by Thomas Tolnai
In order to make sense of our future plans, we need to talk about our past. This is my version of the TranslateCluj story.
Early Beginnings...
It was a warm summer afternoon in 2017. After years of unsuccessful online planning, and failed attempts, we finally did it. Twenty Cluj-based language professionals, including freelance translators, university teachers, students and one LSP owner, sat down at a table on a terrace to have a relaxed, casual chat about our profession. At the end of it all we decided we wanted more, so, for the next year or so, we did the unthinkable and actually stuck to a monthly schedule of dinners around the city.
Fast forward to March 2018. A bunch of us, including Laura, decided to sign up for the TLC conference in Warsaw. After attending a densely packed workshop there, hosted by Sameh Ragab, Laura came to me with an idea: “What if we organized a professional event in our hometown and invited Sam over to share his technology-related magic tricks with a Romanian audience?” A conference had been on my mind for some time at this point, so my only reply could be “Yes, let’s do it!” In the following months, Elvira also got on board, enthusiastically. Our initial concept was very simple, four speakers, three conference days, one national audience. We were all going to meet up in March 2019!
And this is where our story bumps into its first plot twist. We began advertising our event on social media (in Romanian), and inquiries immediately started coming in whether we’d be willing to open our conference to an international audience. And there you go, after translating our posts and website to English, our conference got international!
In the meantime, I was teaching a course to MA students at the local department of Applied Modern Languages and I was really enjoying the company of the first year students. This is how Ioana and Silvia, both exceptional students, became part of the TranslateCluj story. Additionally, Mihaela, who was one of Laura’s team mates at the time—and a Modern Languages graduate—got on the team. We had no idea back then how much fun we would have together over the years…
Nervously—and frankly a little bit awkwardly—we kicked off the first edition. We knew we could rely on our excellent speakers for delivering outstanding content, but we didn’t know what to expect from the audience. I had known and respected some of the attendees, but I never actually got to meet them in person until that point. Our reluctance, however, was short-lived, because a special kind of chemistry was taking shape in the room. One that would prove very strong and long-lasting, as time has shown us. The first edition was successful enough to keep us going. Little did we know what was lurking around the corner…
The Almost Cancelled Conference and First Signs of a Community
It was the end of February 2020 and our line-up for the second edition had already been set, with Ellen Singer and Marek Pavelec, among others, headlining the event. Things had been looking really good for our young CPD initiative, as we had managed to book one of the premium venues in Cluj and to attract a promising turnout. But then, shocking news arrived from Milan… The ELIA Together conference had just been cancelled because of COVID-19. As of late February 2020, Romania had virtually no registered cases, so the risk of our own event being cancelled in the first week of March still seemed low. And indeed, we made it, but just barely! The week after our conference, Romanian authorities imposed the first lockdown restrictions, which meant that organizing any further events was out of the question.
But aside from the pandemic story, the second edition of TranslateCluj would decisively define the vibe of our in person events. This is when our vibrant albeit small community, the very backbone of our initiative, was actually formed. Witnessing this entire process with a keen eye, our gifted photographer and videographer, Laura Revnic, has captured all the memorable instants ever since this second edition.
Looking back, the main lesson we’ve all learned since then is that the conference was never really the product. The community was.
The year that followed was the year of online events, any other form of in-person interaction was out of the question. So in 2021, we did a one-day online event. Despite the distance, hanging out together was still fun and there was still hope that 2022 would mark the return of TranslateCluj as we had all known it. Again, little did we know…
The Return to a New World
If you haven’t realized by now, this is a story with dramatic plot twists, and 2022 surely delivered a huge one. To our horror, Russia attacked Ukraine on a grim winter morning and things have never been the same ever since. Being so close to this tragic event, we were seriously affected and in no mood for organizing anything. Our much anticipated return to in-person events was in danger as we hesitated for several weeks. In the end, encouraged by our friends, we decided to go ahead with our plans. We moved the event to May, we invited Chris Durban as our keynote speaker and hoped for the best. To our surprise, we managed to pull the entire event together in under two months, and despite a small audience, TranslateCluj 2022 was a success. Our community was growing stronger and more united.
For the following years, we planned thematic editions, trying to provide meaningful, coherent and cohesive content around important topics for our profession. In 2023, we focused on the business side, having Erik Hansson as our keynote speaker, in 2024, we talked about Quality, with Professor Anca Greere and Carlos La Orden Tovar at the helm, whereas in 2025, we tackled Artificial Intelligence from a constructive perspective. Finally, Adela Preda facilitated a wonderful 2026 edition dedicated to Value.
The year 2023 also marked the growth of the organizing team, as we welcomed Sabine, Ciprian and Andreea to the gang. Our main and fringe events would soon benefit from their skills and enthusiasm. Speaking of fringe events, in 2024 we hosted a joyful and loud traditional Transylvanian evening, complete with delicious food, folk dances (performed quite spectacularly, among others by Laura herself) and a dance workshop. This was a ‘where do we go from here?’ moment, for sure.
Here's to a New Adventure!
I saved the flashiest and meanest plot twist for last. As you might have guessed, this is the AI hype coupled with the current global recession, which has sent the entire language professional community onto the brink of depression. In the past several years, interest in professional conferences has dropped, making it ever more difficult for us to organize events in our usual format. On the other hand, the people in our core community don’t want to stop, on the contrary, they’d like to keep meeting every year, which brings us to a crossroads. To learn more about what we’re pivoting to and about our future plans, watch this space and our social media. Details to follow soon.
