A2: Customer and Revenue Acquisition in Asia-Pacific
Speaker: Jeremy Geiger (RTM Asia)
Host: Aki Ito
Synopsis: At what point should a software, internet or technology company start thinking about sales in Asia-Pacific? What countries should you start in? How much investment is required? What are the differences between different Asian countries from a marketing and sales cycle perspective? How much of global revenue should you expect from Asia-Pacific? These questions and others will be addressed in this interesting discussion.
Wednesday October 21, 12:00-1:00
B2: Inspiration in One's Native Language: The World Subtitles TED Using dotSUB
Speaker: Michael Smolens (dotSUB)
Host: Ulrich Henes
Synopsis: As video becomes the pervasive means of storytelling and communicating on the web, as internet access continues to increase globally with a similar decline in the cost of high speed fiber and video enabled mobile devices are now the norm — an ever increasing percentage of the 3.7 billion owners of mobile devices and 1.5 billion internet users are nonnative English speakers. Traditional means of subtitling are time consuming, expensive and cumbersome and not at all conducive to digital distribution and Web 2.0-type consumer engagement. In addition, a high percentage of existing subtitling is done by major media/entertainment companies that spend millions of dollars on their content creation and in most cases have “pre-sold” distribution rights in foreign markets before anything is spent on repurposing the content into another language. In any case, revenue sources exist before money is spent on subtitling. With billions of nonnative English-speaking consumers digitally connected, the ability to view videos that inspire, educate, entertain, train, inform and amuse, combined with a human desire to make a difference, (as evidenced by the success of Linux, Wikipedia, craigslist, Apache), has created the perfect storm to launch an enabling technology to allow videos to be easily and inexpensively subtitled into any language, by anyone, from any browser, with no training or investment. This will increase the availability to view videos in any language by several orders of magnitude and begin to remove language as a barrier to cross-cultural communication using video. As with all disruptive technologies, there will be great opportunities to generate revenue, most of which will require a complete rethinking of how the subtitling process is viewed, who does the work, on what basis, and how can the ultimate consumer/viewer/customer be best served by crowd-sourced subtitling.
Wednesday October 21, 12:00-1:00
C2: Defining and Measuring Quality in Localization
Speakers: Jennifer Perkins (Boston Scientific), Shy Avni (MULTILINGUAL QA Ltd.), Henk Boxma (Boxma IT)
Moderator: Jason Arnsparger
Synopsis: In this panel, we will discuss one of the hottest topics in the localization industry. The importance of quality in delivering localized material. Software applications, websites, documentation or anything that is translated needs defined quality assurance processes.
- Is language quality measurable?
- How does a company actually measure the quality of the localized deliverables?
- How important is it to measure?
- What metrics are used to measure a localization vendor's quality of work?
Best practices for integrating localization testing in the development process.
- Why it is important to qualify localization testers?
- How to reduce testing and quality assurance (QA) cost?
- How to shorten the time to market and still keep the best quality?
- What are the consequences of low quality on the user experience and purchasing decisions?
The panel consists of professionals who have experience in localization and QA from all different aspects; the client as well as the service provides side. They'll share their experiences and ideas on the subject and answer the audience questions.
Wednesday October 21, 12:00-1:00
D2: Windows 7 Localization Quality: A Journey
Speaker: Ulrike Irmler (Microsoft)
Host: Paula Shannon
Synopsis: Windows as an operating system (OS) is by far the most complex localization project at Microsoft. We have a large division of localization engineers, testers and project managers working on the localization of the OS. We just completed the localization cycle for Windows 7 that will be available to customers on October 26, 2009. When we started localization on Windows 7 in October 2008, we put together a comprehensive plan to address quality risks during the various stages of localization. In our talk we will discuss several innovations we introduced for Windows 7 QA as well as the remaining challenges and opportunities for further improvements.
Wednesday October 21, 12:00-1:00
A3: Know Your Market: Frontline Insights
Panelists: Steve Brown, Carol Farnsworth (Keynote Systems), Lou Hoffman (Hoffman Agency), Bret Sewell, Tim Young (Cisco Systems), Gigi Wang (MG-Team)
Moderator: Donna Bletzinger
Synopsis: Globalization is the reality of today’s competitive marketplace and yet many companies miscalculate how to communicate with customers outside the U.S. Despite brilliant marketing campaigns in North America, tactics that have worked well at home don’t always work in Asia and Europe. Localization is critical to creating a positive impression in communicating your company’s products worldwide. It’s more than translating websites and collateral materials to win customer mindshare. You need to know your market to reach clients in the way they are used to receiving information. It’s understanding the nuances that influence them to listen and decide to buy your products. Today’s panel consists of professionals who have made the global market decisions and determined how to reach target markets for their products and services. They will relate best practices that have worked in international markets. They’ll also share experiences where a well thought-out campaign failed because their company misunderstood the territory’s diverse audiences and how to communicate with them.
Wednesday October 21, 2:30-4:00
B3:
Social Web Localization Panel
Panelists: Siko Bouterse (hi5), Regina Bustamante (Plaxo), Ghassan Haddad (Facebook), Joaquín Moreno (XING AG), Nico Posner (LinkedIn)
Moderator: Danica Brinton
Synopsis: A poster child of Web 2.0, Social Web has quickly become a dominant way that we engage with the internet. These websites and applications with the user at the center stage of both content and content production are also breaking the traditional paradigms of international market expansion. Facebook, Plaxo, Second Life, LinkedIn, Xing, hi5, Twitter, MySpace and others have gained active users in hundreds of countries before these companies had time to plan their market expansion or localization efforts. Localization of social websites and applications has also been a unique — often crowd-sourced, community-based and viral — effort. Veterans of the localization business and current leaders in social web localization will discuss the particular opportunities and challenges of international development in this ever-evolving space. Panel format will be fully open for audience participation.
Wednesday October 21, 2:30-4:00
C3: Communicate, Cooperate, Optimize: Enabling a Win-Win Between Client and Vendor
Panelists: Magdalena Enea (HighTech Passport), Michele Carlson (Yahoo!), Gary Muddyman (Conversis), Michael Smith (iStockphoto), Christopher Hughey (Welocalize), Anna Navarro Schlegel (NetApp)
Moderator: Donna Parrish
Synopsis: In this session, three pairs of client/vendor partnerships will share their direct experiences working together on localization projects. Session attendees will hear how the panelists cultivated their business relationships, openly identified problems they encountered, and how they overcame them. Their specific experiences will cover a range of business scenarios. Panelists will illustrate pitfalls to avoid, best practices to reinforce, and common pathways of collaboration between localization clients and vendors. Learn from both sides of the street as these real-world industry pairings showcase their two-way avenue to success.
Wednesday October 21, 2:30-4:00
D3: Emerging Language Technology
Panelists: Alain Chamsi (JiveFusion), Derek Coffey (Welocalize), Richard Maher (Avantix Global), Willem Stoeller (Lingotek), Jaap van der Meer (TAUS)
Moderator: Bryan Montpetit
Synopsis: This session was requested by emerging language technology providers to provide visibility and accessibility to viable technological language solutions that have not yet been brought into the spotlight. These technology providers are working towards innovative methods to solve current industry pains while not having the benefit of the marketing arsenals often seen by their larger and mainstream competitors. The intent of this session is to enlighten industry professionals by demonstrating the advancement of emerging language technology while ensuring an overview and understanding of the technology options available on the market today.
Wednesday October 21, 2:30-4:00
A4:
Global Business Leadership — How Cultural Competency and Geoleadership Merge
Speaker: Eileen S. Wibbeke (Rose Leadership Institute)
Host: Iris Orriss
Synopsis: This presentation will highlight the publication of the new book, Global Business Leadership (Elsevier, 2009) by examining the dynamic role of leadership from an intercultural perspective. Learning about how other cultures both define and exert leadership is crucial in gaining and maintaining global market share. Intercultural knowledge in this sense denotes how other cultures approach concepts such as ambiguity and change the means to the unspoken side of business. Such intangible concepts can only be grasped through stepping back and examining the cultural underpinnings of another's background and development. This new book concentrates on the geoleadership model that highlights the seven variables necessary for US business leaders to succeed in global operations. The seven “Cs” of geoleadership include culture, care, communication, consciousness, contrasts, context and change. A panel of intercultural experts participated in the first ever web-based Delphi study convened to determine these business leadership competencies from an intercultural perspective.
Wednesday October 21, 4:45-5:45
B4:
Let’s Get Practical: Building a Global Web Community Platform
Speaker: Valerie Hufbauer (The World Bank)
Host: Nitish Singh
Synopsis: Global websites transform from a multilingual content delivery site to an international collaborative platform for sharing knowledge across a user community. The World Bank website supports 59 languages to connect to web users globally, sharing analytical work, data and news of unique depth. This presentation outlines how this impacts people and processes of a multilingual web team. In particular, it addresses issues around:
- managing content providers and translation vendors in a decentralized business environment
- integrating localization into the content management workflow
- ergonomics and navigation: multilingual navigation, context switching, consistency of branding, sharing content not translated consistently into all languages, multilingual search
- staffing needs and skills requirements
The presentation is geared towards web professionals who need to translate strategic vision into practical and tactical action. The case study shows how The World Bank’s Web Team has addressed the many challenges in adapting a web localization program.
Wednesday October 21, 4:45-5:45
C4: The Long Way to Integrated Translation Processes
Speaker: Frank Erven (Voith Turbo)
Host: Clio Schils
Synopsis: As Polysius AG, one of the world's leading engineering companies in the field of equipment for the cement and minerals industry, was about to replace its existing translation memory, it soon became clear to them that they were renewing much more than just a software application. The decision to implement the concept of corporate translation management was made with a view to increasing efficiency on various levels, and this is now being carried out step by step. The presentation will describe the decision process the company undertook to develop the new system as well as the implementation process.
Wednesday October 21, 4:45-5:45
D4: Dell Case Study
Speaker: Wayne Bourland (Dell)
Host: Kathleen Bostick
Synopsis:
This session will take you through Dell’s efforts to centralize translations for Dell.com and marketing. We will delve into the complex mix of vendors, tools and processes that enabled us to pull it all together, followed by the steps we took to simplify the process, consolidate vendors, and integrate our tool sets to finally deliver the substantial reductions in service level agreements and costs that we were looking for. Attendees will walk away from this discussion with solid concepts on how to drive centralization and process efficiencies for translations in their own companies, while avoiding the pitfalls.
Wednesday October 21, 4:45-5:45
A5: Common Sense Advisory Colloquium: The Business Case for Localization x-Recession
Speakers: Don DePalma, Ben Sargent, Rocío Txabarriaga
Synopsis: As we emerge from the recession, market leaders are gunning for the competition. Fast movers easily capture market share from flat-footed competitors coming out of any downturn. The bigger the cuts made during lean times, the greater the opportunity for aggressive up-and-comers and the greater the risk for bigger or slower companies. Localization budgets have been cut to the bone in many companies large and small. Now is the time for not only efficiency but also for expansion. How can localization practitioners and international executives win the budget wars, satisfy customers in many countries and grow revenue for the business?
- ROI — Real-world Measurement of Localization Investment
Speaker: Don DePalma
Synopsis: Showing a return on localization or translation investment remains both a requirement and an obstacle for any organization undertaking business globalization of any sort — whether online or offline. In this presentation, Don DePalma presents quantitative and qualitative measures that should form the foundation of any successful business case for localization.
- New Process — Emerging Models for Next-Gen Localization
Speaker: Rocío Txabarriaga
Synopsis: “Localization is essential for global business.” This is a generally accepted concept, but which production and management structures can actually support a truly global enterprise and prepare it for the next decade and beyond? Which cost-saving strategies have the best medium- and long- term opportunities for success in an increasingly cloud and crowd-driven market? In this presentation we address these fundamental questions against business elements impacting content and product localization:
- innovation
- technology
- morphing workforce
- security
- macroeconomic factors
- Online Experience — Zero-Click Strategies Get International Visitors to Relevant Content
Speaker: Ben Sargent
Synopsis: The number of languages offered on corporate websites and the amount of content available have risen dramatically in the past two years. In 2007 and again in 2009, Common Sense Advisory has collected extensive data on the global web presence of the world's biggest companies, most valuable brands, and highest-traffic websites. In this session we examine the data showing which languages and countries garner the greatest ROI — and build the best business case. We also demonstrate common practices, best practices and worst practices on display at the world's most visible websites. We'll uncover tips and tricks for getting international visitors to relevant content using zero-click, one-click and multi-click strategies.
The unique round table experience of a Common Sense Advisory Colloquium is now available at a Localization World event. Industry analysts introduce a topic in a concise, data-oriented presentation. Facilitated discussion follows with leading practitioners from the buyer community weighing in with real-life war stories and lessons learned. Come and join the fun.
Open to language service buyers only. Space is limited, please contact us to reserve your seat.
Thursday, October 22 9:00-11:15
B5: Google Translate and Google Translator Toolkit
Speakers: Michael Galvez (Google), Jeff Chin (Google)
Moderator: Renato Beninatto
Synopsis: Google's mission is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Translate and Translator Toolkit are two Google products that promote universal access through translation. This session will include demonstrations of the latest features of Translate and Translator Toolkit, as well as a question-and-answer session with the product managers for both applications.
Thursday, October 22 9:00-10:00
C5: SAI Global Vestra Cultural Localization Process
Speakers: James C. Kinnamon (SAI Global), Robert (Butch) Pfremmer (Welocalize)
Moderator: Lori Thicke
Synopsis: This session will show how SAI Global’s flexible Vestra™ Courseware design accommodates and engages an international audience for increased learner efficacy and outcomes. How does this adaptability affect the translation and localization process? This Vestra framework provides for conditional context and customized vignettes supporting corporate goals with a consistent message to all employees, yet allows customized regional content to engage staff and promote understanding of the individual employee’s role in maintaining corporate values and standards. SAI and Welocalize will present an efficient model for modularized translation and localization within the customizable Vestra framework.
Thursday, October 22 9:00-10:00
D5: Localization Toolkit 3.0
Speaker: Martin Güttinger (Cisco Systems)
Host: Donna Parrish
Synopsis: More often than not, localization toolkits only consist of a text document outlining the translation and localization process and a Zip File with all the source files. Cisco has taken the toolkit concept to the next level by creating a state-of-the art toolkit application that guides the user through the entire process. Join us in this session to learn more about the Localization Toolkit 3.0 – the next-generation productivity application.
Thursday, October 22 9:00-10:00
B6:
Globalizing Content for Online Security
Speaker: Stephan Cocron (VeriSign)
Host: Minette Norman
Synopsis: This presentation will show how the VeriSign User Experience Team designs and develops the company’s security products and helps to deliver them to worldwide audiences. Stephan will cover all of the team’s functional areas: interaction design, user research and usability testing, UI implementation, documentation, and content/localization. We will also look at how each piece fits into the overall life cycle of a product release and how the team interacts with the company’s other functional groups such as product management, engineering, and QA to push the sites live. The presentation will take a close look at the overall usability testing process and show how we conduct testing before the design phase, during design and post-release in order to capture as much information as possible to better serve our customers and bring a richer user experience to our products. We will end the session with a look at how the localization process and tools fit into the overall picture.
Thursday, October 22 10:30-11:15
C6: Getting Started in Localization Program Management
Speaker: Erin Vang (Global Pragmatica)
Host: Richard Sikes
Synopsis: Globalization is among the most important strategic initiatives an organization undertakes, yet responsibility for localization often falls to whoever doesn't look busy. Getting started in the role, since it's often by accident, is often confusing and overwhelming. The journey from accidental beginner to seasoned professional is a bumpy road, with many forks, but most organizations need that journey to be completed overnight because projects are piling up and work needs to get done. This presentation will consider why the role is so complex and will offer some options for both short-term survival and long-term staff development and career planning.
Thursday, October 22 10:30-11:15
D6: iPhone App Localization — Practical Advice for Successful Global Applications
Speakers: Boyd Timothy (Appigo), Aaron Schliem (Glyph Language Services)
Moderator: Danica Brinton
Synopsis: As demand for iPhone applications grows outside the United States, so too has the need for localization. Join us as we map out the successful localization of Appigo’s “Todo” application. Get a front row seat for the whole ride — target market strategy, internationalization for iPhone OS/Objective-C, localization tools and engineering, translation strategy, and iTunes App Store Top Ten results
Thursday, October 22 10:30-11:15
A7:
Overcoming the Language Afterthought Syndrome
Speaker: Mary Laplante (The Gilbane Group)
Host: Donna Parrish
Synopsis: Gilbane’s 2009 research on multilingual content indicates that global companies are making steady progress towards overcoming the “language afterthought syndrome” — a pattern of treating language requirements as secondary considerations within their content strategies and solutions. This presentation delivers insight into how market-leading companies are adopting content globalization strategies, practices and infrastructures that position language requirements as integral to end-to-end solutions rather than as ancillary post-processes. The session is designed for content and language professionals and managers who need to know how to bring capabilities such as automated translation management, terminology management, multilingual and multichannel publishing, and global content management into the mainstream. Takeaways include data and case studies that can be used in business cases to move language requirements out of the back room once and for all.
Thursday, October 22 2:15-3:15
B7: The Marriage of SEO and Localization
Speaker: Andy Atkins-Krüger (Webcertain)
Host: Ulrich Henes
Synopsis: This presentation will look at the different factors to take into consideration when running a global website in multiple languages. It will look at the whole area of search engine optimization (SEO), considering not just language but also areas such as links and search engine compatibility and how SEO can be integrated into the whole content management process.
Benefit: The presentation will give delegates an understanding of the elements and processes involved in creating a successful global website. It will offer practical tips on how to implement a multilingual SEO approach on a website.
Thursday, October 22 2:15-3:15
C7: Creating World-ready Documentation: How Templates and Best Known Methods Can Accelerate the Localization Process . . . and Help You Control Your Costs
Speaker: Loïc Dufresne de Virel (Intel Corporation)
Host: Angelika Zerfaß
Synopsis:In this practical session, members from Intel’s in-house localization team will present the guidelines they have developed for the localization of technical documentation and training materials, focusing mostly on the use of templates and layout principles that are localization-friendly.
Thursday, October 22 2:15-3:15
D7: Special Challenges of Localizing a Software-as-a-Service Product
Speakers: Shawna Wolverton (Salesforce.com), Teresa Marshall (Salesforce.com)
Moderator: Ghassan Haddad
Synopsis: Similar to many software companies, Saleforce.com’s localization team faces a rapidly increasing feature set and an increasing number of user languages. While examining the advantages and challenges of localizing a Software-as-a-Service product in an agile environment, we will take a look at how Salesforce localization supports some of the unique and highly customizable features of the Salesforce.com platform.
Thursday, October 22 2:15-3:15
A8: Building a Global User Community
Speaker: Michael Smith (iStockphoto)
Host: Teresa Marshall
Synopsis: iStockphoto is an exclusively online business that sells user-generated content. As discussed by Jeff Howe at the keynote presentation at Localization World Madison, iStockphoto capitalizes on its online community for cost-effective production. This presentation examines how an effort to provide localized access to an online community and company impacts production and business in an international context.
Thursday, October 22 3:45-4:30
B8: Challenges of Web Localization: Scaling Up the Work and Improving the Localization Process (A Case Study)
Speaker: Eva Klaudinyova (VMware, Inc.)
Host: Ben Sargent
Synopsis: Web localization, just like software localization, has its own pitfalls. There are content management systems and translation management systems to deal with, constant messaging changes coming from the marketing teams, scope creep, resource issues, and time and money constraints. Web localization also requires a specific process that has to be agreed upon by various teams, then implemented and followed. This case study shows a real-life example of how the VMware localization team met such a challenge during one of the biggest product launches in the history of the company, the lessons the team learned, and how its success was measured. It concludes with the opportunities for further improvement and outlines where the team is going next on its Web localization journey.
Thursday, October 22 3:45-4:30
C8: Open Standards Does Not Equal Open Source
Speakers: David Filip (Moravia Worldwide), Angelika Zerfaß (zaac)
Moderator: Willem Stoeller
Synopsis: Open standards can be powerful, and many of the translation and localization industry’s current standards are open standards (notably the XML-based TMX, TBX, SRX, and XLIFF). Similarly, open-source applications are in use in our industry, most notably OmegaT, Okapi Framework, Sun XLIFF Translation Editor and recent endeavors to apply open-source methodologies to translation management systems (TMS). There is sometimes confusion between open standards and open source, though, and this session will clearly illustrate the differences and explain key concepts. Licensing and patent issues will be covered in an easy-to-understand way. Usage and usability will be reviewed, and a detailed usability study of commonly used tools and technologies will be provided, as well as an analysis of the features of open TMS and a standards support comparison.
Thursday, October 22 3:45-4:30
D8: Philips Healthcare Doc-Loc Council
Speaker: Heather Cunningham (Philips NM)
Host: Jaap van der Meer
Overview:
- purpose of council
- grassroots organization
- how we got started
- evolution of organizational structure
- initiatives/accomplishments
- TSP vendor evaluation
- TSP vendor reduction and cost savings
- process harmonization
- source content standards, tools and more
Takeaway: It can start with one. You can make a difference.
Thursday, October 22 3:45-4:30
Preconference Synopses
P1: TAUS: Translation Automation Round Table
Moderator: Jaap van der Meer
Synopsis: Half a century of machine translation (MT) history is known for its debates and disputes about the most effective way of cracking the problem of automatic language translation. It is only since the technology started finding its way into more and more day-to-day applications that the academic factions seem to be fading way. As opposed to researchers, commercial users are more interested in the most practical sense of what does and does not work. Dogmas are replaced by pragmatic practices. Statistical, example-based or rule-based — the latest generation of MT engines combines different flavors, and the engines start to perform better. This TAUS Translation Automation Round Table will feature different approaches to MT with contributions from both language service providers and corporate users who have started deploying MT. Participants in this round table will learn about the opportunities and barriers to using MT in localization for user manuals, service literature, knowledge bases and other applications. Discussions will focus on some of the key questions for anyone considering making MT part of his or her production infrastructure. What does it cost? How can I measure and benchmark the quality of output and the productivity of my post-editors? How can I best train and customize my engines? What does it cost me to maintain the system? Will there be more and better MT engines coming on the market? How difficult is it to develop an MT engine?
Tuesday, October 20 9:00-12:00
P2: TAUS Data Association: The Language Data Exchange Portal FREE
Moderator: Jaap van der Meer
Synopsis: TAUS Data Association (TDA) is a nonprofit, member-driven organization aimed at the sharing of language data. The organization was founded in June 2008 by 47 organizations that funded the development of the TM sharing, data pooling and language search services on the web-based platform. TDA is set up to host billions of words in many language pairs and from all public and industry domains. Membership is open to every stakeholder — from large institutional and commercial buyers to all providers of services and technologies and individual translators and universities. The language search service is open and available to the general public. The benefits of the TDA platform depend on the type of usage and user. Buyers of translation will look at TDA as a way to improve the translation technology, train and customize MT systems, and translate more content in more languages. Providers of services will look at TDA as a way to increase productivity, innovate their business and streamline terminology. TDA works closely with service and technology providers to ensure a seamless integration of the platform with existing offerings of tools and services. In this half-day workshop Jaap van der Meer will present TDA, demonstrate release 1 of the TDA platform, discuss the use scenarios, the impacts on the industry and service innovation.
Tuesday, October 20 1:30-5:00
P3: Managing Distributed Teams in an Outsourced Environment
Speaker: Willem Stoeller (International Consulting, LLC)
Synopsis: Many organizations expect their localization vendors to outsource services such as engineering, DTP and quality assurance (QA) in order to stretch their clients' localization dollars. Outsourcing is an example of using distributed teams in order to achieve project goals. Other examples are:
- acquisitions resulting in a distributed staff
- ability to use specialized resources independent of location
Distributed teams have many unique challenges:
- a loss in communication due to language, distance and time differences
- corporate and regional cultural differences
- mutual trust for all team members and a willingness to share all information
- the need for a shared mission and set of priorities
- maintaining team motivation
- the need for tools and processes that support a distributed environment
This workshop addresses each of the above challenges, provides examples of tools to facilitate distributed teams (SharePoint Services, Live Meeting, IM, social networks and so on) and offers some best practice examples based on the presenter’s experience at a large language service provider and with Project Management Institute.
Tuesday, October 20 9:00-12:00
P4: Certification in Culturally Customized Web Design by the John Cook School of Business, Saint Louis University
Speaker: Nitish Singh (St. Louis University)
See a preview
Synopsis: Learn cutting-edge skills, receive a scholarship, and advance your career…. The goal of this certification is to provide you with a powerful cultural customization toolkit that you may immediately use to culturally customize websites for most countries in the world. You will also be provided with data and insights to make a business case for web site cultural customization. Why culturally customize websites? Research from past eight years across more than ten countries has shown that the cultural customization of websites leads to higher ease of use, better attitude toward the site, and higher purchase intention, all of which have a direct impact on your return on investment. To gain the certificate of completion, participants will have to attend the full workshop session.
Takeaways:
- You will be awarded the Certificate of Completion In Designing Culturally Customized Web Sites by the (AACSB Accredited) John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University.
- You will receive extensive Lecture Notes that you could reference for future use.
- You will also receive a $200 scholarship to pursue an advanced online program at the John Cook School of Business: The Executive Certificate in Web Globalization Management.
- You will be provided with a powerful cultural customization toolkit to effectively customize international websites to any country in the world.
- You will learn various cultural nuances when targeting global online consumers.
- The presentation will use a combination of website examples, best practices, and empirical research to facilitate the learning.
Tuesday, October 20 1:30-5:00
P5: Due Diligence — Preparing E-learning Courses for Exportation
Speaker: Andrea Edmundson (eWorld Learning, Inc)
Synopsis: Translation and localization companies are receiving more requests to apply their services to e-learning courses. The primary reason for this upswing in new sales is the same as for other forms of software — companies seek to be globally competitive with their products. However, e-learning courses are not just “software.” Instead, they represent the culture and values of the course designer — how do members of this culture teach students or train employees? What do they value in education? How do people expect to learn? Now, you want to export your e-learning courses to a different country or culture. Will your country’s approach to teaching or training align with the preferences and learning styles of your targeted market or learners? In most cases, the answer to this question will be “no,” but what can you do about it? Since e-learning is a cultural artifact — embedded with the nuances of the culture that designed it — certain e-learning courses require more than translation and localization. They require profound adaptations to suit the needs and preferences of learners in other cultures. If not, what will happen? Why is this important? How do you address these challenges?
In this session, Andrea Edmundson will demonstrate how to meet the additional challenge of creating e-learning that accommodates the more profound cultural differences of learners from other countries, such as those generated by different values, national cultural dimensions, and even diverse levels of techno-literacy. You will also learn, using actual case studies, what happens when you are not proactive in addressing these differences. Most people do not recognize the depth of their “Americanism” until they attend this session; however, by its conclusion, you will become an advocate of using global learning strategies to ensure your and your clients’ success, and your clients’ learners. The principles of due diligence protect your business, make it stronger, and increases the probability of success. Why would anyone sabotage his or her work by ignoring cultural differences?
Tuesday, October 20 9:00-12:00
P6: Localization Business Round Table
Advisory Committee: Kathleen Bostick (Lionbridge), Leonid Glazychev (Logrus International), Aki Ito (TOIN), René Savelsbergh (Welocalize), Véronique Özkaya (Moravia Worldwide)
Social Networking Means Business: How Companies Can Utilize Twitter and LinkedIn for Their Advantages
Speaker: Kathleen Bostick (Lionbridge)
Moderator: Aki Ito (TOIN)
Synopsis: Online social networking is becoming a more legitimate alternative to the traditional sales approach of making cold calls or launching advertising campaign. Participate in discussions and learn how companies are using online social networking sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn to bring new businesses in the second part of the Localization Business Round Table.
Vendor Consolidation: Threat and Opportunity
Moderator: Véronique Özkaya (Moravia Worldwide)
Synopsis: The current economic downturn and resulting pressures have accelerated the vendor consolidation at customers. For language service providers (LSPs), this means it is more difficult to acquire new clients unless there is a strong need that the current vendor base does not meet. It also means that if you are not selected, you lose the opportunity for business long-term. Consolidation opens the door to commoditization: increased involvement of procurement teams that often have little experience with localization, focus on price and do not understand or recognize the value of services. Their objective is to reduce the vendor base (less management overhead internally) and show immediate savings through “economies of scale.” What can be the responses from LSPs? How to fend off the threat and leverage the opportunities offered by consolidation?
Tuesday, October 20 1:30-5:00
P7: Life Sciences Round Table: Best Practices in the Life Sciences Industry
Download Life Sciences Summary (PDF)
Coordinator/Moderator: Clio Schils
Advisory Committee:
Richard Korn (St. Jude Medical)
Jennifer Perkins (Boston Scientific)
Brigitte Herrmann (Siemens AG)
Jason Arnsparger (CaridianBCT)
Inna Geller (Lean Sigma Green Belt)
Andres Heuberger (ForeignExchange Translations)
Simon Andriesen (Medilingua)
Strategies for TM Management
Speakers: Jason Arnsparger (CaridianBCT), Michael Oettli (OmniLingua)
A Pharmaceutical Perspective on Country-specific Requirements and Its Impact on Translation Strategies
Speaker: TBD
Impact of MDD Changes on Product Labeling
Speaker: Jennifer Perkins (Boston Scientific)
Harmonizing Localization Activities Across Business Units: Challenges and Best Practices
Speaker: Heather Cunningham (Philips Healthcare)
Client/Vendor Break-out Sessions
- Best Practices in Localizing Different Content Types in Regulated Industries
- TBD
- TBD
Tuesday, October 20 9:00-5:00
P8: Life Sciences Localization Core Competences:
Download Life Sciences Summary (PDF)
Introduction into Medical Localization (Part l & II)
Speakers: Simon Andriesen (Medilingua), Andres Heuberger (ForeignExchange Translations)
Workshop: Measurably Improve Translation Quality Within 60 Days (Part l & II)
Speakers: Sonia Monahan (ForeignExchange Translations), Elizabeth Judd-Cummings (LifeScan)
Synopsis: Translation quality is often fuzzy and unclear. Using a real-world case study as background, this session will demonstrate the methodology to define, analyze and measure success in meeting translation quality requirements. Attendees will learn how to implement this methodology in their companies and gain an understanding of how measured quality can be used to achieve their business objectives.
Tuesday, October 20 9:00-5:00
P9: Game Localization Round Table
Moderator: Miguel Á. Bernal-Merino
Synopsis: This full-day round table consists of several distinct sessions presented by experts in game localization. This round table series is open to clients (game developers and game publishers) and to qualifying vendors (game localization specialists). We aim to provide the best possible venue to enable a fruitful and balanced debate, so we will do our best to maintain a balanced group of participants. The day will end with an open discussion based on information and questions from the day's presentations.
Session 1: Strategic Management of Technological Innovation in MMO Localization
Speaker: David Kim (Sony Online Entertainment)
Synopsis: In the world of video game localization, we face many difficult and expensive problems that threaten the quality of our products. Inefficiency becomes wasted cost on an almost unimaginable scale. These problems magnify when combined with the compressed schedule and oversized workload that is common in massively multiplayer online (MMO) localization today. When traditional localization services were insufficient, we started looking for technical solutions. Through technology we have extended our localization expertise into the development and quality assurance processes to create a more holistic and efficient workflow. We will share some of the challenges we faced and the solutions we discovered for localizing MMO games that saved time, money and quality.
Session 2: The Right Tool Makes Any Job Easier
Speaker: Stephanie O'Malley Deming (XLOC, Inc.)
Synopsis: Despite what some people think, quite a few different sets of tools can be utilized in video game localization: proprietary management tools, translation tools, engine tools and project management tools. This session presents an overview on the tools currently available to the game industry and analyzes the benefits and drawbacks of each of them. With this array of specialized tools questions still remain: How can the game industry make the most of what we have now? What developments are likely to provide the perfect solution in the near future?
Session 3: Audio Localization for Games
Speaker: Andrea Ballista (Binari Sonori)
Synopsis: The dynamic nature of video games heavily affects the way audio is produced and localized. Using the movie industry as a reference, this session reviews a set of specific audio production techniques that are applied in game localization nowadays, such as the pre- and post-production methods for localizing voices, the A/V asset management, the team who attends the local recording sessions, as well as the international quality assurance processes. Some theoretical aspects are also described, such as the typical constraints that need to be accounted for during the speech voice recording phase in order to allow the software to seamlessly load, mix and combine audio assets coming from various countries and recorded in different times.
Session 4: Localization: A Part of Project Development, an Instrument of Marketing
Speaker: Philippe Juton (THQ)
Synopsis: Localization faces numerous challenges in today's world; none are as great as those facing the multimedia interactive entertainment software industry. Video games have become a very popular entertainment option for people of all ages and all nations, and quality localization has no doubt played a key part in it. This presentation will elaborate on the paramount importance of quality and how localization decisions are better implemented when built in the project development due to the many linguistic and cultural elements that need to be taken into account. This impacts directly on all players and more importantly in the ever-growing and always outspoken online community. Quality localization lives beyond any marketing campaign. Localization is not a cost but an investment that yields good returns, even when going into new territories.
Session 5: Casting Is Not Just Voice Approval
Speaker: Jacques Barreau (Warner Bros.)
Synopsis: Choosing the right set of voices for your product is certainly a key decision; however, it isn't one that saves you from other questions equally essential if not more. This presentation concentrates on voice casting for audiovisual and interactive entertainment products, but it elaborates further into the perhaps not-so-obvious aspects of dubbing such as creativity, performance and attitude. Of course, video games, as the most complex form of interactive media, has in addition to the application of high dubbing standards, several extra requirements that differ from traditional audiovisual media. This presentation will elaborate further on these characteristics.
Session 6: The Future of Game Localization: How a Renewed Synergy Between Localization, Marketing and Business Development Can Boost Sales Worldwide
Speaker: Knut Grossmann (Games without Borders)
Synopsis: The video game industry has been going from strength to strength almost from the very beginning. Creative and ludic minds quickly saw the potential of this new medium, and continuously outdid each other from product to product. With increasing development cost and the market expanding more and more globally, game localization changed from being an unplanned add-on to being a requirement for any ambitious title. Yet some practices in game localization are still somehow stuck in the past, and processes are more cumbersome than they really need to be. Could synergistic game development planning be part of the answer?
Tuesday, October 20 9:00-5:00
P10: Localisation For All – The North American Launch of The Rosetta Foundation FREE
Speakers: Reinhard Schäler (Localisation Research Centre — LRC), Smith Yewell (Welocalize)
Synopsis: The Rosetta Foundation was established as a not-for-profit organisation to advance the rights of individuals to access life-critical information in their native languages irrespective of their social status, linguistic and cultural background and geographic location. To this end The Rosetta Foundation intends to deploy a localization technology platform to facilitate the translation and distribution of life-guarding information worldwide. This session will provide an overview of the organizational structure, the aims and objectives, and the strategic plan of The Rosetta Foundation. Participants will be introduced to the Foundation’s translation and localization technology platform based on the open-source Translation Management System (TMS), GlobalSight. With the support of the localization community, The Rosetta Foundation intends to deploy an accessible and affordable next-generation localization technology platform for Non Governmental Organizations and other not-for-profit organizations free-of-charge. Discussion and feedback sessions will require active participation. Participants will be asked to indicate their level of interest in sourcing and providing active support to the Foundation, and contributing to the development of a next-generation localization technology framework. The Rosetta Foundation is a spin-off of the Localisation Research Centre at the University of Limerick, Ireland, and the Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL), a major research initiative supported by the Irish Government. This session is supported by the CNGL, Welocalize and Localization World. To discuss and advance our efforts, The Rosetta Foundation invites all interested parties to join us at this workshop and celebrate its North American Launch. Registration is required, but free of charge.
Tuesday, October 20 9:00-12:00
P11: GlobalSight User Meeting FREE
Speakers: Gary Prioste (Welocalize), Derek Coffey (Welocalize)
Synopsis: Over the last 6 months, we’ve seen the GlobalSight open-source community grow to 1,200 members, software downloads reach 1,570 and a user base dedicated to installing, testing and deploying the open-source Translation Management System (TMS). More and more organizations are mapping out a migration plan away from proprietary TMS’ to a more flexible, cost-effective and sustainable open-source platform for managing, translating and delivering global content. The GlobalSight User Meeting is an opportunity for community members to learn about the latest features and enhancements, get best practices on installation and configuration, share success stories and lessons learned, and collaborate on building a best-of-breed technology platform to support next-generation needs. The half-day afternoon workshop will also highlight recent machine translation and crowdsourcing functionality, along with the launch of an application exchange program to develop filters, plug-ins and add-ons that extend the functionality and lead to greater interoperability. Attendance is free and open to all community members and interested parties.
Tuesday, October 20 1:30-5:00
P12: Introduction to Localization FREE
Speakers: Daniel Goldschmidt (Localization Flow Technologies), Richard Sikes (Localization Flow Technologies), Angelika Zerfaß (zaac)
Synopsis: Three highly experienced industry experts will illuminate the basics of localization for session participants over the course of three one-hour blocks. This instruction is particularly oriented to participants who are new to localization. Participants will gain a broad overview of the localization task set, issues and tools. Subjects covered will be fundamental problems that localization addresses, components of localization projects, localization tools and localization project management. There will also be time for questions and answers plus the opportunity to take individual questions offline with the presenters.
Tuesday, October 20 9:00-12:00
P13: Tools and Technologies
Speakers: Daniel Goldschmidt (Localization Flow Technologies), Richard Sikes (Localization Flow Technologies), Willem Stoeller (International Consulting, LLC), Angelika Zerfaß (zaac)
Synopsis: Willem Stoeller begins with an overview of the latest technology trends in translation including translation management systems, advanced leveraging (sub phrase leveraging), machine translation, translation memory sharing and community translation. He will cover objectives, product examples, benefits and issues from a real world perspective. Daniel Goldschmidt and Richard Sikes then take a closer look at a selection of technologies, showing some of them in operation and discussing where they intersect, enhance or overlap one another. Angelika Zerfaß concludes with a presentation about how to choose what type of technology is appropriate for your personal or company’s needs.
Tuesday, October 20 1:30-5:00
P15: Linguistic Supply Chain – Buzzword or Reality? Language Technology User Meeting FREE
Speakers: Benjamin B. Sargent (Common Sense Advisory), Frank Erven (Voith Turbo), Thierry Jambage (Connective Language Services), Daniel Nackovski (Across Systems, Inc.), Armin Wahl (Across Systems, Inc.)
Synopsis: Across Systems, the No. 1 independent technology provider for the linguistic supply chain, invites you to attend its first language technology user meeting in the United States. Localization professionals for corporations, translation service providers and technology providers are more than welcome to join this complimentary half-day event. Highlights of the agenda are:
- Insights provided by Benjamin B. Sargent, content globalization strategist at Common Sense Advisory, about return on investment models for translation management systems
- The business case study of Voith Turbo Scharfenberg, specialist for hydrodynamic drive, coupling and braking systems for road, rail and industrial applications as well as for ship propulsion systems. Voith Group has approximately 43,000 employees at over 290 locations worldwide and sales of €4.9 billion. Frank Erven, language technology consultant and technical writer at Voith, will describe how the company decided on a translation management system, its implementation and how Voith was able to accelerate translation processes while increasing the quality of its multilingual content.
- The case study of Connective Language Services (CLS), a translation service agency based in New Jersey. Its two founders recognized the inefficiencies in how translation companies have traditionally conducted their business. CLS therefore designed a service that saves clients money through increased efficiency evolving from technology and flexible management processes. Thierry Jambage, cofounder of CLS will talk about how language technology enables fluid workflows while shortening reaction times.
- A technical slot covering the new features of Across v5
- Last but not least, insights given by Richard Sikes, language technology consultant and founder of Localization Flow Technologies. He will talk about the localization and translation business in the “Age of Zero” when people expect everything in zero time for zero dollars.
Don’t miss this informative user meeting that will show you that “linguistic supply chain” is not just a buzz phrase. Get in touch with Across users and localization professionals to share experiences and to learn more about the use of a language server environment that enables a fluid linguistic supply chain.
Please note that this event is free of charge, but registration is required!
Agenda of the half-day user meeting: http://www.across.net/events/LWC_UserMeet_10202009.pdf
Tuesday, October 20 1:30-5:00
Lunch Presentation, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 2:00-2:15 pm
Web Globalization Skills to Succeed in 2010 and Beyond
Speaker: Nitish Singh, Boeing Institute of International Business, St. Louis University
Synopsis: To really thrive in the volatile and dynamic global economy localization professionals need high-end knowledge skills that can prepare them to respond to these changes in a global economy. In this short presentation, Nitish Singh will share web globalization skills that will be needed by localization professionals to not only differentiate themselves for the crowd but also to add significant value to their clients or projects.
Wednesday, October 21 1:00-2:30 |
