ITI International Network Meeting November 2025
On 3 November 2025, the International Network met at 9 am and 9 pm CET via Google Meet for one of its regular meetings. About once a quarter, the International Network organises two meetings on the same theme so everyone around the globe has a chance to join in. Meetings are open to all ITI members, and the theme this autumn ‘Beyond LinkedIn – other ways to market your business’ drew considerable interest.
There was a lively discussion at both sessions and many useful suggestions. Several attendees mentioned attending small, local networking events. Not necessarily to find clients, but to get out there, meet new people and develop contacts. Sometimes, these events lead to actually meeting existing clients IRL or result in referrals down the line. We also mentioned looking for events related to our specialisations, e.g. sustainability.
These events can be daunting, especially if you go there wanting to come away with new contacts. However, if you can encourage the people you meet to speak about themselves and what they do, this can make them more willing to continue the conversation.
We agreed it is important to identify the right events for our needs, such as networking and training rather than the larger trade fairs where stand holders are expecting to sell their products, and the right contact we as translators are looking for may not be there. But it is still an opportunity to ask who the right person in the company/organisation could be (responsible for website, brochures etc.) so you don’t come away empty handed.
We also discussed joining business networks and many were mentioned, some meet online as well as in-person.
One attendee mentioned getting significant work after politely pointing out mistakes in subtitles. Another rather unexpected source of new contacts could be the career fair at your child’s school, where professionals from other sectors are present, and there is an opportunity to chat more informally.
RevClubs and referrals also got a mention as important sources of work, as did volunteering in T&I associations or other sport or hobby clubs you belong to. This enables you to leverage your network to find solutions for your clients, like managing projects into other languages or other specialisations, thanks to knowing the right translators in the languages or specialisations needed.
Written by Jenny Zonneveld and Nelia Fahloun.
