Would you like to join us for an hour of networking, sharing experiences, and getting to know new people in the language industry?
Our next later networking event will be:
- Date: Tuesday, 6th October
- Time: 16:00 UK/Portugal / 17:00 CET / 12:00 Brazil.
- Where: on Zoom – link provided after registration.
I’ve listed the time zones for the countries from which most of our participants attend. I can’t list them all, but if yours isn’t there, know that you are very welcome to join us. The meeting request that I send after you’ve signed up should adjust the time zone to your local time automatically.
These informal online networking sessions are for independent professionals who work with languages – whether that’s in translation, interpreting, subtitling, voiceover work, teaching, or the provision of other language services.
Book your place using the contact form. If you want to attend more regularly, tick the box to receive the invitations every month and come when you’re available. You can also sign up for my newsletter with news about other events, podcasts, tips for independent professionals, articles about communication, and other news from English with Kirsty. Each step is separate so you only get the emails that you want to receive.
What happens at the networking?
At this session you’ll have the chance to
- Give a quick introduction and meet the other participants
- Get to know one or two colleagues in a break-out room
- Take part in our group discussion
- Share tips/recommendations/suggest a topic for the next time
- Connect with others on LinkedIn so you can carry on the conversations!
Who’s it for?
These are the answers to the most frequently asked questions. If yours isn’t covered, send me a message!
- This is your opportunity to meet other freelancers, share ideas, and learn something new!
- It’s not about pitching or selling.
- It’s by independent professionals for independent professionals.
- It’s free to attend. This is really important to me that meetings where we get to know others, exchange tips and ideas, build our own support system of colleagues, and share what we know aren’t something that I want to profit from financially.
- If you’re looking at a career in the language field, you’re welcome to join us. But if you have no connection with any language-related work – this isn’t the networking group for you!
I’m looking forward to meeting you for the first time or to seeing you again 😊
Check the events page for the earlier networking (11:00 UK time) or the networking in German.
Use the question field on the contact form if you have any questions, doubts, or if there’s something that I can help you with.
Why are these events no longer organised via LinkedIn?
If you’ve attended my networking events in the past, you may wonder why I decided to change the way in which they are managed. Here’s an excerpt from a post that I put on LinkedIn to explain:
“1. Convenience – I wanted to make the process more streamlined. Now, you will automatically get a calendar invitation, so you don’t have to worry about missed updates on linkedIn. Also, if you want to get the invitations each month, you can tick the box for that. Attend when you’re available, but no need to remember to register each month.
2. Protecting our space – making the joining link available to everyone on LinkedIn meant that I’ve had people signing up who clearly have nothing to do with the language industry. Generally they don’t come, but signing up means they have access to and could harvest the participants’ list. This isn’t what I want and it won’t happen on my website. In addition I’ve had people signing up whose names are hidden from me and others showing up for the first time when the meeting is almost over. This isn’t in line with the supportive and respecful atmosphere that I want to create between colleagues in our meetings.
3. Autonomy – I want what I’m offering through English with Kirsty to be less reliant on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great place to meet new people, but I don’t want to build on other platforms’ foundations. If people are coming to my events, I want to know about it and be able to contact them without relying on LinkedIn. This does mean giving me your email address for the joining details, but you will only receive information about the event for which you’ve signed up unless you specifically opt in for regular event notifications or the newsletter.
4. Professionalism – I’ve noticed that a lot of the networking or webinars that I attend also work in this way. Life happens sometimes and it’s fine if you sign up and are then unable to attend. In order to give members the best experience, I don’t want the meetings to feel like a random drop-in for people who see the link on LinkedIn, but who are not connected with language work.
5. Accessibility – due to some changes on LinkedIn, the event creation process has become less accessible for me and other screenreader users. We all need help sometimes, but I resent having to ask for help with tasks that I could previously carry out independently because the interface and accessibility of 3rd-party sites has changed. Where possible, I’d prefer to work with tools and sites that don’t cause me any additional barriers.
I believe these changes will add to the integrity, convenience, and confidentiality of the events, whilst also making sure that more of the right people find out about them, adding to the value and quality of the conversations.”