tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post5737015891709275949..comments2023-09-01T03:20:34.147-04:00Comments on Localization Industry 411: About Associations and Events in the Translation IndustyRenato Beninattohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08728564802357051245noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post-31167720804719381932010-07-19T08:55:09.487-04:002010-07-19T08:55:09.487-04:00ProZ.com will host three separate events in 2010 –...ProZ.com will host three separate events in 2010 – one each for freelance translators, translation agencies, and global translation consumers. The events will be conducted entirely online, making it possible for any industry professional to attend, for free, from anywhere with Internet access. The online aspect, and the fact that they are free will hopefully enable stake holders from all sides to attend, network and collaborate.<br /><br />The dates set for the virtual conferences are: <br />• Freelance translators event: September 30th, 2010 (International Translation Day) <br />• Translation agency event: October 13th, 2010 <br />• Global translation consumer event: November 10th, 2010 <br /><br />For more information, please visit http://www.proz.com/translation3 <br /><br />ProZ.com virtual conferences offer attendees unparalleled access to educational content, networking opportunities and more, all within a rich and engaging online environment. <br /><br />Drew MacFadyenDrewZhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03013341247950558212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post-62646277029169373412010-01-08T03:57:58.822-05:002010-01-08T03:57:58.822-05:00We've had those discussions 1000 times over th...We've had those discussions 1000 times over the last years... I do agree with you Renato. This industry is much too small to have the luxury of having so many associations, interrest groups and so on... I was not a founding member of Gala, but well of LSN (LISA SME Network), which was the GALA starting point. The original objective was to give a voice to the SME's of our industry. GALA rapidly turned out to be another platform trying to attract as many member as possible. What is the real added value of GALA today? Is still try yo understand...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post-19239338392024095922009-12-22T12:21:01.305-05:002009-12-22T12:21:01.305-05:00As an LSP owner (Schreiber Translations, Inc.) who...As an LSP owner (Schreiber Translations, Inc.) who has long advocated for cooperation among companies to serve the greater good of the industry and as the current President of the ALC, I jump in here with my two cents. Renato is correct that various efforts have been undertaken over the years to bring all groups together and in fact one of the latest is the TSAC (Translation Summit Advisory Council). At the last summit in October many of us came together, including ALC, GALA, ATA, TCD, LISA, AILIA, NAJIT, ILR and more to discuss the exact issues, and others, raised in this post. All of us agreed with the sentiments expressed here, namely that there are too many events, we must cooperate to address this fact, and most importantly that to achieve any progress in terms of industry recognition we must pool efforts. None of this will happen overnight, but the ALC for one will continue to work with others towards this common goal. So far I am disappointed to note that while GALA has been talking this talk as well, they have not been walking the walk, most notably with their latest announcement of their conference to be held just one week before the ALC's already scheduled annual conference taking place in Miami, May 19-22, 2010 (this despite specific requests made by the ALC asking them not to schedule their event at a conflicting time with ours). However, I am optimistic that the incoming board of GALA will usher in a new era and that henceforward they will demonstrate their goodwill in addition to talking about it. I hope that I'm not just being naive.Marla Schulmanhttp://www.alcus.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post-21439176339579364652009-12-18T14:58:21.066-05:002009-12-18T14:58:21.066-05:00It's Friday and I am running late on almost ev...It's Friday and I am running late on almost everything, I will come back with more comments. But since I have heard this from three other GALA members, I would like to set the record straight. Bringing associations together was not a first for GALA. ACCTI, the Canadian association, through Marise Benhoff, hosted three or four "Meeting of the Minds," where everybody was present. Even LISA hosted a "Meeting of the Minds" in San Francisco. The end result: Zilch! Because instead of trying to do something together, the group (which included EUATC, but not Tekom) decided to create another bureaucracy.<br /><br />In fact, I just Googled the event and found a nice description of what happened in the McElroy's website (Bob's previous company): http://www.mcelroytranslation.com/aboutus/newsevents/newsletter/archives/rmtc39.htm<br /><br />So, let's not create false illusions. I will come back to this in time with more details about my position.Renato Beninattohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08728564802357051245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post-45733414044953378782009-12-18T14:25:00.543-05:002009-12-18T14:25:00.543-05:00As the "instigator" of the Got Milk idea...As the "instigator" of the Got Milk idea in the industry, and as the only person mentioned by name in Renato's blog, I feel compelled to add a few short comments.<br /><br />First of all, I really do appreciate the blog and the comments from Kirti, Bob, and others. Healthy debate is fundamental to progress, and the exchange of ideas should always lead to better ones. I founded GALA in that spirit, and I believe that spirit continues in the association to this day.<br /><br />Since its inception in 2002, GALA has reached out to every association and constituency in the industry and collaborated with most of them in attempt to do exactly what Kirti says - unite resources, unify objectives, and serve the entire industry. (But let's be candid: the desires and objectives of all associations and constituencies in this industry are not always ideally aligned.) GALA continues to espouse a philosophy of collaboration and inclusion: The collection on stage of the leaders of LISA, ATA, Tekom, LRC and GALA (an industry first!) in Cancun is testimony to that spirit.<br /><br />But, as Bob points out (and Renato will surely learn when he takes the reins of ELIA next year), you can't do much of anything without funding, least of all an industry-wide PR campaign. The Dairy Association took years to develop and fund the Got Milk campaign, which cost millions of dollars and required the participation of every single dairy producer. If we're going to do anything even vaguely resembling Got Milk, it's going to take a lot of effort, organization, and funding.<br /><br />A historically successful way to create funding is to host a professional and extremely relevant event. Funds from that event are then funneled right back into PR activities for the members (GALA was founded as a non-profit on purpose :). That is what GALA has set out to do. The approach needs to be innovative and inclusive, and I'm sure it will be.<br /><br />- Hans Fenstermacher<br /><br />Full disclosure: I am one of the founders of GALA and was its first Chairman. As of January 1, I will be on the Board of Directors of GALA once again.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10306486718730736560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post-91051720131431354972009-12-18T10:19:52.701-05:002009-12-18T10:19:52.701-05:00Renato -
I'm a little disappointed in this po...Renato -<br /><br />I'm a little disappointed in this post, I must say ... especially to the extent that it seems inconsistent with some private conversations the two of us have had. Furthermore, it looks like you have GALA directly in your sights, even though the title of the post is more generic. Even as a relative newcomer I can think of a half dozen valid reasons behind GALA's decision to hire a director and sponsor its own events. (I don't intend to speak for them here; I only make the point that you must surely be aware of at least some of those, yet chose to ignore them.)<br /><br />Back to the point, though, I think your comments about Localization World are good ones, but it would have been helpful if you had placed them somewhere in the landscape preceding. A recommendation like ...<br /><br />"GALA should seek to collaborate more closely with XXX in sponsoring Localization World, leading to greater attendance, greater variety of presentations, larger buy-side participation, and increased revenue with which to fund association initiatives"<br /><br />... might have been a nice inclusion. Of course, it might also be that something along those lines was already tried in the past.<br /><br />As for the Cancun event, I think attendance suffered from the economy, the swine flu scare, and to some extent the perception of a "boondoggle". That said, those who stayed away really missed some excellent and very practical presentations. The breadth of speakers and topics along with the relevance to member companies was unsurpassed. Personally, I expect that a more business-like (but still very attractive) venue will combine with the positive feedback from this year's event to draw a much larger group in May. I know I am planning to "repeat" (and am working on a presentation proposal that I hope will be accepted).<br /><br />And that brings me back to your (apparently) primary complaint ... there has been no "Got Milk" campaign. I wonder where the funding would come for that? Or the creative energy to develop the program? Or the project management to execute it? Is it possible that the GALA Board has been struggling with exactly those issues as they considered hiring a Director and establishing a premier event that could serve to raise funds? As an ELIA Board member, you should know that there are no easy answers to these kinds of questions. <br /><br />I have served for years on the Board of a non-profit educational organization, and there is a continual struggle to provide value to the membership without raising dues to a prohibitive level. In our organization, we started with an annual event that struggled the first year and broke even the second. Since then, we have funded the organization's activities (including an Executive Director and a small staff) through proceeds from the annual conference. The conference itself has become a "must go" event for member schools. Proceeds have also helped to raise awareness of the educational approach, leading to greater adoption. <br /><br />I don't know what GALA's specific plans are, but it seems to me that they are positioned well to serve their members. Dues are reasonable, there is a (small) full-time staff to execute the vision (leaving the Board to set the vision, but spend most of their time on their own businesses), and there is a nascent event that is both part of the value they bring and a potential source of "voluntary" funding.<br /><br />I'd love to interact with you more on this topic, Renato, and I trust we will have such an opportunity at one of the many (perhaps, as you suggest too many) events that are out there. I hope that one of them will be the GALA event in Prague.<br /><br />- Bob DonaldsonUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14454765051634996159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post-83589595668641492362009-12-18T03:20:09.328-05:002009-12-18T03:20:09.328-05:00Well said, Renato. I see that too may associations...Well said, Renato. I see that too may associations are either in the moneymaking business or in a sort of "political" business, not here to serve the needs of their members.Gianni Davicohttp://brainfooden.tesietesti.it/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post-11099418105099358022009-12-17T21:59:52.731-05:002009-12-17T21:59:52.731-05:00Good way to articulate the difference between the ...Good way to articulate the difference between the ALC and TCD. From the outside, they look very alike, but once you get inside of them, they suit different purposes.Anonymoushttp://www.nothanks.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post-34871470539602515932009-12-17T14:14:55.912-05:002009-12-17T14:14:55.912-05:0018 months later your 2008 post for Global Watchtow...18 months later your 2008 post for Global Watchtower almost nothing seems to have changed, not even the whingeing. 16 associations? 15 too much!<br />Too many events, all too expensive and not rewarding. Just for networking? Do we really still need physical networking in the Web 2.0 era? I am glad to have taken part in an event or two where I met some extraordinary people like you, but is this worth any bunch of euros? Should there be one or two events a year (not more) at a honest rate, I'd be glad to attend all of them.<br />May I say the same in Italian?<br /><br />Troppi eventi, tutti troppo costosi. La maggior parte di essi non vale la metà della quota di partecipazione, per non parlare delle altre spese. Nell'era del Web 2.0 è inconcepibile doversi incontrare fisicamente per conoscersi. Basterebbero un paio di eventi l'anno, ben fatti, a un prezzo accessibile e sarebbero tutti frequentatissimi. E con il ricavato si potrebbe invitare qualche papavero...<br /><br />Btw, the guys from Google at the last ATA Conference were on a remote connection. Is that right? ;-)Luigi Muziihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11617962606487603486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13186081.post-47515692996433894482009-12-17T14:05:26.659-05:002009-12-17T14:05:26.659-05:00The one benefit I do see for GALA conferences is t...The one benefit I do see for GALA conferences is that I think that they could be a better forum for defining real LSP interests and develop more compelling content than Localization World which has been very disappointing of late. This, I think will depend on the process by which they define and select content for the conference. People with different opinions have to be working together to get to real issues and get new people engaged. It needs to be more transparent and open, I think. I found the GALA content superior to Localization World even though the Cancun attendance was truly disappointing. Also I saw no real sign of outreach beyond the LSP world and a few buyers. I saw no spirit of the Got Milk drive but at least there was an attempt (feeble though it was) at some dialogue with LISA, ATA and TRF. <br /><br /><br />What about translators? Why don't they attend? Does it not make sense for them to also engage to improve dialogue and collaboration? Does it not make sense to have events that <br /><br />All the associations have become fiefdoms and the same insiders decide the key editorial decisions. I think this prevents real expansion of the community and also limits the possibility of real dialogue with people who are not insiders. It would be great to see either real collaboration between associations and unified events or see actual<br />consolidation between the associations.<br /><br />The best conferences I attended this year were IMTT, LRC and LTBKK (I admit I had a hand in organization of the last) in terms of compelling content and real dialogue between different constituents in the professional translation eco-system.<br /><br />Apart from basic education and networking purposes I think these events can also help to evolve the state of the art and process of translation. They have not been especially successful in drawing people in who want to undertake large translation projects. I think because the people considering this (like Gartner, McKinsey, Lexis Nexis, Tripadvisor, Expedia, Theh White House, CE companies, The Health Insurance Industry and many others) need to hear about more than TEP, inconclusive discussions on quality, TM tool reviews and L10N 101 presentations. <br /><br />The biggest buyers of the future have barely entered the market and my sense is that most of them realize that these conferences are not useful in helping them understand how they can do what they need. <br /><br />It is our job to change this and make the real decision makers, i.e. people who make the decisions on global expansion strategies (not the head of L10N departments)want to come to these events. Until we do I think we as an industry will be faced with customers demanding lower prices and faster turnarounds for more volume.Kirti Vasheehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16795076802721564830noreply@blogger.com