Becoming AIIC: A Milestone
My biggest professional achievement in 2021 was that I added four letters to my resume—MIIS, a hard-to-pronounce acronym that means little to most people but is a household name in the world of interpreting.
This month, I unlocked another four-letter acronym. Equally hard to pronounce, but equally respected in the interpreting community. And, hey, what are the odds that the two letters in the middle are “I” and “I” again?
After three years of being a “pre-candidate”, I have recently become a full member of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC), the only truly global association of professional conference interpreters with about 3000 members in 100+ countries.
Since its establishment 69 years ago, AIIC has been promoting the highest standards of quality and ethics in interpreting. Today, I feel honoured and humbled to join the ranks of such a group of outstanding colleagues, many of whom I have always looked up to as role models.
A heartfelt THANK YOU to my mentors and colleagues who helped me get here! AIIC membership marks a milestone in my conference interpreting career, but more importantly, it represents the responsibility for me to do more—and do better—to advance the interpreting profession in a rapidly changing world.
I believe it is no exaggeration to say that the future of this world will be shaped by Chinese speakers and English speakers talking to each other. Being in a position to facilitate conversations between these two languages is a real privilege!
Rony Gao is a prize-winning conference interpreter, certified translator and communications consultant based in Toronto and serving clients worldwide. He regularly provides consecutive and simultaneous interpretation services for the Government of Canada, international organizations and global leaders in business, technology and academia.
