Tag / #negotiating

by kywseminar

An Unexpected Christmas Gift in an Unprecedented Year!

This year, the Troublesome Terps invited me to be a guest on their podcast (tagline: The podcast about things that keep interpreters up at night) – and what fun we had!

The four Terps themselves come from all walks of life: three freelancers, one staff interpreter for an international organization, two researchers. All speak English, though not all are native speakers. And their podcast talks about all things interpreting.

This year, their episodes discussed starting out as an interpreter; how to deal with bullying; issues of mental health in interpreting; interpreting in conflict zones; new ways of working as interpreters; websites for interpreters; taking care of our voice, body and mind; tech for interpreters; and meeting the American Translators Association – as well as an episode on the Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters seminar by yours truly.

Just to be chosen to be on the podcast is great! You can see from the non-exhaustive selection I just mentioned that the guests broaden our knowledge and topics of conversation. And the ability to get the Know Your Worth conversation out to a wider audience was fantastic.

But this year, they held their first ever Episode of the Year and Guest of the Year contest, based on votes from their listeners – and the Know Your Worth episode won both categories!

I knew the podcast was still being listened to – my interpreting students periodically ask me to explain an expression in English, or to write out the Big Mac jingle… But the episode obviously brought all the interpreter listeners information they could use, and that could help them – especially during this crazy year.

So I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to Troublesome Terps for inviting me, and to the listeners for voting!

If you liked this article, please connect with me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliapoger/ – and we can continue the conversation!

To listen to the KYW episode of the podcast, please go here.

To listen to The Troublesome Terps, please go here.

by kywseminar

Getting together with Troublesome Terps

Sometime earlier on in the pandemic, when we were still on lockdown, and our future seemed even more uncertain than it is now, the four wonderful people behind the Troublesome Terps podcast invited our instructor Julia Poger for a cozy fireside chat about marketing, business, and the art of negotiation.

We all know that sometimes some good ol’ shop talk is in order, and this turned out to be an exciting hour and a half that covered everything from pricing models, to negotiation tactics, and everything in between.

To listen, please follow the link, and let us know what you think!

Click here to listen to the podcast!
by kywseminar

Confinement Chronicles. Chapter 1. Keeping busy

Dear all,

Being surrounded by vast volumes of new information when we’re working means that we get used to the feeling, and miss it sorely when it stops. As conference interpreters we are addicted to constant learning, which is why it is hardly surprising that the idea of having a quiet and lazy confinement didn’t stick. We were barely two weeks into our respective lockdowns, when we started discussing which language to add next, and which CPD course to do now that we suddenly have the time. 

We here at Know Your Worth have been keeping busy too, and over the past two weeks we’ve had not one, but three highly successful editions of our KYW Lockdown Seminar, talking not only about some of our more evergreen principles, and how we’ve been using them rightly and wrongly, but also about the current situation we’re finding ourselves in. 

Some of us were prepared for this crisis, others much less so, which means we can, and should, use this time to make sure we are better prepared both for now and for when this enforced isolation is over.

We looked into ways in which we can help our existing clients, and we talked about weathering this storm, and moving forward into whatever the future holds. We also discussed how to best prepare ourselves for that future, no matter how uncertain it may seem at times, and we enjoyed an incredibly interactive and positive exchange with all of our participants. 

I didn’t expect the on-line format would be this informative, insightful and interactive. 

Libor Nenutil

True, every group felt very different. Different languages, different concerns, different dynamics. But one thing remained constant: at the end we had all become close, just as close as if we had met in person, and no wanted to hang up. 

Thanks again for a wonderful seminar. I have been sending e-mails to relevant clients today, and had one good result already.

Catriona Howard

We saw that with our first group, and we had the exact same feeling when the time came to say goodbye to the next two. 

Which is why we would like to thank you all for that, and to officially welcome you into the KYW family. 

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We would also like to use this opportunity to announce a new edition of our Lockdown Seminar. Based on your comments and impressions, we would like to tweak the format a little bit, moving from one hour and a half long sessions to two hour long ones. This will give us the possibility to focus even more on some of the pricing and negotiating related aspects of the course that you seemed to be particularly interested in. 

We are an evolving course. These are challenging times, and the next several months won’t be easy. But we are determined to help you through this. An important part of our philosophy is that we adapt to offer a programme that would best suit your needs, and best answer the questions you might have, given the current situation on the market. 

April 27 – 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – 1. Your Mindset

April 28 – 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – 2. You

April 29 – 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – 3. Your Client

April 30 – 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm – 4. Your Money

All times are listed in Brussels time (GMT+1).

We are currently offering the full webinar series at a special #uncrownthevirus rate of EUR 200, and we are looking forward to sharing these coming weeks with you. 

To sign up, please e-mail us at kyw.seminar@gmail.com, and we’ll walk you through the next steps. 

Please note that the number of participants is limited to 10 people, and we restrict enrollment to those who can make all four parts. 

We will be scheduling more webinars, and releasing more content in the coming weeks, because all of us here at KYW are deeply committed to helping you thrive during this slow period, and on into the future.

Stay healthy, stay in touch, and stay tuned for more updates.

by kywseminar

Announcing a KYW Seminar for the Lockdown

Dear all, 

In what is now being referred to more and more often as “the times of the corona”, we have all seen a considerable portion of our assignments disappear, our savings drain from our accounts, and a generally panic-stricken mood set it on all sides, with everyone desperately waiting for life to go back to normal, at the same time wondering if it ever, truly, will. 

As we wrote in our open letter published a few days ago, even if this current lack of income is weighing on us, we cannot give in to depression. 

During our enforced isolation, we need to take the time to take care of ourselves – and we also have more time than we usually do. Which means we can, and should, use this time to make sure we are better prepared both for now and for when this enforced isolation is over.

Which is why our instructor, Julia Poger, is offering a free 

Know Your Worth Taster

March 31st at 4:00 – 5:00 pm Brussels time (GMT+1)

Julia will talk about the basic mindset changes that you should make to have better relations with your clients.

This will be followed by a webinar:

Know Your Worth Lockdown Seminar

April 6 – 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm – 1. Your Mindset

April 7 – 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm – 2. You

April 8 – 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm – 3. Your Client

April 9 – 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm – 4. Your Money

All times are listed in Brussels time (GMT+1). 

We will work together on issues that have blocked us from seeing what we can do in these unusual times, and figure out a plan to move forward so we can work and earn both now and when things get back to normal – though it will definitely be a new normal. While principles from the Know Your Worth seminar will be discussed, this will be a more hands-on approach to what you personally can do today.

We are currently offering the full webinar series at a special #uncrownthevirus rate, and we are looking forward to sharing these coming weeks with you. 

To sign up, please e-mail us at kyw.seminar@gmail.com, and we’ll walk you through the next steps. 

Please note that the number of participants is limited to 10 people, and we restrict enrollment to those who can make all four parts. 

We will be scheduling more webinars, and releasing more content in the coming weeks, because all of us here at KYW are deeply committed to helping you thrive during this slow period, and on into the future.

Stay healthy, stay in touch, and stay tuned for more updates.

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by kywseminar

Winter to Summer on Fast Forward

This year has definitely taken off to a busy start for all of us here at Know Your Worth, and, now that our mini-marathon is over, we’re delighted to sit back, relax, and share with you some highlights from the past month that saw us do four editions in four countries.

Our year started in beautiful Kyiv, that welcomed us for an anniversary edition with delicious food, incredible artwork, and new participants eager to learn more about marketing and negotiating.

We spent two busy days looking into ways to improve your presence on the market and your negotiating techniques, and we also looked at some possible mindset changes, which is probably the right thing to do at the start of any new year, to ensure you not only keep your existing clients and get new ones, but also understand them better to ensure they stay loyal to you, and keep returning.

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This, like our edition there last June, and the one a year ago, would not have been possible without the help and the incredible organizing skills of our local coordinator Andrii Biesiedin.

We then went to Moscow, where we had a one-day intensive training, focusing not only on the Russian market, but also on the European one, looking at strategies that could be applied universally, and brainstorming new negotiating ideas. It was particularly interesting to see our participants share their own stories and experience, and come up with some very creative solutions.

Thank you for the inspiring talk and the great workshop. It was interesting, practical, and motivating for anyone who wants to get insights into the world of marketing and negotiating in the field of interpreting

Elena Kravets

“It saved at least three years of my life.”

Kirill Chereshko

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During our time in Moscow our instructor Julia Poger also spoke at the Global Dialogue Forum, and we would like to thank the organizers for their kind invitation and warm welcome. Julia also gave a taster of her Negotiating seminar during the education portion, and took part in two panels, one called The Interpreter of the Future, and one called International Interpreters: How to Train Them:

It really is impressive to see how the interpreting community in Russia gathers to discuss topics of interest.

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 And on our last day in Moscow it snowed, so we got to see the city in winter!

 We then decided it was time to turn our attention to warmer climates, and headed to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, at the kind invitation of our colleague and KYW alum Heather Adams, before diving even further into summer, and bringing Know Your Worth to Guadalajara.

In Las Palmas we delved even further into the many whys we need to be aware of when talking to clients and even looked into the psychology behind negotiating, taking a more holistic approach to the entire process, while focusing at the same time on the particularities of the regional market.

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And the Guadalajara edition would not have been possible without the hard work and amazing energy of Jesse Tomlinson, who made sure not only our Marketing and Negotiating, but also the Intelligent Note Taking for Consecutive Interpreting went smoothly and without a hitch.

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I am convinced that you never stop learning and that one should always be eager to grow; lack of curiosity is one of the biggest mistakes that can lead to failure. I had the first consecutive interpreting assignment after taking Julia Poger’s Intelligent Note Taking course, and I confirmed that analyzing the speech has a whole new meaning in my mind, and it rocks!

Tania Saldivar Alonso

It was the first time we had both courses back-to-back, and we were happy to see that our participants remained active and energetic throughout, despite the sheer volume of new cases and information, with one of them referring to it as “an inspiring four-day journey”.

It certainly felt the same way for us.

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We are now going to take it easy for a few weeks, but not because we have nothing to do. The opposite, really, as we will be using the time to plan for a busy summer season, and look into a couple of new ideas, which we hope we will be able to present to you in no time.

In the meantime though, thank you so much for staying tuned, thank you for joining the ever-growing Know Your Worth family, and thank you for trusting us with your time, and you business.

We will be back with more news soon. 

by kywseminar

ATA SLD Podcast

A few weeks ago our instructor Julia Poger spoke on the podcast of the American Translators Association’s Slavic Languages Division, talking to Veronika Demichelis and Ekaterina Howard about the Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters seminar, the benefits of a proactive approach, and the value of CPD and professional training. You can listen to it here:

https://soundcloud.com/atasld/episode-14-interview-with-julia-poger

The podcast covers some common issues with marketing and negotiating that most of us conference interpreters have to face in our daily lives, and Julia generally shares her personal and professional experience in the field.

She also talks about Know Your Worth, the seminar for interpreters that started as part of the Cambridge Conference Interpreting Course back in 2002, soon evolved into a one-day, then its current format. It has now taken place in cities and locations all over the globe, and most of our editions seem to support the age-old idea that all too often people are too comfortable sitting where they are. Interpreters are not that different. It is easy to stay within your bubble, and to remain within your comfort zone, but the market is changing, and the profession is as well. And often all you have to do is change just one or two things in your current approach.

If you want to stop being reactive and start being proactive, this seminar is for you. All it takes it “a simple mindset shift”. And that’s exactly what KYW can do for you.

Try to listen more than you talk, try to understand your clients and your prospects, and why they are looking to hire you. You need to present yourself as an expert, you need to know what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and in what way is it different from what everyone else does.

What makes you stand out?

How to think in business terms?

How to avoid being treated as a commodity?

If you want good, solid suggestions as to where to get your marketing facts and advice, then listen to the podcast as Julia shares some of her favourite sources on marketing and negotiating, as well as a few suggestions of courses you might want to consider taking if you’re really serious about marketing and turning your interpreting into a successful interpreting business.

Even if you’re a recent graduate, take a look, or rather a listen, so that you don’t make some very disappointing mistakes when you’re starting out.

And drop us a line if you’re interested in joining us at one of our upcoming editions.

by kywseminar

Moscow Edition. Round Three

Following a relaxing summer – yes, we did need to rest after all of our editions in the Americas – we thought it was high time we returned to Russia, and so the third Moscow Edition of Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters took place this past weekend, on 30 September 2018. And since it just happened to coincide with the International Translation Day we thought we’d start by wishing you a happy belated St Jerome’s Day!

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It was the third time that the seminar was held in Moscow, and the second time we teamed up with the Cosines International Contest for Conference Interpreters, as our instructor Julia Poger joined the jury of this all-Russia turned international competition, and gave a talk on Seeing Structure and the role of analysis in conference interpreting as part of their three-day conference.

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We also thought it was time to experiment, to shake things up a little bit, so we decided to revert to our original, one-day format, and the results were as interesting as they were exciting. We still focused in great detail on marketing and negotiating, and we covered such questions as branding, position, and client relations, but this time the speed was slightly different. True, this meant that everything had to go faster, and was considerably more intense than usual – even though some of you might say it’s hard to imagine things getting even more intense – but that also meant a new rhythm, new dynamics, and a much livelier discussion after the event.

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We started by talking about the mindset necessary for successful marketing, and covered some general principles (as well as a number of highly practical aspects) of pricing and negotiating, all necessary steps in building a more sustainable and much more successful interpreting business. We were also able to devote some time to looking into how the interpreting profession is perceived from the outside, all in order to better understand our potential and existing clients.

The seminar covered all the bases for me. From reaffirming some practices I had tried out tentatively or providing applicable insights into “something that had felt reasonable to do somehow maybe,” to being an eye-opener.
Fedor Makhlayuk

Despite this edition being held in a special one-day format, we still wanted to see our participants brainstorm at least a couple of new cases together, as this often leads to them finding new and exciting solutions to different marketing and negotiating problems. It also means that they are more likely to start implementing the new principles and ideas sooner, and in a more direct manner. And once again we were not disappointed. On the contrary.

We were particularly happy with the way this edition’s participants responded to the new information, and how they took to the format, and all the commentary and remarks showed that they had come prepared, and with a solid understanding of their respective markets, but with an open mind and a desire to learn more, and to figure out how to navigate it better and more efficiently.

It was super helpful and I’ve already used some of the techniques today trying to ask a client some questions rather than blindly giving them my rates.
Natasha Kharikova

We always say that it’s best if people come prepared, and with a well thought through agenda, and with this group this was clearly the case. Perhaps that’s why the one-day format didn’t seem as daunting as we had feared at first, and why it seemed that everyone had found answers to at least some of the questions bothering them, and for that we are immensely grateful.

Notwithstanding my already considerable experience on Russian interpreting market, I’ve learned a whole number of new insights from Julia regarding the principles of self-promotion among prospective clients, psychology of negotiations, ways to convince the customers of the value of interpreting services and the need to pay for them adequately.
Alexey Prokhorenko

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It’s become a tradition of ours by now that we devote considerable attention to the general atmosphere we create at the seminar, and we were extremely lucky – and very grateful – to be able to return for the second year running to the truly incredible Impact Hub Moscow. We would like to thank their team for all their help in the run-up to the seminar, as well on the day, and for making sure our participants had a wonderful time and nothing to worry about, except getting to the seminar, and getting the most out of it.

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Last year we thought that we’d found our perfect Moscow location, and that we could not have possibly wished for a better place to hold the seminar. This time simply proved us right:  a beautiful location in the heart of Moscow, wonderful atmosphere, and lovely people to help along the way – in all honesty we could not have wished for a better place.

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If you would like to hold a Know Your Worth seminar in your area, please contact us via this website, or by contacting the seminar organizer Tatiana Kaplun at kaplun.tatiana@gmail.com.

by kywseminar

Know Your Worth Gets Ready to Hit New York

It seems that the Know Your Worth community is having its busiest season yet, as following the success of our Know Your Worth marathon, and that of the first ever seminar we held in the USA, we are delighted to announce our return to America, and that registration is now open for our first ever New York Edition.

The seminar will take place on 30 June – 1 July 2018, and we would be very happy to see you there.

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If you are an interpreter who wishes to improve your relationships with clients and prospects, gain more respect, and negotiate higher fees, then this two-day event is exactly what you need!

You will receive two days of tuition, covering essential skills for any interpreter, costing less than one day’s interpreting fee.

You will be encouraged to take a step back from your own position, and envision the entire client relationship from new perspectives.

What is important to explore?

We will examine the mindset underlying the marketing and negotiating tasks that you carry out every day, so you may acquire invaluable tools that will have an immediate effect on your bottom line.

We will address questions such as:

What can you do to increase your chances of getting the job once you have targeted the client?

What should you avoid saying, or else the client may never hire you – or anyone else?

What phrase should always end your conversations with any client?

How do you increase your chances of earning what you are worth?

We will discuss concepts such as branding, selling, client relationships, pricing, negotiating tricks, and “coopetition,” all illustrated with real-life examples.

Julia draws on parallels with other – often surprisingly similar – professions, and what lessons we may learn from them. She focuses on the upstream work and preparation that must be done before the interpreter advertises his/her services, or negotiates any contracts.

To register, please use the link below, and don’t hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions.

Register here!

Online registration photo_BW

If you would like to hold a seminar in your area, please contact us via this website, or by contacting the seminar organizer Tatiana Kaplun at kaplun.tatiana@gmail.com.

Please stay tuned for more updates, and don’t hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions.

You can also check our Facebook page for regular updates.

by kywseminar

2018. A New Year and a New Paris Edition

Following the success of our three Russian editions, we decided it was time to bring the Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating Interpreters seminar back to Paris, and that’s where our most recent edition took place, on 20 – 21 January 2018.

It was the first seminar we held after the beginning of the New Year, and we were naturally very excited to meet our new participants, and explore our new location. It was also in many ways it was a very special edition for us, as it symbolised our return to Paris after an almost two-year-long break.

It was also very special in that it brought together the most multinational group of participants we’ve had on the course yet, with colleagues hailing from Belgium, England, France, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States, all working in different language combinations. We’ve also had colleagues with some rare (for the European market) languages join the team, which meant that we had an even greater spectrum of case studies and examples to look at.

The seminar was held in a our now well established two-day format, which allowed for a detailed discussion of the seminar’s two main subjects: marketing, and negotiating. Once again, we were able to dedicate an entire day to an in-depth study of each of the main topics, as well as cover such questions as branding, positioning, pricing, pitching, and client relations, and to discuss the many challenges that we, as freelance interpreters – and freelance professionals – must face on a daily basis.

The KYW training is the fastest path to success for you interpreters out there dreaming of landing THE best clients and THE best deals ever! special thanks to Julia Poger!

Cyril Belange

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We like to see our participants brainstorm some of the more challenging cases together, in small or larger groups, as this way they are often able to discover new and exciting solutions to different marketing and negotiating problems. We also urge them to share cases from their own experience, as often this prove to be even more interesting to solve than any usual textbook examples.

We would like to thank all of this edition’s participant for taking such an active part in the discussion, and for being so generous with sharing their own cases and experience. This made the discussion even more relevant to the present-day situation on the market, and allowed us to cover an even broader spectrum of problems – and problem-solving techniques.

Here’s what one of the participants had to say about it:

Attending the seminar was very important to me not only to learn the art of negotiation and how to deal with new prospective clients, but more importantly to learn and understand from YOU and the other attendees what is the nature of the European job market for interpreters, I wanted to know if I have a chance in entering it.
Coming to the seminar was one of the best things I attended in my professional life.

Duna Qalyoubi

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We also talked about the mindset necessary for successful marketing, and covered some general principles (as well as a number of highly practical aspects) of pricing and negotiating, all necessary steps in building a more sustainable and much more successful interpreting business. We were also able to devote some time to looking into how the interpreting profession is perceived from the outside, all in order to better understand our potential and existing clients.

Paris

Traditionally, one of the core features of the seminar is the atmosphere we try to create to encourage our participants to take an active part in the discussion, sharing their personal experience, and exchanging ideas on how best to implement the new tools and techniques in their work. Which is why we would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful team at Espaces Réunion for helping us create a unique and memorable atmosphere for the seminar, and for making sure that our participants had a wonderful time and nothing to worry about, except getting to the seminar, and getting the most out of it.

We could not have wished for a better place to hold out seminar, and the two days we spent there proved to be not only incredibly useful, but also great fun.

Which, we firmly believe, is the best way to learn.

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This has truly been the best start of the new year we could have possibly asked for, and we are grateful to all those who took part, and helped us make it possible.

We now have a busy couple of months ahead of us, with Know Your Worth editions taking place in Washington, D.C., as well as in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

 

 

 

If you would like to hold a seminar in your area, please contact us via this website, or by contacting the seminar organizer Tatiana Kaplun at kaplun.tatiana@gmail.com.

by kywseminar

A busy year ahead

It seems that we here at the Know Your Worth community have a very exciting year ahead, with not one, but two new editions coming up in winter alone! First, the Paris edition on 20-21 January, and then, less than a month later, one in Washington, DC on 17-18 February.

For the first time, AIIC USA will bring Julia Poger’s Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters to the USA, and we hope you are as excited as we are.

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If you are an interpreter who wishes to improve your relationships with clients and prospects, gain more respect, and negotiate higher fees, then this two-day event is exactly what you need!

You will receive two days of tuition, covering essential skills for any interpreter, costing less than one day’s interpreting fee.

You will be encouraged to take a step back from your own position, and envision the entire client relationship from new perspectives.

What is important to explore?

We will examine the mindset underlying the marketing and negotiating tasks that you carry out every day, so you may acquire invaluable tools that will have an immediate effect on your bottom line.

We will address questions such as:

What can you do to increase your chances of getting the job once you have targeted the client?

What should you avoid saying, or else the client may never hire you – or anyone else?

What phrase should always end your conversations with any client?

How do you increase your chances of earning what you are worth?

We will discuss concepts such as branding, selling, client relationships, pricing, negotiating tricks, and “coopetition,” all illustrated with real-life examples.

Julia draws on parallels with other – often surprisingly similar – professions, and what lessons we may learn from them. She focuses on the upstream work and preparation that must be done before the interpreter advertises his/her services, or negotiates any contracts.

To register, please use the link below, and don’t hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions.

Register for our seminar in Washington, DC.

Online registration photo_BW

If you would like to hold a seminar in your area, please contact us via this website, or by contacting the seminar organizer Tatiana Kaplun at kaplun.tatiana@gmail.com.

Please stay tuned for more updates, and don’t hesitate to get in touch should you have any questions.

You can also check our Facebook page for regular updates.