The Time is Coming for an English/Esperanto Conference
In response to my description of our use of Google Ads, Chuck SMITH posted a long comment which I excerpt here:
I would also like to mention that the ELNA conference is great for getting people who already speak Esperanto, but I was quite disappointed that hardly anyone from the "outside" came nor did I see any journalists there on the open night. Then again, had they came, they would not have been able to understand anything, because nothing was in English: i.e. there was no brochure for them, etc. Actually, something that might also work well is to make one day of the ELNA conference a Language Festival. We Eo speakers already know a lot of languages and would be able to present them to non-Eo speakers in a fun way.
But really, it depends on what our goal is. If the most important thing is to improve the language level of ELNA members, leave the ELNA conference as it is. If we, however, want to attract people to the language, the ELNA conference has to change quite significantly. I also may have been spoiled since I have attended so many amazing Eo youth events abroad (in Brazil, Europe and Russia) and I generally don't attend the "adult" events, because they just aren't nearly as interesting nor as much fun.
When Russ and I ran the Kongreso in 2005, I invited about 20 jourrnalists, via just their publicly advertised email addresses, to the Conference. Nobody came, or replied, or asked me any questions. Obviously, this was an ineffective action.
But Chuck's point is very well taken. Our conferences are great for an immersive Esperanto environment, but not great if you an not-yet-Esperanto-speaking journalist, linguist, or hobbyist.
Our next two Congresses are in Tijuana and Montreal specifically to emphasize international relations. However, I think the time is coming for us to have an "English-friendly Congress". I imagine a two-track conference, one in English and one in Esperanto. The English track would contain panel discussions and lectures on Esperanto, but also related subjects: international journalism, peace activism, global language problems, and preservation of local culture. These topics could draw a huge crowd; they are far more accessible to most people than Esperanto, or even linguistics. The fact that they would hear people fluently speaking Esperanto at the coffee bar would be a more interesting experience then anything we could "lecture at them."
I don't necessarily want to permanently change the structure of the ELNA conferences; but I do want to try this as an experiment---it can't hurt, and it might be a huge success.
Finally, I'd like to agree with Chuck---our conferences need to be more fun. I don't feel entirely comfortable going to a youth conference, although people have made it clear that I would mostly be welcomed, because I am 41 and have two kids; moreover I am so busy that every hour of my time must be spent wisely. But there is no reason we can't make the ELNA conferences a little more fun. Here are some rules:
- Coffee service is absolutely required. Lady luck favors the bold---go ahead and buy some cookies for everyone!
- There must be something planned in the evening that makes alcohol available, though not necessarily as part of the formal program.
- Plan activities for both the get-to-bed early group and the tango-till-you-drop group.
These things are simple courtesy, raised to the level of conference hosting: provide something for each of your guests, even if your guest's tastes do not accord with your own.
- Robert L. Read's blog
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Comments
Prez Ramblings
I, as prezident, get criticized regardless of which language I use in my communications. I have arrived to the point where I just pick what I think is appropriate and don't worry about the criticism.
If I use Esperanto only, then I miss the great majority of our members and all of those who speak no Esperanto. I miss most of our members, because most are not 80%+ fluent, and so will not take the time to struggle past the first sentence if the subject does not strike an immediate chord.
If I use English only, I tick off a lot of people, especially those who insist that Esperantists should speak only Esperanto with other Esperantists. That is a pretty basic tenet that I wrestle with every day.
So, now I generally just don't worry about it, or I take extra time to write in one language first (usually Esperanto), then do a translation in parallel.
These arguments don't help those who avoid our conferences because they are too difficult. I remember one of my first conferences as a beginner when I seemed to have a headache 100% of the time. I wasn't in touch with what was going on, and mostly just smiled and pretended I was doing fine. I pretended much in the same way that one who is illiterate will pretend to read, getting by with much practice in faking it, and making lots of assumptions.
However, the first Landa Kongreso that I attended begain in English, except for the solena malfermo. It was in Saint Louis in 1999. It began with a news conference. There were no reporters, but somebldy made the attempt to plan the news conference, and informed the press. Duncan Charters did give an English introduction to what we were doing and what we were all about. Thank you Duncan!
Then, Duncan spoke in Esperanto. His pronunciation was so precise, that I could mentally see the words as if printed on paper as he spoke each one.
We can, if we dedicate ourselves, hold conferences that:
1. Won't tick off the hard-nosed "Esperanto-only" crowd.
2. Attract reporters.
3. Provide information to the non-Esperanto public (fulfilling our charter to do so.)
4. Acquire new members.
Our publicity, news releases, mailouts, handouts, emails, personal face-to-face invitations are only about one tenth as effective as we plan them to be. Perhaps they are even less effective than that. They are not as effective as we wish simply because that is the way advertising is in today's complex world of ad saturation.
We have done a GREAT job in morphing our webpage into something that is informative, useful, and palatable to English-speaking non-Esperantists. Can we do the same for conferences?
Thoughts on conferences ("congresses".. they ARE official).
1. Youth activities are a must.
2. More than one evening of entertainment. We run out of entertainment time.
3. Guide for beginners.. wordlists, example sentences, of words encountered at conferences. (such as session, minutes, budget, ballot, voting, majority, intermediate test, contest etc. ). This might help remove fears for beginners reluctant to attend their first LK.
4. English news conference, followed by English introduction to what Esperanto is all about.
5. Dramas. (contest? Script-in-hand)
6. Literature contest. (Stay tuned).
7. News releases, before, during, and after. Local, National, International, specialty, targetted / general. Press kits.
Amike,
- filipo DORCAS, prezidanto. (Phil Dorcas)
March 27, 2007 by filipo, 2 years 51 weeks ago
Press contacts / choosing a language
For what it's worth, here are two comments regarding points raised by Robert and Phil, respectively:
Especially attractive are stories that have been cast in terms of local relevance and involve some sort of personal drama or human interest. For TV, where news is often shallow and pictures are everything, there needs to be a visual "hook" to build a story on.
Press releases also need to be timed to the news cycle of the particular medium. Print reporters have different deadlines than TV; it's best to contact them when they're hungriest for a story. Press releases need to be followed up with phone contact: make sure the reporter got the release; keep it from getting crowded out of the limited window of attention by other stories; make sure a TV reporter knows about a particularly good visual, etc.
Anyway... the point is: before any conference, if news coverage is important, it would help to assemble a group specifically tasked with coordinating press releases, following up with individual reporters, brainstorming ideas for eye-catching visuals, etc. We'd also need to appoint a specific contact person who would be prepared with talking points and responsible for (and comfortable with) interacting with media.
The students didn't know enough yet to understand conversations in Esperanto, but at the same time I wanted to get them exposed as much as possible by hearing it spoken. The solution was one-way translation. Students could ask questions in English if they wished (since our guests spoke English), but the guest-spertulo would respond in Esperanto, and then I'd translate for them.
Could a similar approach be used for maybe the most important speeches at a conference, so that press/novuloj/random-passers-by wouldn't be left out? It would mean a speech would take twice as long (or three times as long, if we translate into Spanish or French), but perhaps the trade-off would be worth it.
March 27, 2007 by hoss, 2 years 51 weeks ago
We're all learning...
When we hosted the conference, we didn't really know what you are explaining about the press. We did the best we could limited by our knowledge. My hope is that this website and conversations like these will make it easier to do better in the future.
I think translation could be very powerful, if it were real. For example, I could imagine ELNA paying for the travel of some famous Esperanto author, or an Esperanto-speaking central European politician, and then giving an English translation during a press conference. But to me this only works if the speaker doesn't speak English.
-- Robert L. Read
read &t robertlread point net
Austin, TX, USA
March 28, 2007 by Robert L. Read, 2 years 51 weeks ago
No criticism intended
Sorry Robert, I didn't mean those comments to sound like criticism. Getting press coverage is difficult for anything that doesn't involve sex, scandal or cute puppies, and I think it's great that you made the effort you did. I'm just suggesting more possibilities.
Now for Tijuana, all we need to do is get some prominent Esperantist to have an illicit affair with a political leader and then have him/her run naked through the streets carrying a basket of cute puppies. That should do the trick.
March 28, 2007 by hoss, 2 years 51 weeks ago
Trick
Mi tre ŝatas vian ideon! Fakte mi mem multe revis havi aferon (nur kiel esperantisto kaj cele al ĝia progreso kompreneble) kun S-inoj Pelosi au Clinton sed vane!!
March 28, 2007 by Becxjo, 2 years 51 weeks ago
Pormovada amaferemo
Nu, kara Beĉjo, ne cedu; eble vi iam sukcesos. Ho, se nur pli multaj esperantistoj estus tiel sindonemaj, kiel vi... ;-)
March 28, 2007 by hoss, 2 years 51 weeks ago
Onidira (Fi)Gazeto
Dum la pasintaj kelkaj jaroj, mi volas ke Esperantujo havu gazeton de onidiraj aferoj (ne necese veraj. :-) Ekzemple, pri kiu dormas kun kiu kaj kiu havas kies bebon, ktp. Mi speciale volas fari la "paparac"-ecajn bildojn de famaj esperantistoj.
--
Steven BREWER
March 28, 2007 by limako, 2 years 51 weeks ago
Hard to imagine..
It's hard for me to imagine anyone complaining about an English content track if the Esperanto track is sufficient. In any case, I'm proposing an experiment, not a permanent change.
-- Robert L. Read
read &t robertlread point net
Austin, TX, USA
March 27, 2007 by Robert L. Read, 2 years 51 weeks ago
Junulaj / Plenkreskulaj Kongresoj
Mi opinias, ke la nunaj ELNA-kongresoj respegulas la bezonojn de la ELNA-membroj kaj kongresgvidantoj. Tial ili estas iom pli seriozaj kaj "plenkreskulaj" -- ĉar tiaj estas niaj membroj. Se oni aranĝus diskotekon ĉe ELNA-kongreso, verŝajne ĉeestos du personoj, kaj pro tio la aranĝo ne estus tre alloga al novuloj. Jen "Kapto-22" -- ni ne havas sufiĉe da gejunuloj allogi gejunulojn, kaj tial la kongreso restas "plenkreskula" afero des malpli interesa al gejunuloj.
Estus tre malfacile ŝanĝi tion desupre, kaj multo dependas je la aktivado de USEJ kaj niaj jamaj gejunuloj. Mi plene kulpas pri neglektado de USEJ ĉar mia tempo jam estas dediĉita al laboro por la "plenkreskula" Movado. Estas multaj talentoplenaj gejunuloj en Usono, sed ili laboras por la usona "plenkreskula" Movado aŭ la internacia junulara Movado.
Mi forte subtenas pliamuzigon de la ELNA-kongresoj, kaj ankaŭ subtenas pliampleksigitajn anglalingvajn aranĝojn. La ideo okazigi renkontiĝojn kaj diskutojn pri Esperanto-ligitaj aferoj kiel lingva justeco, paco, ktp. estas tre bona, sed tiaj diskutoj bezonus famulon kiel ĉefaloganton. Malmultaj ĉeestus "ELNA gvidas diskuton pri paco"; pli multaj ĉeestus "ELNA invitas al diskuto pri paco kun prof. Konatulo kaj s-ino Gravulino." La laboro por trovi, inviti, (pagi), kaj reklami tiajn konatulojn estus grandega, kaj mi ne scias, ĉu iu nuna ELNA-membro havus sperton pri tio (certe ne mi).
Eĉ pliampleksigante la anglalingvan flankon de la kongreso, oni nepre ne neglektu la kongreson por ELNA-membroj. La lingvo-nivelo de ELNA-membroj (kaj de la plejmulto de Esperantistoj, inklusive min) povas ĉiam plialtiĝi, kaj multaj personoj partoprenas niajn kongresojn ĉefe por uzi Esperanton, eĉ se ili tute ne interesiĝas pri la temoj kaj prelegoj.
March 27, 2007 by Tim Westover, 2 years 51 weeks ago
I agree
I agree and when I speak with Normando in Montreal next month, I'll begin laying the groundwork for how something like this might work.
--
Steven BREWER
March 27, 2007 by limako, 2 years 51 weeks ago