Our translation agency at the 2020 BVMW annual kick-off

The 2020 BVMW annual kick-off started in Nuremberg on 10 January 2020 at 6 p.m.! This year again, the select guests not only included members of the BVMW (German Federal Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises), but also important representatives of German SMEs as well as influential politicians and social representatives from the Nuremberg region. And of course, we from the Nuremberg specialist translation and simultaneous interpreting agency AP Fachübersetzungen did not miss this chance to expand and strengthen our network!

The participants in this top-class event had the special pleasure of looking forward to the speeches by two excellent speakers: the Bavarian Minister of the Interior Joachim Herrmann and the communication, presentation and rhetoric expert René Borbonus. 

Joachim Herrmann, who grew up in Erlangen and studied law at the university there, has been a member of the Bavarian parliament since 1994, and he has held the position of Bavarian Minister of the Interior since 2007. Herrmann worked, inter alia, as deputy of the Bavarian Minister President, and he has had the title of “Bavarian State Minister of the Interior, for Sport and Integration” since November 2018. 

Mr René Borbonus, who is known from television, is a qualified professional trainer, founder of the further training institute Communico GmbH and a highly successful speaker. He specializes in the areas of professional communication, presentation and rhetoric. His speeches are very popular, especially because his talks are theory and practice-oriented at the same time as well as factual, enthusiastic and, above all, spirited and humourous. Again and again, he convinces and delights his audience due to his charismatic manner. 

The speeches of these two top speakers were marked by the topic of respect: at 7.30 p.m., Joachim Herrmann argued for respect and tolerance instead of hatred and violence, and subsequently, René Borbonus took up this guiding topic again in his speech “Respect! Gaining esteem from friends and enemies”. 

In his speech, Joachim Herrmann emphasized the urgent need for tolerance and respect in society, which present major challenges, especially today, and are often neglected. In view of the increasing violent attacks on politicians, voluntary workers and foreigners in the last few years (e.g. the murder of the president of the governmental district of Kassel Walter Lübcke and the attack on a synagogue in Halle), Herrmann called on citizens to show civil courage. He urged them to be actively committed to civil society and to fight against hatred and warned that they must not stand and watch any form of hate comments, including those on the Internet. After all, he said, the first sentence of Article 1 (1) of the German Basic Law is “Human dignity is inviolable.”, which has formed the basis of the democratic society in Germany since 1949. 

Afterwards, René Borbonus’ speech on the topic of respect, in turn, lightened the mood of the audience, not least because of his catchy rhetorical metaphors such as “respect is civil love” or “respect is the grease of society”. The many anecdotes from his own life also caused general amusement among the audience and are certain to be remembered for a long time by most of the participants in the 2020 BVMW annual kick-off in Nuremberg! 

We from AP Fachübersetzungen very much enjoyed the highly interesting remarks by both gentlemen and hope that they will give us useful food for thought in our business and private lives!

Before Herrmann and Borbonus appeared on the speaker’s platform, the guests at the 2020 BVMW annual kick-off were welcomed by three notable representatives of German SMEs: Edgar Jehnes from Nuremberg of the North Bavarian BVMW, Winfried Nesensohn of the Executive Board of the Bavarian branch of the German Youth Hostel Association, and Patrick Meinhardt (Secretary General of the Educational Alliance of German SMEs and President and CEO of the BVMW foundation) greeted the assembled visitors at 7 p.m.. Our specialist translators and simultaneous interpreters were very much looking forward to exciting encounters and discussions with our existing customers as well as numerous other important representatives of German SMEs during the get-together at the end of the event! 

At our company’s stand, new customers showed particular interest in our services in the areas of contract translation, website translation and translation of instructions into the languages Russian, English, Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian and Polish, among others. Furthermore, some visitors of the 2020 BVMW annual kick-off asked us whether it was possible to have their certificates or references translated into German with certification for the authorities. We very much hope that these visitors will soon become our new customers!

The place chosen for the 2020 BVMW annual kick-off could not have been more suitable for such an event: the Nuremberg Kultur|Jugendherberge (Culture|Youth Hostel) in the former Imperial Stables of Nuremberg Castle. It is even known internationally for its very high standard of convenience and its excellent location. Although it is situated within the walls of the former Nuremberg Castle, it is equipped with spacious conference and event halls and state-of-the-art conference technology. Thus, the Nuremberg Kultur|Jugendherberge combines venerable castle atmosphere (including the tower room with a balcony) with the latest technical innovations (e.g. the impressive lighting). Moreover, it provides relaxation for the invited guests at every event with its bar and lounge. We from AP Fachübersetzungen believe that this location is a powerful symbol of both the eventful history and the progress-oriented future of the city of Nuremberg. The Nuremberg Kultur|Jugendherberge celebrates a special anniversary on 26 August 2020: the concept of the German Youth Hostel, which was born in Nuremberg, has existed for 111 years and is now as much an integral part of national and international youth culture as it was then. Since they were founded in 1909, the statutory mission of German Youth Hostels has been to encourage young people’s education and to raise them to show respect, tolerance and mutual appreciation. This also reflects the guiding principles of the speeches already mentioned by Joachim Herrmann and René Borbonus in an impressive way.

Our nationwide active specialist translation and simultaneous interpreting agency AP Fachübersetzungen in Nuremberg has already interpreted at various events of the BVMW, including simultaneous interpreting into English at the 2020 BVMW annual reception in Berlin. However, our professional and qualified simultaneous interpreters have not only worked for the BVMW, but also for such high-profile authorities as the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and the Bavarian State Ministry of Health and Care. Since our broad range of specialist areas also comprises technology, medicine and pharmacy apart from law, we are a well sought-after contact for technical and pharmaceutical trade fairs (e.g. SPS Nuremberg and INTERPHARM) or Russian GMP inspections. We hope that the BVMW will continue to place its confidence in us and that we will have the honour of working as simultaneous interpreters at future BVMW events.