In this paper an analysis of the way conference interpreters describe their role and how they perceive their importance for successful communication in simultaneously interpreted conferences are undertaken. These findings are an excerpt from a recent worldwide web-based survey among members of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC). The focus is on a comparison between already existing metatexts on the conference interpreter’s role and the newly collected ones from this web-survey. The paper also briefly outlines the methodological potential and limitations of web-based surveys which have been employed since the mid-1990s and have gradually found their way into Translation Studies.