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Barcelona networking "Powwow", a Special Evening

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By Maeva Cifuentes

A “Powwow” is a Native American social gathering where people meet to dance, sing and socialize in honor of their cultures. While we did not manage to sing or dance, our translator Powwow was a successful picnic bringing together a few Barcelona-based translators from all over the world. The people at Proz.com have adopted the word to designate informal social networking meetings. Though it is not a proz-ran event, the website provided me with a platform to find my fellow translators in Barcelona, and through it we are starting to build a network. This was the third Powwow that I have organized in Barcelona, and I am starting to see familiar returning faces.

I was away from Barcelona for a lot of the summer, making it difficult to find a venue on the Friday of Festes de Mercè, a large celebration covering almost all the areas in central Barcelona, for a list of people that kept growing (attendance on proz was listed at nearly 35 people). Finally, in spirit of the Native American tradition and in celebration of the end of summer, we had a potluck-style picnic on the grass field by Torre Mapfre. When the night fell, we got to enjoy fireworks from the celebrations. We finished by walking down the beach and going to “Foc,” a charming Mexican restaurant in Barceloneta for some beers. I think the other translators even finished the night up with some chupitos.

Everyone had a unique background and story. It was wonderful to see new faces: Markus from Austria showed up first, then a fellow American translator, Kymm, from Boston arrived. We also had some returning friends from the last events: Andy from England, who has come to all three Powwows I’ve organized; “Liverpool Irish” Berni who, with or without his ukulele, always seems to have exciting stories from his youth; Lisa, a witty Irish ‘lassie’ (as Berni put it); Mari from Norway, who turns out is a neighbor of mine; and local Barcelonian Diana.  As usual, there was mostly newcomers: Olivier from Lyon, to whom I did not get to speak much, unfortunately (hopefully I will at the next one!); another local Barcelonian, Olga, who shared some funny stories with the group; Karolien from the Flemish side of Belgium, who impressed me with her native-sounding mastery of the many languages she was using; Jordi, a local translator; Jacqueline from Scotland, and Keelin from Ireland. Overall, as usual for a translator meeting, especially in Barcelona, it was quite culturally diverse.

Finally, there was a much smaller turnout than what the attendance on proz initially suggested, but we had a great time together. Being a translator can be a lonely profession, and these events are wonderful to bring together people in our local communities and know we are not alone. Networking, to me, is not about finding people you can use for your business. It’s about building a supportive network of people who are in the same boat as you; it is about building a community. Thanks to everyone who showed up, and I hope to see you all again next time.

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