Together 2025 Speaker Article: Part 6 with Ivana Barišić Oharek
How are the roles and skills evolving in the language industry? As part of our Speaker Article series reflecting back on ELIA Together 2025, Ivana Barisic Oharek shared with us her highlights and takeaways from her speaker experience, during which she was joined by her colleague and presentation partner Petra Šešljaga Paradi.
The Perfect Prompt: Steering Relations and Skills of Language Professionals to New Heights
ELIA Together is definitely one of the best events in the language industry. It brings together vendor managers, freelancers, LSPs, and language professionals of all kinds, all with a shared goal—building stronger connections and pushing our industry forward. Since these are also the areas I focus on in my own professional growth, you can imagine how thrilled I was to attend my very first onsite ELIA event! And to make it even better, I got to share the stage with my colleague Petra to present insights from our team.
One of the most exciting parts for me was talking about the evolving roles in our industry. Things are shifting fast—new technologies, changing expectations, and fresh opportunities are emerging all the time. Being able to share my perspective on the challenges faced by in-house teams within LSPs (and hearing others’ thoughts, too) was truly rewarding. And the best part? The audience was super engaged, which made the whole experience even more enjoyable!
But ELIA Together wasn’t just about presentations—it was also about people. I finally got to meet so many colleagues—many of whom I had only followed on social media until the event— and let me tell you, seeing them in real life was amazing! There’s something special about chatting face-to-face, hearing their voices, and exchanging ideas beyond a screen. It felt like reconnecting with old friends, even if we were technically meeting for the first time.
As for the presentations, they covered everything—from the latest tech trends to the human side of our work, like empathy and relationship-building. I loved that mix! It really showed how diverse, talented, and open-minded our industry is. We’re a community of passionate professionals, ready to take on new challenges while keeping our work exciting and fulfilling. And Barcelona? The perfect place to celebrate all of this!
A huge shoutout to the incredible ELIA Together team for putting together such a fantastic event. Your hard work and dedication truly made this an unforgettable experience. I’m already looking forward to the next one!
How do you think the roles and skills are evolving in the industry? Did you also attend ELIA Together 2025 for the first time? Don’t hesitate to reach out to Ivana via LinkedIn to continue the conversation!
Share your thoughts on this topic here on LinkedIn, and follow this series where we will share more speaker articles from Together 2025.
