Case Study: Providing Conference Interpreting Solutions for a Global Veterinary Conference
Boston, MA — Language Connections recently provided conference interpreting services for the World Congress of Veterinary Dermatology (WCVD), an international event that brought together veterinary professionals and researchers from around the world. For conferences of this scale, clear multilingual communication is essential to ensuring that speakers can effectively share specialized information and that attendees can fully participate regardless of their native language.
With 30 years of experience in the language services industry, Language Connections developed customized conference interpreting solutions to address the event’s unique linguistic, technical, and logistical requirements. From coordinating professional interpreters with expertise in specialized veterinary terminology to adapting to the demands of an international conference, our team worked closely with the organizers to provide an effective interpreting solution tailored to the event.
Conference interpreting enables speakers and attendees who speak different languages to communicate effectively during international conferences, conventions, and other multilingual events. Unlike written translation, interpreting takes place in real time and requires professional interpreters to listen, understand, and convey meaning accurately between a source language and a target language while maintaining the speaker’s intended tone and context.
The two most common forms of conference interpreting are simultaneous interpreting and consecutive interpreting. Simultaneous interpreters convey a speaker’s message in real time, typically using soundproof booths, headsets, microphones, and other specialized interpreting equipment. This approach is particularly effective for large-scale events, presentations, and panel discussions where an audience needs continuous access to the speaker’s remarks. Consecutive interpreting, by contrast, involves an interpreter listening to a speaker and then conveying the message after the speaker pauses. It is often appropriate for smaller meetings, discussions, and interactions between two parties.
Large international conferences can present additional challenges for interpreters. Attendees may represent numerous countries and professional backgrounds, creating a need for multilingual interpreting services and carefully coordinated teams of qualified interpreters. Subject-matter expertise is also essential when speakers use complex terminology. At a veterinary or life sciences conference, for example, interpreters may need to understand specialized scientific and medical terminology and accurately convey it in the target language without losing important distinctions.
Conference interpreters must also adapt to the format and technical requirements of each event. Large conferences may require multiple interpreter teams working simultaneously across different sessions, while hybrid or remote events can introduce additional considerations involving technology, scheduling, and communication between participants in different locations. Careful preparation allows professional interpreters to become familiar with presentations, terminology, and other materials before an event begins.
These considerations become especially important when interpreting is required for a large international conference with thousands of participants, multiple languages, specialized subject matter, and complex logistical requirements. At this global veterinary conference, our team encountered several challenges that required careful planning, specialized expertise, and close coordination with the event organizers. The following are some of the key challenges we faced.
The Time Difference
One of the first challenges was coordinating with the event organizers in Japan, which presented a 12-hour time difference between the client and our project management team in Boston. Planning an international conference requires communication between event organizers, project managers, and interpreters throughout the preparation process, making scheduling especially important when teams are working across different time zones.
Our project managers adjusted their schedules to accommodate the client’s working hours and maintained close communication throughout the planning process. This allowed us to respond quickly to changes and ensure that the interpreting services were properly coordinated before the event began.
Technical Terminology:
The conference focused on veterinary dermatology, meaning that the interpreters needed more than general language proficiency. They needed an in-depth knowledge of specialized veterinary and medical terminology and the ability to accurately convey complex information in real time.
We therefore needed to identify qualified interpreters with relevant subject-matter expertise who could become familiar with the conference materials and terminology in advance. Our extensive network of professional conference interpreters gave us access to the specialized language experts required for the event.
This preparation was particularly important for simultaneous interpreting, in which interpreters must listen to a speaker and convey the message in another language almost immediately. Unlike written translation, there is little opportunity to pause and research an unfamiliar term once a presentation is underway. Thorough preparation and familiarity with technical terminology were therefore essential to maintaining accurate communication throughout the conference.
Coordinating With The Venue:
Another challenge was the limited availability of interpreters with the necessary veterinary expertise in the conference’s location. Rather than limiting the client to whatever local resources happened to be available, we developed a solution that allowed us to draw on our broader network of interpreting talent.
This required careful coordination between the interpreters, project managers, and event organizers. By incorporating remote interpreting into the overall solution, we were able to provide access to experienced interpreters who otherwise would not have been able to participate in person.
The conference also presented technical considerations that required careful planning. Interpreting for a large multilingual event can involve specialized equipment, interpreting booths, audio systems, and other technology designed to ensure that attendees can clearly hear the interpretation.
Our team worked with the organizers to determine the appropriate setup and coordinate the technical requirements. The combination of remote and on-site resources required particular attention to sound quality, connectivity, and communication between the various teams involved in the event.
Ultimately, these challenges demonstrated why successful conference interpretation depends on more than language proficiency alone. It requires experienced interpreters, careful preparation, responsive project management, and the flexibility to adapt interpretation services to the specific needs of each international event.
Interpreter Selection:
In order to accommodate for the drastic time difference, our project managers worked after business hours to extend availability and avoid communication delays. The team also took time to meet with the client before the event to determine the set-up and coordinate interpreting arrangements for the conference. Using our network of over 4,000 skilled, certified linguists, we were able to find interpreters that were subject matter experts in veterinary terminology.
Implementing Our Interpreting Solutions
Due to lack of local resources with necessary expertise, the client opted for a customized hybrid interpreting solution that accommodated the specific requirements of the client as well as the venue. While the audience and our technical support team were on-site, our interpreters joined the conference virtually. Cameras were installed at the venue to provide a live video feed for the interpreters, ensuring they could see the stage clearly. Additionally, audio from the microphones was streamed to our interpreting equipment team’s laptop, allowing the interpreters to hear all panelists and audience interactions. The interpreters’ translated audio was then streamed from the same laptop to a transmitter, which distributed it to receivers worn by on-site attendees requiring Japanese translation.
The client was very impressed with the services we provided. By combining a deep pool of interpreting talent with dedicated project management and technical support, Language Connections successfully delivered a customized interpreting solution that allowed participants to engage with the conference regardless of language.
Our team’s flexibility was particularly important given the unique challenges of the event. Project managers adjusted their schedules to accommodate the 12-hour time difference with the conference organizers in Japan, while our network of more than 4,000 linguists enabled us to identify professional interpreters with expertise in specialized veterinary terminology. The customized hybrid setup also allowed the conference to meet its interpreting needs despite the limited availability of local interpreters with the required subject-matter expertise.
By working closely with the client and adapting our approach to the event’s logistical, technical, and linguistic requirements, Language Connections provided an effective and cost-conscious solution without compromising the quality of communication. The project demonstrates how experienced conference interpreters, specialized linguistic expertise, and careful project management can come together to support successful multilingual events.
“This project demonstrates what we do best at Language Connections: finding practical solutions to complex interpreting challenges. By combining our experienced interpreters with dedicated project management and a flexible approach to technology, we were able to meet the client’s needs and ensure effective communication for participants from around the world.”
— Leo Galperin, President, Language Connections
Overall, this project highlights Language Connections’ ability to collaborate closely with clients and develop customized conference interpreting solutions for events with unique language, technical, and logistical requirements. From interpreter selection and subject-matter preparation to remote delivery and technical coordination, our team provided an end-to-end solution tailored to the needs of this international veterinary conference.
About Language Connections:
Language Connections is one of the top language service companies in the US. Over the last 30 years, we’ve focused on providing the best business translation services, interpreting services, as well as interpreter training and customized language training programs. In addition to top-tier corporate language training, we offer certified corporate interpreters and professional business translation services in 200+ languages. Our network includes linguists with backgrounds in all major industries. They’re ready to meet your needs, whether they’re for technical translation services, legal translation, government translation services, international development translation services, education translation services, life sciences translation, or something else. Reach out to us today for a free quote on our cost-efficient and timely translation services, interpreters, or other linguistic services.
Language Connections Inc.
2001 Beacon Street, Suite 105,
Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510
Email: service@languageconnections.com
