Case Study: State of the City Event 2024
The State of the City Event is an annual address given by the Boston mayor that outlines legislative policy directions for the upcoming year. Attended by members of local business organizations, prominent local charities, and other dignitaries, the State of the City Event requires the support and help of translation and interpreting services to ensure the event is well-promoted and that all attendees understand the mayor’s goals for the year.
Language Connections has been a language service provider for the City of Boston for several years and signed a contract last year which allows the company to offer interpreting and translation services in various languages at a variety of different settings. This year, a total of eight languages were represented at the State of the City Event, and Language Connections had the honor to provide consecutive and simultaneous interpreting, as well as translation services for 6 of these languages.
The Event:
Mayor Michelle Wu held her second annual State of the City Event on January 9th, 2024 at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway. Her speech, which was held in English, had to be translated and interpreted into eight different languages. This year’s State of the City Event focused on how to keep rents affordable by creating over 3,000 new public housing units as well as how to further develop healthcare and climate tech innovations in the city. The mayor also pledged to strive for a greener Boston by investing in initiatives to reduce methane emission and construct buildings without the use of fossil fuels. The event also emphasized the recent drop in crime statistics, as there was a 14% decrease in Part 1 crime as well as a 20% drop in shootings in 2023 (the lowest level of gun violence on record for the city).
The Challenges:
Implementing New Workflows
Because this event required the utmost precision in translating political terminology, the client submitted a preferred vendors list of translators with whom they had worked with
previously. This slightly different approach to finding vendors at first seemed to created time constraints and presented an unfamiliar workflow for our translators.
Finding Interpreters With Political Knowledge And Community Approval
Since the setting of this event was more political, the client asked for specific interpreters with whom the communities had worked before and would be more comfortable interacting with.
TIME CONSTRAINTS
A common challenge both departments faced was implementing the new workflow and finding vendors on such short notice.
The Solution
Translation
Language Connections approaches translation according to a precise and comprehensive workflow. This workflow is used for each project, and ensures that documents and texts undergo multiple rounds of review before they are presented to the client.
For the State of the City Event, we approached the translations according to the following steps:
- 1. Determine ultimate end use and users of the materials to plan for adaptation and final presentation.
- 2. Determine the content makeup and word count for each document.
- 3. Build teams of linguists in the target language(s) who adhere to strict quality guidelines according to the client’s preferences.
- 4. Build teams of editors fluent in the target language(s) to review the translations.
- 5. Develop a timeline for delivery, incorporating translation technology for more efficient work.
- 6. Begin translation and editing; translations are reviewed for the different target audiences.
- 7. In-house team of proofreaders check translations to ensure documents are cleanly formatted.
- 8. Deliver to the client; by this point all of the documents have been through multiple rounds of review, and are presented back in the same format as the original source files.
Consecutive And Simultaneous Interpreting:
When delegations or teams from attending companies approach Language Connections to coordinate interpretation, we first do a thorough dive into the exact needs of each client. This includes:
- 1. Getting an idea of the scope of interpretation services needed.
- 2. Gathering details about budgets, schedules, when interpreters are needed and audience numbers.
- 3. Identifying language pairs and levels of interpretation.
- 4. Determining the mode of interpretation based on the events; this is either Simultaneous (done as the speaker talks) or Consecutive (done during natural pauses in speech).
- 5. Requesting any preparation materials the client has for interpreters so they can prepare in advance.
Relay Interpreting
Relay interpreting is often needed at large events where attendees who speak multiple languages are participating in some form of discussion in their native languages without having a common language. It is not always possible that an interpreter for a given language pair (say Spanish<>English) will understand the languages of other attendees (say Russian, Arabic, and French). As such, a common language must be used between the interpreters. Often times this language is English. Therefore, when a participant speaks in Chinese, the Chinese interpreter will render this message into English for the Spanish, and Haitian Creole interpreters, who will then relay that message into their respective languages.
- Our team relies on precise scheduling and organization techniques – mapping out all the events we are supporting so as not to miss a single thing.
Additionally, our team is available around the clock should there be any minor (or major) hiccups along the way. We have built up a strong relationship with each of our linguists, allowing us to reach out to them day or night, and our technical team can be on-site or on-call for the duration of your events.
The Result
Thanks to our well-connected network of translators and interpreters, our project managers showed great flexibility and organizational skills in order to deliver high-quality results on time. The organizers of the event were effusive in their praise of our team:
I wanted to thank you for the support that you have provided for this year’s State of the City. You all were absolutely incredible; the professionalism, enthusiasm, attention, and friendliness that each and every one of you showed does not go unnoticed. We appreciate every bit of help, especially given limitations to the resources available and the short notice of some requests. The interpretation and assistance that you provided guaranteed that our guests were able to access information in a language that they were comfortable with and ensured that Boston truly is a city for all. Thank you to the interpreters that were able to provide last-minute translations of the Mayor’s speech. I am amazed at how swiftly you were able to work, especially given the length of the document.
Clearly, Language Connections demonstrated its flexibility, attention-to-detail, and client- oriented approach to language services throughout the course of this event. We are proud to have played a small part in the success of this event and look forward to working with the City of Boston in the years to come.
Interested in Learning More About Language Connections’ Work in the Life Sciences? Check Out The Following Resources:
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
