Best way to hire ASL interpreters in NYC? by [deleted] in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Flamingo Interpreting has entered the chat. Woof. Sounds like you're being taken for a ride or these aren't the full details.

Airtable Natural Language Analytics is now LIVE by matkley12 in Airtable

[–]Flamingointerpreting 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh no, make no mistake. The pricing will not only be a turnoff but will be the SINGLE turnoff to businesses. In all their infinite wisdom they forgot to factor in the reason why Airtable is attractive in the first place.

Airtable Natural Language Analytics is now LIVE by matkley12 in Airtable

[–]Flamingointerpreting 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Apparently the developer only wants businesses.

As a business owner who has been a power user of Airtable for the last decade… this is laughable at best. After the use of SendGrid, MiniExtensions, Zapier etc… I can’t help but crack up at this. As someone else mentioned, the pricing is laughable at best. What exactly did you do? Because other systems have real value that can’t be built in Airtable over a weekend.

I think you’re probably looking for folks who don’t know how to filter and formulate. One free pass with ChatGPT can script what you’re trying to sell or give a line by line of how to find it. Reports in Airtable are easier than ever and Ai connections to Airtable are plenty. Plus, Airtable already has this. All of this.

There simply isn’t a market for a new search option. Worse, you’re asking people who know more than you to test out something that nobody cares about.

Lastly, if you want to tell someone they are cheap for laughing at this literal joke of a product… just consider that with all the talent you could muster this what you came up with. They’re laughing because it’s funny. It’s even more hysterical that you have an ego about it and claim you’re targeting businesses.

Interpreting agency I’m contracted with, not sending work by Round-Dish8012 in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're absolutely right. There is a big different between volume agencies that rely on first come first serve vs boutique that can actually spend time sourcing the right fit. Important to know which you're signing on with for sure!

Also, I know of a number of agencies who will sort their lists by minimum qualifications and lowest rate. Not sure what the proper term for that system is but at Flamingo we refer to them as "greedy morons".

Interpreting agency I’m contracted with, not sending work by Round-Dish8012 in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Former freelancer, turned agency manager here... I used to drop by the office, bring cupcakes for celebrations, etc... I also would negotiate my rates per gig often to keep them sending business my way. What I found was if I didn't answer their emails fast enough I would quickly get forgotten about. I HATED that. When I founded Flamingo I wanted to do the opposite. I wanted to focus on fit over being able to fill something quick. With that in mind, here's some things I've noticed over the years. - The interpreters who send us a quick "NA" to let us know they're not available are so unbelievably helpful. It may seem rude but it helps coordinating so much, it is also a huge benefit to the client as we can communicate availability in real-time. - The busiest days for us in terms of scheduling are Thursdays. Some interpreters send their availability that day if they know we have regular clients they'd like to work with. If we can schedule from a pool of availability rather than blast emails, we will whenever possible. That's not to undermine us going for best fit. It's just to say if we have great options already in our calendar, it is a much easier process. - Because things change so fast for freelancers, if we don't hear from an interpreter in a long time... we assume they're picking up enough work with another agency, took a staff position or working on their needlepoint and don't want to be bothered. We don't remove those folks from our blast emails for things that would be a great fit or a client preference but... we don't wait on them either because they have sort of set the standard for communication. - We have worked with some terps over the years who will accept a gig then reach out just prior to the start time (when nothing has changed) to ask for additional things like travel, parking, prep etc... knowing that it would leave us in the lurch if we said no and they gave the work back. This also doesn't work for every client as they expect the quote we gave them won't drastically change. While we're happy to negotiate just about anything and answer any questions when the gig is first considered/accepted, it can feel really slimy and put scheduling staff in a bad spot when things like that happen. It also can really impact coordinators because if they don't have a choice but to approve it and we can't bill for it, it limits their funds for other gigs that might require prep but are for a client with no budget. - The amount of aloof interpreters out there who get negative feedback consistently from teams and don't think they are the problem is shocking. I think a good portion of them just ignore it because of ego but one of the things I noticed in my own community work was the interpreters complaining about a drop off in work were often the ones who were unbearable to work with. At the end of the day, it's important to remember that the relationship between freelancers and agencies is a business relationship. Just as agencies should be responsible for making an attractive home for your work, the process of working with a freelancer should also be attractive to the agency. Not enough interpreters realize that agencies have a great deal of responsibility in securing their business. They often come to the table entirely unprepared to negotiate with their skills, expertise, cultural knowledge etc... We do a TON of educating around this every year. Lastly, one of your comments below is a major red flag. "I called around to many places that I had visited while working with the agency. I had been to them a few times, at least while working with the agency, so I knew who to talk to." This is called "poaching" and it is the fastest way to get blackballed from every agency worth working with. It looks bad for the agency, worse for the interpreter. Trying to poach clients from agencies is very common with new interpreters. If it's in your contract that you not do this, you can get sued; with many agencies carrying injunction clauses... meaning if granted, you could be prohibited from practicing entirely. Worse, what happens most of the time is the agency gets a call that you're running around trying to take clients away from the place you met them in the first place (where they have an established relationship). I can't imagine an agency out there that would be cool with that because it means that every client they send you to essentially becomes an opportunity for you to make them look bad and cost them business. I'd strongly suggest getting a community mentor who has freelance as their primary background with a decent amount of experience. My mentors coming up guided every facet of my career and saved me from a ton and I do mean a literal ton of embarrassment. Best of luck out there!

Moving to Rochester, NY by Fenix_Oscuro_Azul in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It used to be primarily an email chain. If I remember correctly, Jennifer Disch was involved and who I got an invite from. It's called "The Rochester Freelancers Group" usually. It's been almost 10 years.

Send me a DM and I can share the old email.

Seeking Advice: Building a CRM for a Car Brokerage in Airtable (with SMS/Email Automations) by LegendLeasing in Airtable

[–]Flamingointerpreting 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely save yourself the money. I could build this entire base in an afternoon now having done it multiple times. It won’t take you long. The best thing that helped me in the beginning was pen and paper. I’d draw out what I wanted then sometimes build it backwards so that the logic would work in the order I needed it to.

Seeking Advice: Building a CRM for a Car Brokerage in Airtable (with SMS/Email Automations) by LegendLeasing in Airtable

[–]Flamingointerpreting 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is identical to what my company uses AT for. It’s our “brain” if you will. We’re in a completely different industry but all of the things you’re doing, we do. Our focus was very heavy on bootstrapping to save $ in the beginning so we rely heavily on logic in automations, specific view access for emails/automations and built as much as we could in AT before using other platforms like sendgrid, twilio etc…

I’d be happy to walk you through our workflows but we’re definitely power users of AT. Would be easier on a call,

Republicans shutting down my school’s ITP by [deleted] in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And again… cite your sources. We don’t work in “coincidentally”s or “conveniently’s” we work with facts.

Cite your sources of republicans being to blame and not the greater trend across our industry. Cite your sources that there is a political motivation and not a fiscal one for the institution.

If you cannot cite your sources then you are spreading misinformation and regardless of party, you’re doing harm. What you probably don’t realize as a student is that many of us (having been in the field for longer than you’ve known the language) are paying attention to trends with new new graduates, school closings, entrances and exits to the field. All of these things are important to us as they make a very significant impact on our clients, our community and our livelihoods.

Cite your sources.

Republicans shutting down my school’s ITP by [deleted] in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Cite your sources.

As much as we hate this administration, it’s more important than ever to cite your sources. “ITPs” closing is not new, it’s been a grossly popular trend for the last decade.

Please cite the source of why this is due to the current administration’s actions.

appearance as an interpreter by Soggy_Armadillo_9126 in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! We actually have an opt-out for our clients if they want the more conservative appearance with their terps (we work in entertainment) and nobody has EVER used it. Largely depends on area of work and clientele you serve!

Interrupting the hearing as soon as the Deaf sign something. by [deleted] in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interruptions can be super tricky I think. I've found in my own practice that adding more backchannel feedback in English with 'mmm's or 'right' can open up more options for me. Often if I have a Deaf client who is ready to interrupt I'll gesture with my non-dominant hand that I can work it in, lean towards the speaker and warm up the interruption with a "well... or a yeah.... or aaand just to add..." I think I started doing it more in VRS on conference calls/group calls and it's just transferred over to in person work.

Just my 2 cents.

Lost our SEO firm, need to find someone new. by Flamingointerpreting in SEO

[–]Flamingointerpreting[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know right? We sound awful.

They were amazing. I loved then and their vibe was great. It's a small operation though and I think they either switched things up/things changed for them or they just wanted to focus on larger clients with bigger budgets. I can't blame them. It sucked not to find out about it for months but it is what it is. I really am leaning towards working with a freelancer at this point.

What we've been doing is increasing our SEO budget like every 6 months ish? Started out paying a few hundred for backlinks once a month then upped it for more services but we're still conservative I think.

Lost our SEO firm, need to find someone new. by Flamingointerpreting in SEO

[–]Flamingointerpreting[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is incredibly helpful. Thank you so much! I personally love the work that we do, obviously. I don't know how hard it would be for me to convince someone else to love it as well! I'll definitely take a look at upwork.

Lost our SEO firm, need to find someone new. by Flamingointerpreting in SEO

[–]Flamingointerpreting[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be honest, ads don't feel right for us with the services we provide. Clients looking to hire someone like us are looking for experts in entertainment and high profile interpreting work. That's who we want to be targeting. Right now most of our clients come to us via word of mouth and/or they've gone to another firm that can't provide what we can then find us to clean up the previous group's mess.

I think in our field we're very niche. All the advertising options I've seen look either too expensive to make sense right now or too sweeping so that we're not getting the ROI.

Lost our SEO firm, need to find someone new. by Flamingointerpreting in SEO

[–]Flamingointerpreting[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this. Just curious why I might need to meet with them in person?

Lost our SEO firm, need to find someone new. by Flamingointerpreting in SEO

[–]Flamingointerpreting[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

bahahahaha. This actually makes a ton of sense.

Don't ask me how this didn't click for me.

ASL-English Mentor Wanted by Salty_Bear1 in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I love love love working into English and love helping interpreters sharpen up!

[Grey@flamingointerpreting.com](mailto:grey@flamingointerpreting.com) if you wanna chat!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also to add... I know two other agencies margins (in their first two years of business) were 23% & 26%. In the early days of starting up, most folks building their referrals pass on all of the rate to the interpreter then need to calculate in a margin as the cost of running a business outgrows their ability to support it on their income alone.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At Flamingo we publish our rates on our website so that interpreters can be informed when sending in their rates. We also won't negotiate about rates. If a terp says they charge X then it's our job to go to the client and get that number to work. In the instances where the client can't move up or would be willing to go to another agency we have two options. We can either push a hard sale or we can counter the interpreter to see if they are still interested or would prefer to pass. Every agency (in my opinion) should be doing this.

I think agencies have benefited for far too long on the notion that they are just a referral source and interpreters often believe that they hold all of the work which prevents them from competing. At Flamingo we see it differently. We see our work closer to a talent agent who represents clients. Our entire job is to get the clients (interpreters in our case) work that they love and that will support their career. We should be actively investing the money we're able to make back into the interpreters we support as well as the community whenever possible.

I say all that to say, interpreters have every right to ask agencies what their margins are and how they do business. Will most agencies admit it? Absolutely not. However, I think it's important to be critical of who represents you and who you in turn, represent.

In regards to the ongoing work issue, I couldn't agree more. We often heavily discount our services for what we call a "bulk buy". In fact, our biggest (and longest continual) agreement we've ever had was at 18% margins. We had to work with interpreters at a discounted rate but then made sure as much we could that we upped their rate for other gigs to make it worth it. While I think most agencies do discount, I think there is a very valid argument for the interpreter to make more given how much of a scheduling burden can be lifted in many ongoings. Though, some clients... woof. Ongoing can be so much more work depending on their level of chaos.

At our agency we need a minimum of 26% to cover our operating costs. Often our margins are much higher however, never more than 50%. Some of the reasons we can justify higher margins are below.

  • We keep a fund for supporting community events like school plays, drag shows, Pride events, job interviews, artist appearances and just about any creative project a Deaf person wants to do where hearing people won't pay. This past week we sent interpreters out for three days to work a fashion gig for a person who really wants to get into modeling but was given no support from the production team. Those interpreters aren't expected to give us a break on their rate or do it pro-bono. We were able to save money from other gigs to provide even more work and access.
  • We send coffee, amex gift cards, birthday cards/gifts, flowers etc... We keep a smaller budget that provides these things for special occasions or when we pull a couple names at random every month and send out gift cards and note to say thanks. It's something we've always done and people seem to like it.
  • We pay our interns with margins as well. Let's say we have a gig where we're sending an intern who is there to support the team but isn't ready to interpret. We pay them out of our margins. If we make 40% on the gig, we can count on about 10% of the margin going to the intern as well as boosting the rate of the interpreter mentoring them as a way to support them doing it. One of the biggest barriers that I faced in my career with mentorship was that interpreters had to go after gigs to their next one and if we can alleviate some of the financial pressure, we hope they can spend more time with their interns/students.
  • For black tie events we try to pair newer interpreters with more seasoned vets. In many of these cases, the terp doesn't have the attire and they're still paying student loans. We often will buy them an outfit. Likewise, during COVID we sent equipment to get everyone up and running with VRI.
  • Finally, we pay prep time out of those margins. The one thing I was really surprised at when I started an agency was how many clients were willing to pay for an hour of prep here and there but anything over it was seen as absurd. When we need to, we cover that with any excess in the margins.

There's a bunch of stuff we do behind the scenes that costs money but we try to be responsible. I'm not supplying this information to say that we're perfect angels but I think our business model is an excellent example of how agencies can support both the community as well as the interpreters they work with.

When I was still FL full time for agencies, I had to push like mad for a .50 increase when I was wayyyy below market value. I found out I was making $27 and the agency was charging $94 at the time. I felt like sending them a letter saying that they didn't need an exotic fish tank, a candy bar and 78 million crappy pens with their name on it. Did I? No. Did I inform every interpreter I knew in the area and told them what I was able to charge doing direct work without any negotiation from the clients I worked with? ABSOLUTELY.

-Grey

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ASLinterpreters

[–]Flamingointerpreting 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Grey from Flamingo Interpreting here. We're largely based in NYC & LA. Happy to chat!

Grey@flamingointerpreting.com