Newsletter - Message from the board
Message from the Board Q4 2007
Stephen Ryan, GALA Board Chair
Although we are winding down from a busy year of association growth and member activities, we're also gearing up for an exciting three years ahead for GALA. In the past year, GALA has worked to accomplish association goals aimed at providing maximum member benefit.
Looking back, in 2007 we hosted more events than ever for the membership — three member meetings, regional networking dinners in Asia, Europe and North and South America, a first-time speed networking event, a negotiations skills workshop, thirteen online tools trainings and demos, two localization certification workshops and two mergers and acquisitions workshops. GALA also had a presence at numerous events through cross-promotional partnerships — from Barcelona to Warsaw to Boston.
We also continued our collaboration with valued industry partners, Localization World, tekom and CSU Chico. In October, we were very pleased to announce that Localization World has begun making a donation to GALA based on overall attendance at Localization World conferences; these donations will go to support GALA's activities in the coming years.
At our Annual Meeting in Seattle in October, the GALA Board presented the details of the GALA 2010 Plan, a three-year framework that outlines the long-term strategic growth for GALA in three areas: Organizational Structure; Visibility; Building Resources and Regional Value. We hosted over seventy member representatives at this meeting, and overall the member feedback was positive for the proposed development of the association.
Elsewhere, our marketing team is continuing to work to build visibility for the language technology and services industry — and to build visibility for GALA as a nexus for the industry. Earlier this year, GALA launched LocalizationCAREERS.net , a dedicated industry job board. And just last month, we launched the upgraded Language Technology & Services Directory, a destination for finding industry suppliers, partners, services and technologies.
Finally, over the last year we've seen significant growth in GALA's membership. The GALA Board sees this as a testimony to our members' confidence in GALA's raison d'être and direction for the future. It's the membership that drives us to pursue all of our association activities. But more importantly, it's the membership that makes our activities possible — through their dues and through the hard work and dedication of our many volunteers.
It has been a pleasure serving as a GALA board member over the past two years. I look forward to welcoming our new board members for 2009. And I look forward to seeing many of you at a future GALA event; in the meantime, "See you online!"
For the GALA Board,
Stephen Ryan
GALA Board Chair