On Wednesday 4th September 2019, twelve translators (one of whom arrived after this photo and one of whom was holding the camera!) met in the outdoor pergola of the fine Vista Corona restaurant in Barceloneta, the leisure and marina area of Barcelona, in one of the ProZ.com 20th anniversary powwows!

I thought first of all of putting together a few activities to help everyone ease into the conversation, but decided to go with my hunch that translators will soon find things in common to talk about. And so it proved. The conversation flowed, as did the wine and beer, and the assembled wordsmiths had plenty to discuss, whether to do with professional issues or just the simple fact of living in Barcelona. As it turned out, I’d say 12 or so people is an ideal number, allowing everyone to mingle and talk to all the others.

As far as I know, there had been no powwows for quite a while in Barcelona – certainly nobody in the group could recall one. But there will definitely be more. 

The only slight hitch was the number of no-shows… luckily the restaurant didn’t charge us, but they could have, at €25 a head. Lesson learned as an organiser, and I’ve had some great suggestions from colleagues since about taking advance payment, or only releasing venue details on confirmation. All noted. In the meantime, my only advice to translators signing up for future events is to take their commitment seriously, as might be expected of any member of a professional network.

Or not to sign up at all of course! 

But signing up and then neither answering emails nor showing up is just a waste of everyone’s time. 

Still, none of that prevented a happy crowd enjoying an opportunity for conversation and networking on a very balmy late summer evening in one of Europe’s most beautiful cities.

To be repeated!