About GALA
Learn about GALA's global member community and what it can do for you
What happens if it's just text here and why is there so much space after this block?
The language industry, organized
GALA is the international nonprofit association for the people and companies behind global content and multilingual AI. We are member-funded, member-led, and driven by mission and purpose, not profit.
The localization ecosystem is rich, but fragmented
Global content delivery brings together language, technology, business, and culture. The people who do this work are highly technical and highly skilled. There are dozens of conferences, publications, research firms, training programs, and regional interest groups. Each offers value in a specific way.
GALA is where it all merges. Publications, events, benchmarking, and training. Buyers and vendors, technology providers and practitioners, enterprises and independent professionals. One industry, connected.
JOIN GALA SEE WHAT MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES
Serving the global language industry since 2002 with members in more than 60 countries.
A trade association, and why that matters
GALA is a nonprofit trade association: an organization founded and funded by businesses and professionals who work in a single industry. We’re accountable only to our members. We are:
- Independent. A nonprofit organization, legally incorporated in the US, founded in 2002, and governed by a volunteer board elected by the membership.
- Member-led. Members in more than 60 countries set the agenda through the board, committees, and special interest groups.
- Purpose-built. Every program, event, and publication is measured against one question: did this help our members succeed?
Who runs GALA?
GALA was founded in 2002 by Hans Fenstermacher, Renee Salzman-Sztabelski, and Daniel Carter. They wanted to create an industry home for language services companies to cooperate and drive industry development. Nearly 25 years later the organization is still funded by the industry it serves, governed by a volunteer board of directors elected by the membership, and supported by a small professional staff.
For the professionals doing the work
There is no standard career path in this industry. Roles change every few years, the technology underneath them changes faster than that, and most people learn in isolation, relying on a handful of colleagues and a lot of LinkedIn noise.
Professional membership is the antidote to learning alone – so you can stop feeling like the only person in the room who understands what you do.
- Learn what is changing while it changes. Events and content built by practitioners who are actually doing the work.
- Build a reputation beyond your employer. Speak, contribute, volunteer, and lead. Members become known in this industry by doing visible work inside it, and GALA is where you can contribute, not just consume.
- Own your professional reputation. Your membership follows you. Change employers and it stays with you.
I dearly appreciate meaningful webinars with leading experts around the globe. That’s the best way for me to stay up to date about trends.” - Agnes Schöndorni-Schönner, GoTo Technologies Germany GmbH
EXPLORE PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
And the companies shaping the industry
The fastest and easiest way to develop your team is to connect them with a professional community that goes beyond your organization.
Company membership extends the same access across your team and adds the things an organization needs: visibility with buyers and partners and a way to develop your team without building a training function from scratch.
- Team-wide access. Your whole team gets access, so knowledge spreads throughout the organization.
- Visibility where it counts. Presence in the member directory, in GALA content, and at GALA events, all in front of the peers and partners you want to reach.
- Influence over direction. Committee and interest group participation puts your perspective into GALA programs, research, and content.
“Through GALA we’ve developed an excellent network of industry connections, learned a lot, and improved our business.” - Mladen Stojak, Ciklopea
How members learn and connect
A community is useful only if people have ways to participate. This is what GALA offers:
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WorldReady Conference
All stakeholder segments in one room, meeting as equals.
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Webinars
Expert-led content on the topics that matter most right now.
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GALA Academy
Small group courses with a fixed start and finish, taught by practitioners.
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Special Interest Groups
Peer-to-peer learning and networking in a topic-based group.
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Research and Publications
Articles and reports that enable trend-tracking and benchmarking.
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Member Directory and Member Network
Visibility to outsiders and connectivity with insiders.
The GALA community, by the numbers
A community matters only if people show up.
- 300+ members across organization types, roles, and regions
- 4,200+ practitioners reached through members
- 60+ countries represented
- 2002 when GALA was founded
What makes GALA different?
People often ask how GALA compares to a conference series, an analyst firm, or a regional association. The honest answer is that we overlap with all of them but have a different mission and motivation.
We bring together buyers and suppliers, technology vendors and their users, large enterprises and independent practitioners, to create an engaged community committed to industry development and professional growth.
“I simply love the variety of content that GALA covers; they cater to every audience and role within the industry.” - Raquel del Alamo, Vistatec
What we stand for
GALA's organization values underlie everything we do.
- Independence. Our members’ needs set our direction. We don’t answer to investors or push an agenda.
- Access. Almost everything we do is accessible virtually and on-demand and is designed with language accessibility in mind.
- Rigor. We would rather publish one thing worth reading than ten things worth skimming.
- Integrity. Transparency, accountability, and objectivity. Plus, a code of conduct agreed to by all members.
Join GALA: where an industry becomes a community
Membership funds GALA and keeps it independent. More importantly, it gives you a seat at the table and a professional community to depend on.
Join us. The industry is already here.
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