The Joint Mock Conference (JMC) was organised for the very first time in 2012 and is repeated yearly. International exchange students from the Centre for EU Studies organise a simulated multilingual and international meeting on a development-related topic in the interpreting lab on the Mercator Campus in Ghent. The meeting is interpreted by the students from the Postgraduate Programme in Conference Interpreting, who are occasionally joined by interpreting students from other institutions..
As they prepare for the JMC, both student groups take classes together and share documents with each other. On the day of the JMC itself, they work closely together during an intense six hours to complete the meeting successfully.
Some student reactions:
“The perfect interpreting exercise!” I would love more of these.”
The joint mock felt very realistic: it’s chaotic, intense and fast-paced with speakers who aren’t always very clear. That’s how it is “in real-life” as well.”