Newsletter - Events
CSN Expo 2005 – My Report Card
Shelly Orr Priebe, McElroy Translation Company
I am a fan of the CSN Expo for numerous reasons.
1) It brings together clients and service providers in a congenial
setting where the emphasis is less on promoting and more on
communicating. The content of the sessions is substantive and relevant.
2) From my vendor’s perspective, there are still solid opportunities for
memorable marketing and branding. TOIN Corporation is known for sushi in
its booth after hours. McElroy Translation hosted a ghost tour, and BG
Communications had the marvelous idea of sponsoring a hangover
networking session complete with Bloody Mary’s and mimosas Friday
morning.
3) CSN specifically selects destinations with flair and
venues that feel extraordinary at an ordinary price.
4) The
awards component of the Expo is unique and meaningful in an industry
that struggles for the recognition that it deserves. The Awards Program
helps localization professionals gain notice within their organizations,
and it helps vendors garner attention for the industry.
My single
suggestion for improvement would be to develop the event. Organizers
envision an annual Expo that is small enough for real interaction to
take place, where the attendees feel bonded as a group. While they
accomplish that goal, I believe that certain sessions were just too good
not to be better attended. CSN has marketed effectively to those “level
4” clients whose organizations rank highest in localization
sophistication. To bring in “level 2” and “level 3” clients may be more
of a challenge, but the dynamic these attendees could add would be worth
the effort. These additional localization professionals could benefit
from and contribute to the sessions.
Drilling down on specific
session content could fill this newsletter and several future editions.
Worthy of highlighted mention was the parallel theme that emerged from
two sessions. The first entitled “Supply Management 2005 – Keeping Pace
with the Momentum of the Localization Vendor Base” was led by Fiona
Agnew and Dana Barras of Ariba. When these two industry leaders talk,
people listen; Fiona was the industry’s “Localization Professional of
the Year” in 2004, and Dana was nominated for the same in 2005. Directed
toward corporate translation buyers, their directive was to spend time
understanding the specific business problem so that the process of
vendor evaluation was clearly defined as seeking a solution to a
specific set of needs. Asserting that the most successful vendor
strategies are relation based, not transaction based, Fiona and Dana
reviewed the different types of vendors (Big 3, New breed MLV, SLV) in
the context of how scalability of service should be a factor in vendor
selection in service of a defined need. Bottom line–don’t overbuy or
underbuy.
The next day a lively panel discussion “Big vs. Small
Vendors, the Debate Rages On!” was moderated by Renato Beninatto of
Common Sense Advisory. As winners in their size categories for 2005,
Iverson, McElroy, and Lionbridge comprised the panel representing,
respectively, small/medium/large enterprise. Interestingly, the main
point of this roundtable was nearly identical to the main point of the
session given by Dana and Fiona–it just arrived at the conclusion from a
different direction. Vendors, too, recognize that there is a “fit” with
clients depending on size, complexity, and demand for auxiliary
services. All parties are best served by business problem analysis and
strategic best fit.
What roundtable is successful without some
dissent and fireworks? The “Big vs. Small” debate panel got interesting
when a client posed an excellent question. “Do larger agencies have
better and more secure access to translators?” A quick “yes” from
Lionbridge drew upon the assertion that a large enterprise could
uniquely keep translators busy. Representing McElroy I absolutely
disagreed as did Steve Iverson. McElroy keeps core translators busy, and
our core is a very dedicated group. In many cases we are their primary
income source, and we are vested in the relationship. Audience
participants further added that small and medium enterprise could be
better equipped to "keep translators busy" with a steady stream of
ongoing smaller projects.
When a room of professionals circle up
and fully engage in the topic at hand, I know that CSN is accomplishing
their goal–each attendee benefits.
Shelly Orr Priebe is the General Manager at McElroy Translation Company in Austin, Texas. She can be reached at sop@mcelroytranslation.com.