This is  my third iteration of the Interpretopia website. I am really enjoying playing with Weebly, can't get much easier than drag and drop. 

How our community communicates online, and uses social media, has become a topic of concern amongst some sign language interpreters. At the recent CIT conference in San Antonio, this issue was given some time and consideration with a group discussion. In addition to facilitating that discussion, I have had numerous conversations with colleagues on the topic of social media and the interpreting community. From these interactions, and the discussion at CIT, I have noted the following patterns: 

I was inspired to write this entry by the call for a meeting of the NY Interpreters Forum.

Note: My use of the word ‘agency’ here refers to any entity or company that maintains a roster of interpreters, hires them as independent contractors, and coordinates assignments.

I have been a freelance ASL/English interpreter for the past 15 years. Fourteen of those were spent in one community, the same one I was a member of while going through interpreter training, mentoring, and developing my professional career. Through networking and a combination of having had part-time staff positions, on-going college and university work, and being a graduate student myself, I managed to avoid working for those “bad agencies” for the most part.