Message from the Board Q1 2009

Michael Sank, GALA Board Chair

In this year of uncertainty, we hope that you will turn to GALA as a resource for your business and professional growth. Whether saving you money through one of our discount programs or helping you to make connections with tools and services, GALA is here to help members thrive.

We’re off to a good start this year with a number of programs, events and services. 

For members looking for tools and training, check out our expanded webinar series, which offers numerous training opportunities at no cost to members. For those that are currently hiring, I invite you to search recent postings on our career center, LocalizationCAREERS.net. Recently, we’ve had an influx of highly qualified job seeker registrations from around the world.  

Our staff and volunteers are hard at work planning GALA’s first major industry event, GALA 2009: The language of business. The business of language. You can read more about the event in GALA Executive Director Jim Hollan’s article.

Among other things, the GALA 2010 Plan urged us to expand our programs in Asia. At present we are researching meeting opportunities in Asia for 2010, and this April we will present a panel in an online forum we are co-hosting with the 2009 China International Translation Industry Forum.

In addition, following on our industry promotion initiative begun in early 2007 in North America, GALA is now rolling out a concerted PR effort in Europe, beginning with target publications and verticals in both the UK and Germany. These markets were chosen for their dense potential for end users and audience for language technologies and services. We are eager to share the message of our industry’s value to the greater business community.

We are also exploring new kinds of meetings at the regional level and training programs at local levels internationally as we work towards bringing many of the diverse elements in our industry together for mutual benefit.  

As I hope that you can see, despite the lagging economy we’re not slowing down. And I hope that you aren’t either. There’s no better time to be part of the GALA community.

For the GALA Board, 

Michael Sank
GALA Board Chairperson