Newsletter: Message from the Board Newsletter Main Page »

Message from the Board Q2 2008

Kim Harris, GALA Board Chair

The GALA staff and board are continuing to work to achieve our goals set forth in the GALA 2010 Plan. This includes promoting our industry to media and providing valuable resources to the industry.

 
Two of our board members, Matthias Caesar and Michael Sank, recently underwent media training and have been actively supporting GALA’s PR specialist, Rebecca Petras, in her pitching efforts. One of their recent interviews was covered in Successful Dealer, a publication for the automotive industry. Another article written by an Associated Press reporter regarding translation for Facebook included a quote from GALA (the article was picked up by numerous outlets, including Forbes.com and MSNBC).
 
In March, GALA welcomed Celisa Steele to our talented team as Web Content Editor. Celisa comes to GALA with a successful background in e-learning for non-profits and associations. Celisa is currently strategizing to build the GALA website into a better resource and tool for visibility. 
 
Meanwhile, a dedicated core of GALA volunteers is hard at work on the GALA Executive Director search. The search committee has reviewed over 150 applications for the position and will be conducting final in-person interviews in Berlin this June.
 
If you weren’t there, you missed out on a great Networking Days event in gaie Paris in March, which GALA co-produced with our valued partner ELIA. The event hosted a group of SME professionals from throughout Europe for workshops on vendor management, EN 15038, project management, as well as a workshop on doing business in North America by GALA member Gordon Husbands (Wordbank). You can read more about this topic in Gordon’s article on the GALA “Going to America” survey.
 
Looking forward, we have many interesting activities ahead. In June, GALA will co-host an International Pavilion at the 2008 STC Conference in Philadelphia along with members of the International Technical Communication SIG. The pavilion will include fun and interactive sessions to bring visibility to international technical communication issues among attendees. Special thanks to LinguaLinx, MultiLingual Computing, OmniLingua, TOIN, TransPerfect | Translations.com, CETRA, International Communication by Design, Localization World and SH3 for making this possible.
 
The following week in June, GALA members will gather in Berlin for the 2008 GALA Annual Meeting, GALA Speed Networking, a GALA group exhibit and the Localization World conference. I look forward to welcoming everyone back to my home base for these activities. Special thanks to member companies VistaTEC and Clay Tablet Technologies for sponsoring the Speed Networking and enabling us to host this activity for GALA members for free.
 
Later in June, we will host our third North American edition of the Localization Certification Program, this year hosted in St. Louis. I encourage you to send staff to this valuable program. You can read about our most recent edition (hosted in Marseille) in Daniel Carter’s article. Networking Days 5 in Ljubljana
 
And for those of you looking for some nice southern European sun in July, I invite you to attend our next co-hosted Networking Days event – Networking Days 5 in Ljubljana. This event series is a great opportunity for GALA members to learn from in-depth workshops and network with peers.
 
Also ahead, we will continue with our new webinar series throughout the year, which includes a number of interesting upcoming sessions and tools demonstrations. Special thanks to all of the GALA member companies who have made this series possible, especially our tools provider members. 
 
I hope to see you soon at one of our upcoming GALA or other industry events, and I look forward to reporting to you about more accomplishments in the months ahead. Thank you, as always, for your continued support of GALA!
 
For the GALA Board,

Kim Harris
GALA Board Chairperson