Two weeks after the ELIA Networking days have passed; impressions have been systemized and ready to be shared.

The conference continued for three days. Three days full of new information: new faces, new people, new business networking, new clients, and a program, full of interesting workshops on top-interest topics.

Management workshop was devoted to company growth management — from small to big one, — and this was a subject of interest for top management. Big project management was discussed, when you can save time & resources, — for example, by selective quality checks, if providers proved their reliability for a long time.

After that, we witnessed the CAT-tools battle — Studio 2015, Translation Workspace, MemoQ and free MateCat. At the same time, one day and a half of brainstorming in a small group (only ten people) for the sales managers: how to sell high-quality but expensive services.

Two days MT-devoted workshops: yes, MT is winning new positions, and this is unavoidable. The main idea, that which speakers tried to bring to us: MT has the right to exist, but it is applicable for specific areas only. For example, there is no use in translating great volumes of blogs or user reviews for hotels, goods, or services by using “human” translators, as reviews usually are full of spelling or grammar errors, and it’s necessary only to explain basic ideas (like/dislike). At the same time, the daily volumes of such content are just uncountable. We liked the phrase from the presentation very much:

Machine translation will replace only those translators, who translate like a machine.

Particular gratitude to organizers is for place choices for conferences, networking dinners, and buffets. The host hotel for the conference is located just a 5-minute walk from the city center, which gives the possibility to have a walk during lunchtime through the historical Krakow city center. One of the networking dinners took place beneath the main city Market square, n historical museum – hall; and the other one — dining room 135 below ground level, in Wieliczka salt mine.

Certainly, such an atmosphere created great conditions for networking — and, of course, facilitated unofficial communication as well.

To sum up: being at such events is a must — it’s useful and pleasant.