Meeting with Laura Bohantov, expert in public relations

The meeting was held on December 20, 2010 with the joint participation of ATP Moldova members and recent graduates of the School of Professional Translators. The participants came to this meeting aware that now it is crucial to know how to get your name in the world of translations, as well as in other activities.

Nobody regretted the participation.

I learned more about public relations, for example, that there are positive and negative public relations and also internal and external public relations. I understand how the information can be distorted or wrongly disseminated, and learned about the difference between "relations with the public" and "public relations." The first term denotes the relationship between a public official who sits behind a desk and gives you all kinds of information, while the second concept embraces the promotion of the name or "brand".

We were more interested in the second term, namely how to promote both the organization and freelance translators. In such a way I learned more about the tools needed in this context:

 

An organization:

A freelancer:

- will convene roundtable
- will organize social events
- launch new products with their publicity
- issue press releases
- issue a newsletter which will be distributed to the public
- disseminate news regarding carried out  activities, as often as possible
- will react to different events in society
- will provide services in packages
- will take advantage and even imitate the example of other similar organizations
- will make full use of Internet, "Facebook", "mailing group," "ProZ.com" etc.
- maintain a permanent link with employers through "feedback" or "thank you letters", etc.
- will assume responsibility for the quality offered by its members and in the event of poor performance will apologize
- will update the site as often as possible and include relevant banners and pictures on the site to refresh content and capture the attention
- will place on the website reference letters from customers satisfied with the performance of the organization.
- translations will be free or discounted to attract society's attention to the possibility of providing quality services.

- will promote himself/herself among friends, acquaintances
- will try to highlight the good things that  favor him/her, ex., translation speed, concise style, good social capacity, etc.
- disseminate business cards with well thought information: membership of a Professional Associationis always a plus
- will attend as many social events  as possible, followed by receptions and other social gatherings
- in the beginning will acceptvolunteer work to build a name in the field
- will not forget to communicate with the  employer, even after the end of an event
- offer letters of referencethat she/he has available

 

We are grateful to Laura and her comments, which are constructive and useful for ATP Moldova; particularly withrespect to the logo of the Association, which must be changed, regarding the content of the Web page - that must be improved, etc.
At the end, we agreed to have one more meeting, for which the members of the Association and the associates will prepare their questionsin advance.  
The Association of Professional Translators of Moldova thanked Laura Bohanţov for the time and readiness to accept the invitation.

Category: Internal trainings