Dear MT User,

AMTA, the Association for Machine Translation in the Americas will
hold its biennial conference August 8-12, 2006 in Cambridge, MA, USA
(http://amta2006.amtaweb.org). This time, the conference will
feature a special continuous program track of presentations by and
for users of MT. The AMTA 2006 User Program Team solicits proposals
for conference sessions that will help users to advance their own
goals in working with machine translation, and communicate
priorities to the research community, commercial developers, and
integrators. The conference provides a forum to share your
experience working with MT, and learn from others. Below are some
areas targeted for their high relevance to MT users today. Proposals
on other topics are also welcome.

Proposals accepted through May 7, 2006. Please request a submission
form from Focalpoint@... or download from the conference
website (amta2006.amtaweb.org). Proposals, should be directed to:
<mailto:Focalpoint@...> Focalpoint@... with the
subject line: AMTA 2006 - User Session Proposal


Targeted themes on using MT:


1. Technically - how to integrate MT and other components to
accomplish goals in translation and information processing; And how
to optimize - whether for information gathering or publishing.
2. Time, Cost, and politics - how to calculate and explain the value
of MT, or automation, within the organization
3. Human Factors - resistance to technology/change/MT, and dealing
with user/consumer expectations and reactions to MT output


Targeted topics/applications:

1. Information gathering/extraction/data mining pipelines
2. Integrating MT into production translation - with Translation
Memory, terminology databases, etc.
3. How useful is MT output? - Identifying quality thresholds for
usability in postediting or information gathering
4. Postediting
5. Current MT Technology - pros and cons of various approaches
(Statistical, rule-based, example based, hybrid combination);
Projects that illustrate the strengths weaknesses of particular
approaches.
6. MT for different kinds of applications (information assimilation,
publication - user documentation vs. literature): how do requirements
differ?
7. Generic MT (using an MT engine the way it came from the vendor)
vs. customized



The type of content that will be most valuable: Practical, specific,
first hand accounts of what has been done, how it worked, how user
and funder concerns have been addressed.

Please forward this invitation to MT users you know!

Best regards,


AMTA 2006 - User Program Team:

Michael Blench, Public Health Canada

Jennifer Doyon, Mitre Corporation

Walter Hartmann, MT Consulting

Greg Ingram, US SOCOM

Jaap van der Meer, TAUS - Translation Automation Users Society

Laurie Gerber - AMTA President 2004-2006