How to order language services?

When ordering language services for a recent conference in Chicago, a client asked for simultaneous interpreting into 6 languages besides English and 1,400 headsets. We prepared an estimate (6 booths, 1,400 headsets, 3 technicians, 12 interpreters). The client found that the amount quoted exceeded their budget and called back saying they had decided to cut one of the languages to save money. Then they did what they should have done from the start: they described the situation and asked for advice. After asking them a few questions we discovered that while the total number of participants was indeed 1,400, most of them understood English, and all of the presentations would be in English. We suggested providing headsets only to non-English speakers, which brought the number of headsets down to 600. This reduced the cost sufficiently to fit into their budget. None of the languages ended up needing to be cut, and the risk of offending the German delegation by leaving it without language support was avoided.

Before calling Conference Language Services it is not necessary to know exactly what your equipment and interpreter needs are. It is better to tell us about your conference, the number of participants and their languages, as well as the presentation format (auditorium-type, workshop, seminar, number of break-out groups, etc.) If you also tell us what your budget for language support is, we will be able to advise you how to get the most bang for your buck.

Send us any background materials you might have: documents of past conferences, agendas, and texts of presentations (if and when they become available). Although our interpreters are experienced in a broad variety of topics and have most likely worked in your area of expertise before, we encourage advance preparation, sometimes, in cases of highly specialized subject matter, even paying interpreters for a study day. If we have the highest quality, it because no effort is spared in preparation.

Order early

Although sometimes it is possible to organize language services on short notice, here are some reasons for ordering them early on.

1. By ordering early you are assuring equipment availability.

2. Interpreters' schedules fill up months ahead of time. By ordering early you can get the best interpreters before they are booked to work elsewhere.

3. Staffing a conference with local talent can save up to 50% of cost. There are only so many good local interpreters in each language. If, by the time you order, they have made other commitments, we have no other choice but to bring interpreters from out of town. This means airfares, hotel accommodations, and per diems.

Order your language services at the same time when you book your event venue.