Future in focus

September 29 & 30, 2026

11:00 - 17:00 GMT

📣 This event has been approved for 10 ATA CE points!

With 5 hours (300 minutes) of participation, you will receive your certificate of attendance. Participation is tracked automatically (be sure you are logged in to your ProZ.com profile).

Welcome to the ProZ.com virtual conference for International Translation Day 2026, the largest annual online gathering of translators, interpreters, and language professionals.

On September 29 and 30, from 11:00 GMT to 17:00 GMT, join thousands of professionals from different parts of the world in a dynamic, interactive celebration of the profession.

What's your plan?

This year's theme is "Future in focus," with the idea of exploring the different pathways running through the future of the language profession, whether the choice is to remain within the industry and continue adapting, or transition out of it (or a hybrid of both?).

What you’ll explore:

Staying and adapting: how to enhance your current services, adopt emerging tools, and remain highly competitive.
Transforming and diversifying: strategies for expanding your service offerings, exploring profitable specializations, reaching new clients and identifying future business opportunities.
Pivoting into something new: how to successfully leverage your unique language skills and professional experience to transition into entirely new roles or industries.

🎟️Participate in this year's International Translation Day raffle!

To celebrate International Translation Day, a special raffle is being held with exciting prizes for language professionals.

Prizes:

A copy of Dreamer's Daughter, the new memoir by Translators without Borders founder Lori Thicke -- 3 winners
A license for TO 3000, translation project management software for freelancers -- 2 winners
1 year of ProZ.com Plus membership ($180 value) -- 2 winners
Training course: The PM Operator - Execution and Resource Management ($92 value) -- 1 winner
Training course: How to get more clients ($89 value) -- 1 winner
Training course: AI Skills for the Future: Understand what AI is and what it is not ($49 value) -- 1 winner

In order to participate, your ProZ.com profile must be 100% complete, and look like you are ready for potential clients to evaluate working with you! This includes:

your full name,
a profile picture,
a good tag line (something that helps you stand out in the directory and when clients view your profile)

If you meet these conditions and submit the form, you will automatically participate in the raffle. make sure your profile is ready to show to colleagues and clients around the world, something you are proud of. Winners will be announced on the 30th at the end of the event!

Complete this form to participate»

Tuesday September 29th, 2026

11:00 - 11:15 GMT FINISHED

"Welcome and introduction"

Participate in the raffle to win different prizes! Complete this form to participate »

background image for Megatrends shaping the future of language professionals

11:15 - 11:50 GMT FINISHED

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"Megatrends shaping the future of language professionals"

Presented by

Eva Stiekema | Linguavision

What will the language profession look like in the next decade? Drawing on megatrend research from the Institute for the Future (IFTF), the German Zukunftsinstitut, and other leading foresight organizations, this session explores the long-term forces reshaping the future of work.

From AI and demographic change to digitalization, lifelong learning, and innovative business models, we'll examine what these trends mean for language professionals—and, more importantly, how you can turn them into opportunities for a resilient and successful future career.

background image for Write to win clients: Content marketing strategies every freelance translator should know

11:50 - 12:30 GMT FINISHED

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"Write to win clients: Content marketing strategies every freelance translator should know"

Presented by

Sherif Abuzid

Many freelance translators know they should create content, but they struggle with what to write, where to publish it, and how to turn it into real business opportunities. As a result, they rely heavily on job boards and cold outreach while overlooking one of the most effective long-term client acquisition strategies.

In this practical 20-minute session, you'll discover simple content writing techniques that help demonstrate your expertise, improve your online visibility, and build trust with potential clients. You'll learn how to create content that answers client questions, positions you as a specialist, and continues attracting prospects long after it is published.

12:25 - 13:10 GMT FINISHED

"The new normal: Building resilience and professional identity in an AI-disrupted language career"

Presented by

Abby Frackenpohl

The anxiety running through the language industry right now isn't just about fewer jobs; it's about what happens to your sense of professional worth when the market keeps sending the same message: AI can do this cheaper, faster, and good enough. Workflow steps you spent years building expertise around quietly disappear. Freelance roles that were 20 hours a week are suddenly down to two or nothing. And for those of us actively job searching, there's a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from applying constantly, hearing nothing, and trying to figure out whether to pivot, persist, or both.

This session approaches that reality from two angles.

First, understanding what's actually happening psychologically. The session will draw on lived experience on both sides of the shift, as a language professional navigating her own career disruption, and as someone who managed a freelance network and watched it contract sharply as AI entered the workflow.

We'll discuss the patterns honestly: how rejection affects your professional identity, the erosion of confidence that comes from prolonged devaluation, and the specific burnout risk that builds when you're simultaneously overextending to stay visible and receiving little in return.

Second, and more practically, we'll look at what resilience actually is when the disruption isn't a moment but a new normal. We'll cover concrete strategies for protecting your energy and mental health through an extended period of uncertainty.

This session is for language professionals who are in it for the long haul and need strategies to stay grounded, protect their energy, and hold onto their sense of professional identity while the market catches up with their value.

13:10 - 13:30 GMT FINISHED

"10-minute break!"

Time for a short break!

Stretch, grab a tea/coffee/other beverage, or just relax for a few minutes. We’ll be back shortly—stay tuned for what’s coming next! 👀☕🧘‍♀️

13:30 - 15:05 GMT FINISHED

"Panel discussion: Innovating in the new language professional role with human judgement"

Presented by

Joe Lepine

Andy Benzo

Diego Cresceri

This panel brings together leading voices in the language industry to explore how professional identity, technology, and clients' expectations are reshaping the role of translators and interpreters. We’ll examine how professionals can adapt, diversify, or pivot into new paths; how the community is navigating the divide between resilience and rejection of AI; and how client trust and perception influence the way these changes unfold. At the center of this discussion lies one constant: the irreplaceable value of human judgement.

This panel discussion will be divided into three main points:

Redefining the role and meaning of the language professional: Stay and adapt/diversify, or pivot into something new
Resilience vs rejection of AI
Client’s trust and perspective on the subject

15:05 - 15:45 GMT FINISHED

"Building career mobility inside and outside language services"

Presented by

Yana Dinchiyska | 1StopAsia

The art of translation is evolving and so are the minds behind it. Join a heartfelt conversation with Yana Dinchiyska to explore what happens when you let go of old boundaries and step into unexpected new roles. Find out how to gently overcome the fear of starting over and let your deep love for words quietly open doors you never even knew existed.

background image for Translator + toolmaker: Building the software nobody sells you

15:45 - 16:15 GMT FINISHED

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"Translator + toolmaker: Building the software nobody sells you"

Presented by

Yuri Vodostoy

I run a small technical translation agency. In February this year, I had never written a line of code. I still haven't — and since March, my team has been working inside tools that didn't exist until we needed them.

This is not a talk about AI writing your translations. It's about the other half of the job — file conversion, layout, terminology checks, QA reporting — where the software you actually need has never been for sale, and where waiting for a vendor to build it has been the default plan for as long as any of us have worked.

I'll go through what we built and how: which parts of the work we handed to machines, which stayed firmly human, how we check whether the output is any good, where our data goes and where it doesn't, and the mistakes that cost us the most time. Live numbers and before-and-after cases from current production — including documents that used to take weeks of manual layout, and tools that plug into the CAT you already use instead of replacing it.

If you've been telling yourself you're not technical enough for this: that's exactly the point.

16:15 - 16:25 GMT FINISHED

"10-minute break!"

Time for a short break!

Stretch, grab a coffee/tea/lemonade, maybe some snacks? Or just relax for a few minutes. We’ll be back shortly—stay tuned for what’s coming next! 👀☕🧘‍♀️

16:25 - 16:50 GMT FINISHED

"Remoto update from the ProZ team!"

Presented by

Andrea Capuselli

Jared Tabor

Luana Zalazar

16:50 - 17:35 GMT FINISHED

"Teaching future translators in an AI-first world"

Presented by

Yelena Proskurin

Artificial intelligence has transformed professional translation faster than many educational programs can adapt. Tasks that once required hours of drafting can now be completed in minutes, shifting the translator's role from text production toward evaluation, critical thinking, quality assessment, cultural adaptation, and strategic decision-making.

This presentation explores how translation education is evolving in response to these changes. Drawing on classroom experience in translation and localization, it discusses how course design, assignments, assessment, and student expectations have changed in an AI-assisted environment.

Rather than viewing AI as a replacement for translators, the session argues that educators should focus on developing the uniquely human skills that remain difficult to automate: judgment, intercultural competence, domain expertise, ethical reasoning, and the ability to collaborate effectively with AI systems. Practical examples of redesigned classroom activities, assessment strategies, and lessons learned will be shared.

17:35 - 18:00 GMT FINISHED

"Every language deserves a place in the digital world"

Presented by

Soeren Eberhardt, Translation Commons