Message From the Board

Hans Fenstermacher, GALA Board Chair

Since our last edition of GALAxy, so much has happened at GALA! We hosted our 3rd annual conference, we launched an exciting new standards initiative, and we have continued to deliver on valuable programming for language professionals worldwide.

For those of you who joined us in Lisbon at our third annual Language of Business conference, thank you for coming! I hope you had as great a time as I did there. If you couldn’t make it, then be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s conference, 26-28 March 2012, in Monte Carlo. Our conference in Lisbon this year was GALA’s largest and most successful gathering to date - with over 260 participants - and despite the scale, it still provided an intimate peer-to-peer setting for in-depth learning and quality networking. Check out Laura Brandon’s article about the event.

As you have probably heard by now, in Lisbon we announced our new GALA Standards Initiative. This undertaking plans to address education, training, and promotion of best practices around standards. It is also aimed at helping coordinate the sometimes disparate efforts among industry bodies regarding language and translation standards today. We’re especially excited about the Initiative because we brought on board Arle Lommel as our Standards Director to kick things off. Arle was formerly LISA’s head of standards and has years of experience working with practically all the standards bodies and efforts in our industry. Read more about this in Arle Lommel’s article. We also welcome your direct feedback to GALA on the draft version of our plan for this Initiative (which you can download from the GALA website). Like all of our programs at GALA, this initiative is meant to serve you, our members, and the industry as a whole, so we want to know what matters most to you.

In addition to our industry-wide programs, our members continue to connect in smaller ways through our popular local networking events (we’ve held 5 so far this year! – please contact us about holding one in your area) and in our weekly webinar series. Watch GALA’s Facebook pages and YouTube channel to see photos and videos from recent events. And if you missed any webinars, you can listen to them online (free for members).

Remember, if you’re looking to develop your career as a localization professional, or if you want to connect with peers who are grappling with challenges like the ones you face at your company, use GALA as your global network for exchange and professional growth. As a not-for-profit trade association, we offer you the tools and contacts you need to stay connected with the industry at large. And invite your clients and prospects to join GALA as Associate Members, so they can connect with their peers and you can demonstrate your company’s valuable role in the industry.

And please connect with GALA on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter; visit the GALA website and GALA blog, or just connect the old-fashioned way and come to one of our events.

We welcome your active involvement in GALA, as well as your feedback.

For the GALA Board,

Hans Fenstermacher
GALA Board Chair