Message from the Board Q4 2009

Michael Sank, GALA Board Chair

As the year comes to a close, I would like to thank the GALA membership for their support this past year. In the last twelve months, GALA has accomplished a number of its long-term goals.

In September, we introduced our first annual conference, GALA 2009, to a vibrant group of attendees in Cancun. You can read more about the success of the event in Kim Harris' article. We also redesigned the GALA website, with improved resources for the GALA membership and site visitors. And recently, the membership approved new bylaws for the association, completing a two-year effort to help GALA modernize and streamline the way we function.

You readers are probably aware of the increased level of press exposure that GALA has created for the localization industry and for GALA member companies. In the past year GALA has succeeded in garnering interest from the general press and from trade publications about our industry and about our industry's core message, "Communicate locally. Succeed globally." Next year we will continue with these industry promotion efforts as well as our other successful programs, including our quarterly member pulse surveys and our webinar series.

We are also gearing up to announce details about our second conference, GALA 2010: The language of business. The business of language. Watch the conference website for announcements later this month.

I would like to congratulate our newly-elected board members, who will begin their terms in January: Aki Ito (TOIN Corporation), Hans Fenstermacher (TransPerfect / Translations.com), Kim Harris (text & form, GmbH) and Arturo Quintero (Moravia Worldwide). These new members join our three continuing board members: Serge Gladkoff (Logrus International), Robinson Kelly (Clay Tablet Technologies), and Dimitri Stoquart (Stoquart SA). María Gabriela Morales (RosarioTraducciones y Servicios), Matthias Caesar (Locatech, a Jonckers Company), and I are completing our terms of service this year.

On a personal note, this is my last letter as GALA chairman. I would like to thank the GALA membership for their confidence. I have been proud to be a part of this evolving organization, and I look forward to seeing it succeed in the years to come.

For the GALA Board,

Michael Sank
GALA Board Chairperson