Off to the Netherlands

“No one else can do what you do, where God has placed you. It is our goal to help you equip yourself for that task” -EMDC Ethos

Hosted in the Netherlands this year, the annual Eurasia Media and Distribution Consultation (EMDC) Conference was hosted in May, bringing together linguists, Bible translators, and others in the language space to meet and network with media and IT specialists. For five days, these groups gathered, learning from one another, meeting old friends and making new ones. Paratext was proud and honored to send two of our team members, Craig Nisbett (Project Manager)  and Rolf Heij (Developer) to participate in the conference. 

“It was great to represent the team,” Craig shared, “We got to see the excitement we [the Paratext team] were generating—we don’t normally get to see the feedback in person when people are seeing Paratext 10 Studio for the first time.”

Every morning of the conference, worship kicked off the day—inviting attendees to praise and worship together, after which a keynote speaker would present to the 430 participants. Then breakout sessions commenced, where attendees presented their work to those interested. Rolf and Craig were given a slot on the first day to present Paratext 10 Studio. Before stepping on stage, they gathered with two colleagues over a video call for prayer, asking for God’s guidance over their presentation and time at EMDC.

Craig started by giving a broad overview of the newest edition of Paratext—why continuing to develop and build off the legacy of this Bible translation software is important to the work of Bible translators all over the world. Rolf stepped up next to give a live demonstration of Paratext 10 Studio, showing the audience what the software could do in its current Beta 1 version. The session sparked plenty of interest, with thoughtful questions and positive responses from the crowd.

Craig and Rolf shared the uniqueness of Paratext 10 Studio, stressing the importance of extension developers sharing their expertise and skills by building extensions for translators. With Paratext 10 Studio comes an opportunity for those called to equip Bible translators with their tech, helping create a software that is more efficient and accurate for translation work. Along the same vein of the EMDC Ethos, the Paratext team is inviting software developers and organizations to partner with us in creating these extensions, equipping the called. 

Lastly, Craig took the stage again to go over the future of Paratext 10 Studio. He presented the Roadmap of the product's future features and answered questions from the audience. Afterward, the two spent the rest of the conference connecting with attendees at the SIL Language Technology booth. There, they fielded more questions, provided resources, and invited developers to join the growing Paratext Discord community for support and collaboration on extension development. 

Craig and Rolf had a great time at the conference representing our Bible Translation Software, Paratext 10 Studio. Being able to worship, gather, and share with one another was an amazing opportunity. With Paratext 10 Studio, we are equipping both extension developers and translators to do the work God has called them to. Without our partners and users, the Bible translation movement would come to a halt. We are proud to provide the Bible Translation Community with software that equips them to achieve their calling. 

We’re thankful to EMDC for their warm hospitality in the Netherlands this year, and we look forward to seeing more translators, linguists, and consultants explore Paratext 10 Studio Beta releases as we continue refining this vital tool for the global Church.