What national translators/interpreters associations would you recommend joining?

Being German and having moved to Switzerland recently, I'd recommend the VKD (interpreters association within the BDÜ) for Germany and the AIIC in general because it helps a lot when you move abroad.

En Argentina tenemos a ADICA. La mayoría son miembros AIIC también.

ACERCA DE ADICA

Fundada en 1979, ADICA es la institución de excelencia que reúne a los intérpretes de conferencias asociados de la República Argentina con el objeto de promover las más altas normas de calidad para el beneficio de miembros y clientes. Para lograrlo, la asociación procura:

• Velar por la calidad del desempeño profesional de sus miembros mediante la organización y difusión de actividades de formación

• Hacer respetar su código de ética y los valores profesionales

• Promover y representar los intereses de los miembros en eventos y medios

• Propulsar el respeto de las normas ISO en el equipamiento de sonido a fin de asegurar una excelente complementación entre el equipo técnico y los intérpretes

• Establecer vínculos con organizaciones relacionadas para lograr un enriquecimiento mutuo

ADICA agrupa a los intérpretes más prestigiosos de la Argentina. Están representados los principales idiomas al igual que todos los campos temáticos posibles. La calidad de los intérpretes de ADICA, su profesionalismo e inquebrantable respeto por el Código de Ética son sin duda motivos que hacen de la Argentina una atractiva sede para los eventos internacionales.

www.adica.org.ar

I am a member of ATA and love this Organization - I am the LEP Coordinator and Interpreter (Spanish) Supervisor at Department of Social Services in Charlotte, North Carolina.

...one useful thing to keep in mind, when considering joining such an organisation, is that just like the case is in professional practice, translators far outnumber interpreters - and conference interpreters are or course a minority within a minority - so check wether the organisation you're considering joining caters for this, say by having a specific body/instance dedidated to interpreters, lest your voice is drowned out by our fellow written wordsmiths.

Assointerpreti is the national association for conference interpreters in Italy. There are other Italian associations in which there is a mixed membership of interpreters and translators, but Assointerpreti's 170 members are all conference interpreters. The association is organised into regional groups and provides continuing education courses for its members during the course of the year.

In Brazil, besides AIIC, you should definitely consider joining APIC, Associacao Profissional de Intérpretes de Conferência. (www.apic.org.br) Ulla

The Finnish Association of Translators and Interpreters, SKTL, in Finland http://www.sktl.fi/in-english/

Assointerpreti is the national association for conference interpreters in Italy. There are other associations in which there is a mixed membership of interpreters and translators, but Assointerpreti's members are all conference interpreters.

In Spain, the Spanish region of AIIC is incorporated into ESPaiic. It includes professional interpreters from Madrid and Barcelona, the 2 largest centers as far as conferences (and interpreters) are concerned, and a few more from Seville, Bilbao, Valencia, Granada, Victoria and the islands. You have to join AIIC first to become a member of ESPaiic and be active in the region.