GALA Blog

Back by popular demand is the GALA Film Fest. We’ll watch short videos from around the globe and get to know GALA members and conference participants in a new way. Films will showcase employees at work or at play and give us a fun and entertaining look inside industry companies. It’s a unique opportunity to see a different side of your colleagues and partners. Last year’s winner was TSG Global (now Zinacle). You can see their submission below. Think you can do better? Submit your video by 31 January to participate.

Watch last year’s Film Fest video on our YouTube channel and get inspired…

Details, deadlines, and submission guidelines

Please send your videos showing a refreshingly different view of your company. Make it fun and creative; show off your business, your employees’ talents or your company mascot; make us smile and laugh! The top submissions will be broadcast prior to the general sessions on Tuesday and conference delegates will vote on their favorite. The winner will be announced Wednesday morning. Top submissions will also be broadcast via the GALA YouTube channel.

In creating your video, please observe the following specifications and requirements:

• Length: no longer than 45 seconds – sorry, no exceptions!
• Format: MP4 Compression Type (aka Codec): H.264
• Bitrate: 3000 bytes/s (or automatic)
• Keyframes: 24 (or automatic)
• Resolution: between 720×576 and 1990×1080
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Deadline: 31 January 2012
• Eligibility: the Film Fest is open to all GALA members and conference participants

If you are interested in sponsoring this activity, please contact Laura Brandon.

We also are collecting anniversary videos!

GALA is turning 10! We are collecting “Happy Birthday” video greetings and photos from GALA member companies. Show us how you celebrate anniversaries in your culture, sing your traditional birthday song, or simply send out a birthday greeting. Specs for these submissions are the same as above, only videos must be 10-15 seconds. We will also gladly accept any high-resolution photos of your birthday wishes.

Uploading instructions: Please load your videos via our YouSendIt account. To confirm safe receipt, or for any inquiries, please contact Allison Ferch. The deadline for all submissions is 31 January 2012.

Upcoming 2012 GALA Conference

Called the Language of Business, the Business of Language, the upcoming 2012 GALA Conference is hosted annually by the Globalization and Localization Association, a non-profit organization that was created for industry enterprises to have a common forum, and to promote language services and technology. Conference attendees are anyone from language service providers and professional translation company managers and CEOs to localization businesses, and those within translation software and technology enterprises.

From what the GALA Conference website reports, 80% of last year’s conference attendees said they made contacts that will generate significant business for them, and even more said they learned concepts or practices that will directly help their business. Nearly 100% of attendees said they were extremely pleased with the conference in general. The networking alone can often make events like these worthwhile, bringing various types of LSP companies together to collaborate and trade services, like high quality Greek translation for localized translation service, memory translation software for input of language translation terms to the database, and so on.

Translation Company and LSP Program Content

Program line-up for GALA conference 2012 includes rich and informative speaker meetings, networking opportunities, and discussion panels. Some of the key features includes marketing translation services and how to use current technology, inbound marketing and other popular inexpensive resources like social media and mobile websites and language translation service request availability. Development of smartphone translation apps and other creative means of reaching target audiences will be discussed by LSP marketing industry leaders. Other content includes a speaker meeting led by a Trados executive, a film fest, and plenty of other valuable information for both translation company leaders and translators themselves.

How an LSP Conference Can Benefit the Average Translator and Translation Agency

As revealed in other articles, while there are giant corporations and companies within the language service provider industry, small translation agencies make up the vast majority, which means a very fragmented market and industry made up of thousands of small LSP businesses. But this is the very reason that something like the GALA Conference 2012 can be so beneficial. Many smaller LSP companies, as well as the translators within their networks, may think that such a conference can provide them with nothing that will significantly justify the expense of travel and attendance to such an affair. But as previously mentioned, nearly every single attendee was very pleased with this particular language service industry gathering, and the vast majority came away with several ways to help or generate more business for themselves. It stands to reason that when any professional translation agency is a small enterprise, almost anything can be learned from those who have achieved high profile success in the same industry. Add the information that can be gleaned by industry leaders, to the networking opportunities, marketing information and schooling, as well as many other secrets of the trade, and it seems a shame for anyone in the LSP industry NOT to go.

Mary Simpson
Community and Content Manager
Tomedes Translation Company

View the original article here: http://www.tomedes.com/2012-GALA-Conference.php

Common Sense Advisory’s report for Translators without Borders will include detailed information about the state of translation for African languages

(BOSTON and PARIS) – Information is power. The lack of information can leave people powerless. There are more than 2,000 languages spoken in Africa, but the majority of information is not available to people unless they speak one of the world’s few mega-languages, such as English, French, or Arabic. Now, a new study by independent market research Common Sense Advisory for Translators without Borders will explore the link between the availability of translated content and social issues that stem from lack of access to information, such as health disparities and political inclusion.

“Our firm continually publishes research about the importance of translation in business settings,” explains Tahar Bouhafs, CEO of Common Sense Advisory. “But translation also serves a much broader purpose, enabling people to obtain access to basic information that can help them enjoy greater social and political participation and ultimately live healthier and more fulfilling lives,” comments Bouhafs, a native of Northern Africa.

“We see a need in Africa to find out more about the impact translation has on individuals’ ability to take control of their own health and participate in political processes,” says Lori Thicke, co-founder of Translators without Borders. “Exploring this connection in greater depth will enable us to have a better understanding of the true scope of the services our volunteer translators provide, and, in turn, give people who speak languages such as Amharic, Igbo, and Somali access to more information.”

The study is made possible through an in-kind donation from Common Sense Advisory to Translators without Borders. The resulting report will include detailed information about the state of translation for African languages, including information about employment opportunities for translators, training and education, challenges to providing translation, and translators’ views on how their work affects the lives of their community members. The report will be published online by Common Sense Advisory, and will be distributed free of charge.

For more information about the survey, visit https://www.research.net/s/csa_africa.

About Common Sense Advisory

Common Sense Advisory is an independent market research company helping companies profitably grow their international businesses and gain access to new markets and new customers. Its focus is on assisting its clients to operationalize, benchmark, optimize, and innovate industry best practices in translation, localization, interpreting, globalization, and internationalization. For more information, visit: www.commonsenseadvisory.com or www.twitter.com/CSA_Research.

About Translators without Borders

The mission of Translators without Borders (and its sister organization in in France, Traducteurs sans Frontières) is to translate knowledge for humanity. Translators without Borders has met that mission through quality humanitarian translations provided by a community of trained translators to vetted NGOs who focus on health, nutrition and education. On average, Translators without Borders volunteers translate millions of words per year, focusing on three types of humanitarian translations: crisis translations needed urgently to inform people in crisis, translations that support an NGO’s operations, and educational translations that directly support people in need. For more information, visit: www.translatorswithoutborders.com or www.twitter.com/TranslatorsWB.