Post-Event Report: 11th Annual IQPC Website Globalization Conference Showcases Best Practices

Christiane Bernier, Merrill Brink International

The event was intimate, with a little under 60 attendees who heard a dozen or so talks at the Union Square Crowne Plaza. “[It] was the first time that IQPC decided on an ‘all case study, no vendor’ speaking format,” explained Wei-Tai Kwok, Managing Director of Ion Global, and chair of this year’s event. The focus on case studies allowed Web Globalization Managers from a wide range of industries to share ultimate success stories in globalizing their company's websites. The case studies were generally of two flavors: 1) Here's what we learned works best, and 2) Here's what happened to our organization along the way.

“Taming the Organizational Chaos”
Those interested in best practices heard several strategies, many focused on how to centralize and optimize website globalization, or what ACNielsen’s Bruno Hermann described as “taming the organizational chaos”. As Wei-Tai Kwok further mentioned: “(…) whereas 1996-2002 was an era of experimentation ¬ an industry trying to find out what really were the secrets to successfully building and managing a global website ¬ in the 2003-2005 period many more companies (…) coalesced around some common best practices.”

A Few Highlights
To meet the different needs and interests of prospective travelers from different corners of the world, the Canadian Tourism Commission used focus groups and took a user-centered approach which helped them strike the right balance between central control and locally prepared content. Caterpillar described its use of 6-Sigma methodology to secure adequate participation from all stakeholders within the organization. Taking the common position that a website is just another publishing medium, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu described their “editorial” approach to website globalization, where success depends heavily on a common publishing platform and detailed style guides. HP added new ingredients to this recipe, primarily the need for an executive sponsor and good corporate governance. Nortel highlighted how good (multilingual) search functions provide users relevant content. Cisco pointed to the inherent challenges of working in a distributed team, and the power of face-to-face meetings with local teams to mitigate the negative effects.

“Centralized Decentralization”
Several talks demonstrated how globalizing a website naturally touches so many core areas and people in an organization, that it often has a transformative effect on the company. Though the road to website globalization is paved with good intentions, those who have traveled down that path run into potholes, detours and dead ends before they finally find their way. Starwood Hotels discussed how globalizing their website pointed to the need for marketing and legal workflows and uncovered systems limitations. National Instruments mapped the milestones in ultimately achieving “centralized decentralization,” starting with a good taxonomy of content and ending with fewer people scratching their heads about their individual responsibilities in globalizing the website. Likewise, ACNielsen highlighted the human side and the need to organize a “content supply chain.” What started out for them as a re-engineering of their web globalization processes also resulted in better people and process management.

High Barriers to Entry
Several client and vendor attendees informally polled confirmed the assessment that the quality of the content presented was high. Unfortunately, so was the price: the cost of attending, not including travel and hotel expenses, started at $2,200 and went up to more than $4,100 for vendors to attend the conference plus the pre-conference workshops. With the increased focus on cost on both client and vendor sides, one would hope that GILT conference organizers look to other industries for ideas on lowering fees. One would also hope that as the GILT industry matures, there is room for vendors who can contribute high quality content to such conferences to combat the disturbing trend of limited- or no-vendor events.

Christiane Bernier has been working in the localization industry for over 12 years, and currently is with Merrill Brink International. She can be reached at Christiane.Bernier@merrillbrink.com.