SENSE has a number of Special Interest Groups (SIGs), which meet regularly via Zoom and in person throughout the Netherlands. Meetings are open to all SENSE members. Guests are welcome to attend one or two meetings before deciding whether they would like to join SENSE.

If you would like to attend one of our SIG meetings, keep an eye on the Events calendar or the SIG events page, or please email our SIG and Social Events Coordinator at events@sense-online.nl. Currently active SIGs are:

• SENSE Ed (for educators)
• SenseMed (for those working in the medical and/or biology fields)
• Starters SIG (new SENSE members learn from each other)
• Tech SIG (discussing computers, software etc.)
• Training SIG (for workshop presenters)
• UniSIG (members with clients in academia)
• Southern SIG – Limburg & Noord-Brabant
• Utrecht SIG – Utrecht and surrounds
• Zuid-Holland SIG – Den Haag

Other SIGs that existed in the past include the Copywriting SIG, Eastern SIG (Zwolle), SIG Far North (Groningen), and FINLEGSIG (finance/legal).

SENSE Ed

SENSE Ed discusses topics relevant to teachers and educators. SENSE Ed usually meets in Utrecht (usually a short walk from Utrecht Central Station). 

Here are some of SENSE Ed's most recent meetings:

• Teaching writing to Chinese Students
  Working with Chinese authors poses special challenges on many levels. David Barick shared his experience as an academic writing teacher.
• Business English today
  Sue Soltis examed a number of topics related to this field. Sue is a business English trainer and course developer at Taalcentrum-VU.
• What makes writing support a success?
  John Harbord explored the paths that can lead to the institutional centrality or marginalization of writing, and how to make student acquisition of writing skills successful. John is an academic writing advisor at Maastricht University.
• Back to the classroom...?
  For months during the pandemic, teachers were pretty much glued to their Zoom screens, but as the pandemic began to subside, David Barick discussed returning to real-time instruction again.

• Kicking off the new school year
  Stephen Johnston (convenor of the Training SIG) spoke about mistakes to avoid when using Zoom. Tom Wigham demonstrate how to provide effective feedback to students during a virtual class. Tom teaches courses on academic writing and debate skills at the University of Groningen.

SenseMed

SenseMed's members work in the fields of medicine, biomedical research, and related subjects. Most of SenseMed's activities are online, and SenseMed is lucky to count scientists, teachers of scientific writing, psychologists, nurses, and biologists among its ranks. 

Here are some of SenseMed's most recent meetings:

• A full dose of SenseMed
  In this all-day in-person event, SENSE members Daphne Lees, Curtis Barrett and Sally Hill gave a guided tour through three aspects of medical English: medical translation, medical editing, and medical writing.
• Keeping up with the latest trends in the (bio)medical sciences
  When editors and translators of medical and biomedical texts encounter unfamiliar terms, the challenge is identifying whether a term is either just "bad English" or is actually a new term that's worked its way into the field.
• Editing medical/biomedical texts: proofreading or heavy lifting?
  Various issues were discussed, including whether to approach the job differently if the client is a PhD/medical student or the supervisor/professor, clients’ expectations, and the purpose of various texts (e.g. a publication, dissertation, grant proposal, commercial application).

Starters SIG

The Starters SIG is a community of newcomers to SENSE and to the English-language industry as a whole. The Starters SIG is "for starters by starters", and as such, the SIG's activities are restricted to SENSE members who have joined SENSE in the past 5 years. Most in-person events will be held around the Amsterdam area. The Starters SIG aims to:

• Share experiences
• Offer tips, advice and feedback
• Bring together professional networks
• Amplify each other's voices

Here are some of the Starters SIG's most recent meetings:

• Money, money, money... money?
  SENSE member Martina Abagnale gave a short presentation on money management.
• Making LinkedIn work for you
  Jan Willem Alphenaar talked about maximising the reach of LinkedIn posts. Jan is a marketing trainer and speaker at Next Business Academy.
• Burning questions + chill hangout
• Scary business business
• New year new you?
• End-of-year social
• Mid-year catch-up + open mic night

Tech SIG

Tech SIG is the place to discuss computers, software and everything else you never dared to ask about the tools you use everyday for your job. Tech SIG holds short lunchtime meetings online.

Here are some of SENSE Ed's most recent meetings:

• Let's talk about ChatGPT
  Some think ChatGPT is good for a laugh, but others are finding ways to put generative AI to good use.
• Getting started with Excel
• Converting PDFs and OCR
• Back on backup strategies
  SENSE members Hans van Bemmelen and Curtis Barrett lead a discission on computer and data backup & security strategies.
• PowerPoint Tips to prevent torment
  SENSE member Jenny Zonneveld explained how to edit and translate PowerPoint.

Training SIG

As language professionals, we’re experts at working with words. But sometimes we’re asked to do something a little different – like running a workshop to help others work with words too. This is called training…and it’s far different than teaching. Now, we’ve all been to workshops. Some of them are amazing. Many of them are boring. What’s the difference? A trainer who knows the topic – and just as importantly – a trainer who knows how to engage participants and get them excited about the session.

The Training SIG is SENSE's newest SIG. They've only had one meeting so far, but topics for this SIG include:

• What is the difference between training and teaching?
• What makes a good workshop session?
• What are the current and future trends in training?
• What do individuals, businesses, educational organizations and business networking groups want out of workshops?

UniSIG

UniSIG enables editors and translators who work with academic and university texts (such as research articles, grant applications, dissertations, course books) to network and share experiences. Online meetings allow speakers and members from far afield to contribute, and there are also occasional in-person events.

Here are some of UniSIG's most recent meetings:

• Language editing and writing support available for English and Ukrainian academic texts and writers
  Professor Tatyana Yakhontova from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv contrasted traditional and present-day Ukrainian approaches to writing and editing.
• Dealing with Chinese and Southeast Asian clients in academia
  Kenneth Quek, an academic revisor for the Language Centre of the University of Helsinki, uncovered and explained some of the ways that cultural differences can lead to difficulties in the provider–client relationship.
• Using AI to revise the language of academic texts: what Writefull can offer
  At an in-person meeting, Juan Castro and Hilde van Zeeland (Writefull’s CEO and Chief Applied Linguist) discussed and demonstrated how Writefull’s features can help authors in academia and their editors.
• Social writing with academic authors
  Kate Sotejeff-Wilson, a freelance translator working in Finnish, German, Polish and English, spoke about how and why to organise writing retreats with academic authors.
• Copy-editorial decision-making strategies
  Adrian Stenton and Morana Lukač, both of whom were at Leiden University at the time, spoke about the online survey of 288 editors they conducted in 2020. Although respondents were asked to focus on a single usage feature, many couldn’t resist editing the entire text, which revealed interesting differences and similarities in edits.

Southern SIG – Limburg and Noord-Brabant

The Southern SIG offers events by and for SENSE members in the provinces of Limburg and Noord-Brabant, but we extend our ‘southern hospitality’ to all SENSE members, wherever they are located. The Southern SIG organizes social get-togethers without a formal agenda every two to three months. In-person events take place in cities like in Maastricht, Weert and/or Eindhoven.

Here are some of UniSIG's most recent meetings:

• Lunch at ROOOMS in Maastricht
  Attendees enjoyed a free lunch paid for by SENSE, which was appropriate, since the theme of the meeting was networking.
• How to be a specialised generalist
  SENSE member Jasper Pauwels explained how he diversified into quite different fields and why it works for him.
• Using MS Word shortcuts to boost productivity
  How to utilise software to improve productivity with software features and shortcuts, such as keyboard and mouse shortcuts in Microsoft Word.
• Summertime Southern SIG Social Get-together

Utrecht SIG

The Utrecht SIG meets every two months, on the second Wednesday of odd-numbered months, either via Zoom or at various venues close to Utrecht Centraal Station. We concentrate on translation but by the second half of the evening usually discuss other professional (and other) issues.

Here are some of Utrecht SIG's most recent meetings:

• How do we translate?
  Do you write a very rough first draft? Or are you a 'first-time-right' translator? This meeting was inspired by Daniel Hahn's keynote talk at an ITI conference in Brighton, UK.
• Let's talk about simplified English
  SENSE member Jenny Zonneveld discussed two recent projects that needed simple English – one a translation, the other a ‘heavy’ edit.
• Social + Book swap
  An evening at Fort bij Rijnauwen in Bunnik, with a book swap and pancakes.
• The four tendencies
  Visiting speaker Anne-Sophie De Clercq talked about Gretchen Rubin's book "The four tendencies" on how to understand yourself, your colleagues and your clients better.
• Does this text need sprucing up?
  Attendees evaluated whether a Dutch text needed more than just translating to make it work for the client.

Zuid-Holland SIG – Den Haag

The Zuid-Holland SIG is a social SIG. They usually meet at members' private residences, generally in Den Haag.

Here are some of Utrecht SIG's most recent meetings:

• ‘De Rotterdam’ apartment building
  In this private SIG meeting, SENSE member Suzanne Rietveld proudly showed off her diggs with a fantastic view.
• From Lada to Lamborghini
  Visiting SENSE member Jenny Zonneveld gave tips for becoming a premium freelancer.
• Stroking CATs and technical trickery
  SENSE member Hans van Bemmelen spoke about getting the best out of your CAT software (especially DVX), improving productivity with a programmable keyboard, and saving space and energy with a NUC.
• Excel wrangling and machine translation

Before searching the Freelance Register for the first time, please read the important information below. This will help you find a suitable freelancer for your assignment.

Also read our DISCLAIMER

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If you want to have a text written, edited or translated, the freelancer will probably ask you these questions:

• How long is the text (total number of words, not pages) and what needs to be done with it?

• What is the purpose of the text (for publication, oral presentation, marketing, etc.) and who is your intended audience (English native speakers, an international audience, specialists, etc.)?

• How and when will you send me the text, and what is the deadline (turnaround time?

• Are there any other considerations (holiday plans, printing schedule, etc.)?

• Can you send me a sample of the text (an experienced editor or translator will often estimate the cost of a job only after seeing a representative sample)?

• How and when will we interact to clear up any problems and/or questions?

To select the language professional best suited to your needs, we advise you to consider several criteria – and not just cost. Ask the freelancers on your shortlist the following questions; their answers may help guide your final choice:

• Which types of text do you usually work with (commercial, academic, literary, etc.)?

• What is your experience as an editor/translator/writer/teacher (formal credentials, certification)?

• Are you familiar with the subject in question? What makes you qualified to deal with the material?

• Can you supply the variant of English (British, American, Australian, Canadian, etc.) I require for my text? Are you a native speaker of this variant of English?

• How soon are you available to work on my text, and when could I expect to have it back?

• Can you use the software required (MS Word, PowerPoint, HTML, LaTeX, Trados, etc.)?

• Do you have a word rate, an hourly rate, a day rate or a project rate?

Are you looking for a translator, editor, proofreader, copywriter, trainer or other English-language professional? The SENSE Freelance Register provides the contact details of nearly all of the freelance members in the Society, including their skills, specializations and services. This user-friendly search tool will help you reach the best language professional for your job, quickly and easily.