and sparkle. Singing gives you such a buzz!
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- What better ending to a conference could you wish for than a hike on a glorious Sunday morning with 30 fellow attendees? Simple: a hike followed by a swim in the Adriatic sea!
Links to the workshops and presentations mentioned in the gallery
- Workshop: Two aspects of information ordering that affect flow within sentences and beyond
- Panel discussion: Can we make the world a better place? Realities, roadblocks and rewards for language professionals who work for philanthropic causes
- Presentation: Reproducibility in research, reporting guidelines, and language professionals
- Presentation: Improving a source language after years of immersion
- Presentation: Building a language professional–academic co-working partnership
Photo credits
All photos by METM19 official photographer Mario Javorčić, except:
- Hive team dinner, by Wendy Baldwin
- Workshop foursome (my own)
- Off-METM dinner, by Siru Laine
- METM choir, by Karin Rockstad
- Post-conference swim, by María Fernández
METM20 will be held in Donostia/San Sebastián, Spain, from 15-17 October 2020. See you there?
Signs & Symptoms of Translation 
Thanks Emma. Great for those of us who missed this edition!
I was in Split once – MANY years ago. What a beautiful place. Looks like it was fun. Work and play do mix.