Resumen del seminario regional de ProZ.com en Córdoba, Argentina (2014) 1

Apenas pasadas las ocho de la mañana del sábado 8 de noviembre de 2014, los asistentes al seminario regional de ProZ.com en Córdoba, Argentina ya se agrupaban sobre una de las veredas del dinámico barrio de Nueva Córdoba. Iban llegando solos, en grupos, con mochilas en las espaldas, anotadores en las manos y algún que otro bostezo pendiente. Algunos de ellos estudiantes, otros profesionales con años de experiencia a cuestas. ¿Qué tenían en común todos? Las ganas de aprender, conectarse con colegas y divertirse.

Una vez hecha la acreditación de más de 130 asistentes, fue Juán Manuel Macarlupu Peña el que los recibió con un enorme abrazo con perfil de traductor profesional. Y ya antes del desayuno, así, con hambre de conocimiento y de medialunas, Juan Manuel los invitó a trabajar juntos para descubrir a la traducción como profesión y como negocio, delineando posibles salidas laborales, enumerando diferentes habilidades indispensables del traductor y detallando estrategias para no parecer novatos.

Finalmente, el café no se hizo esperar más, y antes de dar paso al resto de los módulos del programa, actuó como un perfecto punto de partida para que los asistentes se conozcan y comiencen a sacar mayor provecho de asistir a este evento. ¿Cómo te llamás? ¿En qué año estás? ¿En qué te especializás? Estas preguntas iban de traductor a traductor, de estudiante a estudiante, de colega a colega, actuales y futuros.

El seminario continuó con información sobre la situación del mercado laboral, tácticas para encontrar clientes, estrategias para determinar honorarios y negociar efectivamente, y una extensa discusión acerca de las diferentes posibilidades de cobro –nacional e internacional, culminando con una foto grupal cargada de buena voluntad y de amenaza de lluvia (que no tardó en hacerse efectiva).

¿Qué faltó? ¡Nada! Si hasta nos reunimos luego del seminario para verificar identidades y credenciales en los perfiles de ProZ.com, y compartir una merienda en un bar de la ciudad mientras conversamos sobre las ventajas y desventajas de la traducción automática, las diferentes formas de especializarse, los métodos de enseñanza en las diferentes instituciones educativas de la República Argentina, y, como si fuese poco, sobre la posibilidad de volver a vernos pronto, muy pronto.

Lo que resta…

• Compartir fotos y videos a través de redes sociales con el hashtag #CordobaProZ1, y ver las fotos y videos que otros han compartido:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1470141453256774/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=%23CordobaProZ1&src=typd

ProZ.com: http://www.proz.com/conference/652?page=image_gallery

• Dejar feedback y comentarios sobre el seminario, y ver los comentarios publicados por los demás: http://www.proz.com/conference/652?page=feedback

• Dejar feedback y comentarios sobre el powwow, y ver el reporte: http://www.proz.com/?sp=event/powwow_reports_view&powwow_id=5312

• Ver y descargar los certificados de asistencia en la sección “Participación en conferencias” del perfil de ProZ.com (sólo asistentes al evento): http://www.proz.com/profile

• Ver qué otros eventos de ProZ.com se avecinan: http://www.proz.com/conference/?show_mode=conferences

• Proponer un evento: http://www.proz.com/conference/?show_mode=conferences&sp_submode=propose

Gracias, Juan Manuel Macarlupu Peña, por la organización de este evento y a todos los que asistieron y aprovecharon la oportunidad de aprender, conectarse con colegas y divertirse. Aquí les dejo un video-resumen del evento y espero verlos muy pronto!

Getting the most out of industry events: Part three Reply

This is the third post in a “Getting the most out of translation industry events” weekly series. As explained in the first part, tips will be grouped into “before the event”, “during the event” and “after the event” for easy reference. Please feel free to post below and share your tip(s)!

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Before the event

Tip 2: plan your event

Attending an industry event should be more than just showing up. Yes, signing up and being there are important, but these two may not pay off if not supported by some serious planning. Mind you that planning here does not entail flight and hotel booking, or finding a good friend who is willing to water your plants. Planning your event means preparing yourself to learn, network and have fun.

If you are planning to attend an industry event, here are some tips for you to start making your own plans:

• Carefully pick the sessions you will attend: check the conference program and the learning objectives of each session. Keeping in mind your own learning objectives and your business plan, sign up for sessions that will provide you with information that you don’t have and that could help you to improve your work and expand your business (i.e. presentations that you could not give yourself).

• Prepare questions: once you have signed up for sessions of your interest, prepare a set of questions for which you would like answers. You may ask these questions during the QA portion of the session, or to the speaker during a coffee break or at lunch.

• Know the speakers: familiarize yourself with speakers, know their names, their background and the presentations they will be offering. Remember that, even if you are not attending a given speaker’s session, you will still have plenty of opportunities to network with them and discuss topics of interest to both.

• Know the sponsors: in general, translation industry events are sponsored by companies that are also part of this industry and that may offer a wide range of solutions to language professionals. Find out who is sponsoring the event you are attending and what they offer. Do they sell language services? If so, are they hiring? Do they sell translator software tools? Which ones? Can you get a demo for free?

• Spot attendees with common interests: if there is a list of attendees available, search for colleagues working in your top language pairs and fields of expertise. Get their names and, if possible, contact them in advance and make plans to share a drink. Meeting with colleagues who have the same specialization could help you to learn more about your niche (rates, volume, types of clients, etc.).

• Share your plan with others: now that you are familiar with sessions and have signed up for the ones that interest you, and you know the speakers, the sponsors and a few colleagues with the same interests as you, share your plans with other attendees. Let colleagues know the sessions you are planning to attend and why, the questions you would like those sessions to answer, the speakers you can’t wait to meet. This will encourage other attendees to do the same and set the tone for the event before it even starts. For more pre-event networking tips, see Getting the most out of industry events: Part one and Getting the most out of industry events: Part two.

Remember, if you want to optimize the value of attending an industry event, making plans before attending is as important as showing up that day (if not more!). Think of your plan as a strategy to achieve a return on your investment of time and money into an event. In the end, you will attend an event to network, but also to learn how to do your job better and more efficiently.

Do you make your own plan before attending industry events? 

Post below.

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The next part in this series will discuss tips to develop a marketing plan before attending an industry event depending on your goal(s).

The ProZ.com community choice awards: Translators Anonymous 4

The first annual ProZ.com community choice awards were hosted earlier this year, with site users selecting the most influential language professionals who are active in various media throughout the industry. Nominations were separated into two main categories, translation-related and interpretation-related, and included sub-categories like conference speaker, website, Twitter account, and mentor, to name a few.

You can see the full list of sub-categories and their winners here: http://www.proz.com/community-choice-awards

In this interview series, ProZ.com will feature a few of the outstanding linguists who were recently announced as the winners of the 2013 community choice awards.

Translators Anonymous

The co-admins of Translators Anonymous are two translators who anonymously share via their blog “the everyday neuroses of translating.” The pair received the most votes in the “Best Translation Blog” category.

MK: Your blog is hilarious. How did you two come up with the idea to start a blog?

Admin 1: Why, thank you. About a year ago I somehow stumbled upon Interpretation Is Not Good For You (http://interpretationisnotgoodforyou.tumblr.com/) and nearly didn’t survive from laughing so much. As soon as I could breathe again, I decided there needed to be a translators’ tumblr and asked co-admin if she wanted to run it with me.

Admin 2: I just joined to make sure she wouldn’t get into too much trouble. 

MK: What’s the inspirational process like? Do you see an image that reminds you of a situation, or do you think of a scenario and look for an image to illustrate it? 

Admin 1: Mostly it starts with a situation – something happens at work and I’ll need to vent. Sometimes I know just the gif I want, from a show I watch for example, other times we have to look for the right gif for days or weeks until we find it. It does happen the other way as well; we’ll see a gif and it will be so good that we have to use it somehow. We have a big pile of drafts on tumblr that we work on when inspiration strikes, and our private chat is a complete madhouse (but to be fair, it probably was even before we started the blog). It’s weird, because you’d think we would have run out of stuff to say by now. 

Admin 2:  I also often see a gif that immediately makes me think of a situation, or I might see a gif in a tumblr for another profession, and adapt it to the translation world. We get a lot of suggestions from fans too.

MK: Translators and interpreters generally blog as a marketing strategy but you remain anonymous. Why do you blog anonymously? 

Admin 1: We want to blog about the universal experience of translating for a living, those things we all get every now and then (or can at least imagine), whatever our work situation and language combination. There are people who know who we are, but there are loads more who think they do, and that’s part of the fun for us. 

Admin 2: Being anonymous gives us more freedom as well. We don’t need to impress a client; we just want to laugh at the pains you sometimes go through as a translator.

MK: Can you elaborate on the relationship between you two, the co-admins? Are you co-workers, or just friends who share the same profession? 

Admin 2: We know each other from work and became friends that way.

Admin 1: We are synced to the point it’s scary, as you may have seen on the blog.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/59eadf2006f7dc2380fd0234e185f2ec/tumblr_mw0p0vh4RD1qc01vno2_500.gif

MK: How has the translator community reacted to your blog?

Admin 1: With equal parts paranoia and unadulterated adoration.

MK: What are some blogs that you two follow (translation-related or otherwise)?

Admin 1: I follow a bunch of fandom tumblrs but can also recommend http://interpretelsf.tumblr.com/ which is hilarious.

Admin 2: I read some tumblrs related to other professions, for example http://whenyouworkasasprakkonsult.tumblr.com/ (in Swedish – sort of) and various geek and crafts blogs.

Stay tuned…

You can keep up with this anonymous translation duo by following their blog here: http://translatorsanonymous.tumblr.com/

Stay tuned for upcoming posts featuring winners of the ProZ.com community choice awards.

Thank you to ProZ.com site moderators, class of 2011-2012 1

Like referees in sports, ProZ.com moderators help to ensure fair play by enforcing a specific set of rules in a uniform manner.

The ProZ.com moderator class of 2011-2012 is coming to an end, but before this happens, ProZ.com would like to thank all of those members who have given of their time to help maintain a positive, results-oriented atmosphere on the site. Each person in the class has made valuable contributions to ProZ.com, and some of them even beyond the moderator program.

ProZ.com moderators are volunteer members who have benefited from ProZ.com and have chosen to give something back by playing their part, in turn, in a system put in place to ensure fair play. Their role is to foster and protect the positive, results-oriented atmosphere that makes ProZ.com possible, by:

• Greeting and guiding new participants, and helping them to properly use and benefit from what is available to them at ProZ.com.
• Enforcing site rules in a consistent and structured manner to maintain a constructive environment.

The moderator class of 2011-2012 is certainly a very good example of the role. Thank you mods!

The moderator class of 2012-2013 is scheduled to begin in August. So, if you are a ProZ.com member and would like to volunteer for a one-year term as site moderator, please visit http://www.proz.com/moderators or contact site staff through the support center.

Looking forward to receiving lots of applications!

Lucía

Interview with the creator of Mox’s blog 3

Do you know Mox? He is one of the main characters in Mox’s blog, a blog with hilarious cartoons depicting the life of a not very successful freelance translator. Mox’s blog is a creation by Alejandro Moreno-Ramos, a Certified PRO full-time translator from English & French into Spanish.

This week I interviewed Alejandro to learn more about Mox’s world and to know what the creator of the funniest cartoon about translation ever thinks of his characters and the  popularity they have gained among translators.

Here is the interview with Alejandro:

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1.- How did you come up with the idea of starting a blog combining cartoons and humor depicting the life of a freelance translator?

Excuse me, … humor? Where did you see any humor in my blog? I only depict the real life of a translator. In fact, readers often complain that the translator’s life is far crazier than Mox’s.

I got the idea for the cartoons from my wife. One day I saw her laughing at some silly cartoons related to her profession as a school teacher. In my opinion, the cartoons were kind of boring.
– “That’s not funny”, I told her.
– “But it’s soooo true”, she replied. “You should come up with a comic strip about  translators. Your geeky colleagues would love it.”, she added.
– “But I’m not funny and I can’t draw”, I argued.
– “So what? Just draw stick figures and don’t try to be funny or you’ll definitely mess it up”.

She was right about everything.

2.- Mox’s blog also features other characters who represent the different players in the translation chain? Tell me a little about them, for example, were they all created at the same time? Do you have any favorite characters? Which is the most popular character among Mox’s blog fans?

To be honest, I don’t believe I’ve created any characters. I just discovered them and gave them a voice.

For example, there is Bill, the ignorant direct client who keeps asking for quotes without specifying the number of words, and who expects delivery of a 200-page translation in 24 hours.

I don’t know who’s the most popular character in the blog, but Pam is certainly the one who is most despised. She is a Project Manager at a translation agency. She’s as evil as you can imagine, and enjoys inventing new techniques for turning freelance translators into slave labor.

By the way, did you know that there is a secret worldwide plot to destroy the translation sector and condemn translators to a life of misery? Few people know about this. “Mefisto” is their leader and these people are the evil force behind nightmares such as Google Translate.

My personal hero is Calvo, the senior translator who once was a young, naive translator, but who woke up to the real world and turned to the dark side when he discovered that a translation agency charged their clients 20 times more than they paid him. I wish I were more like Calvo and less like Mox.

3.-  What is the general reaction from your readers and why do you think they like your blog so much?

Freelance translation is a great profession but it can have its drawbacks. One of them is the lack of personal contact. How can you complain about or criticize your customers/coworkers/suppliers if you don’t speak to anyone during the day? Examples of this can be seen on ProZ.com forums, where translators are often just looking for some empathy or a means of unburdening themselves.

Mox has proved to be a good companion for translators. The feeling that many express when they visit the blog for the first time is “I’m not alone!”.

4.- Mox also has a book now. What will readers find in this book, how long did you work on it and how has the experience been for you so far? 

Basically, readers have to pay EUR 19.95 for a book which contains what is already available for free on the blog.

No, seriously, I’ve spent months of my life working on this book. Most of the content is previously unpublished, there are more than 100 new cartoons. Also, I tricked the, in my opinion, 13 best translator bloggers to each write an article for the book. These articles are truly amazing and, I believe, the best part of the book.

The feedback has been very good and Mox’s Illustrated Guide to Freelance Translation has become a popular Christmas gift. Also, something that makes me especially proud, a number of university professors have contacted me because they want to use Mox’s book on their translation courses to prepare students for “real life”.

5.- What are your plans for the future? Would you like to become a full-time cartoonist?

A full-time cartoonist? I am not sure about that… I already struggle to explain to people that I do have a job, that freelance translation is a real and noble profession.

In any case, I’ll give you an exclusive right here. So far, sales of the book have been so good that I’m already planning a new Mox book, which is due to come out at the end of 2012.

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For those who have never enjoyed Mox’s cartoons before here is an exclusive for Translator T.O. blog:

click on the image to enlarge

Mox’ book can also be found on ProZ.com books section.

You can follow Mox on Twitter @Mox_Translator and on Facebook.

For feedback and suggestions you can contact me at romina at proz.com.

Best wishes to all!

Romina

Podcast: Interview with Pablo Muñoz Sánchez on software and video game localization 3

Here’s a new ProZ.com podcast. These podcasts are designed to provide an opportunity to hear the week’s news, highlights of site features, interviews with translators and others in the industry, and to have some fun (see announcement).

Last week the 4th International Media for All Conference – Audiovisual Translation: Taking Stock was held in London so I interviewed ProZ.com member Pablo Muñoz Sánchez to talk about this event and to learn more about his experience as a translator specializing in software and video game localization.

In this interview Pablo explains the benefits of specializing and how he decided on his areas of specialization. He talks about current trends in the video game localization industry such as fansub and audio description. After describing the current scenario for translators working on software and video game localization, Pablo provides some advice for those aspiring translators willing to specialize in video game and software localization. 

You can listen to the interview in English here and in Spanish here.

I hope you enjoy this interview. You can read more about Pablo’s thoughts and comments on software and video game localization in his blog in Spanish “Algo más que traducir“.

Feedback and comments are welcome. You can reach me at romina at proz.com or via Twitter @ProZcom .

To listen to previous podcasts, check the podcasts tab in this blog.

Stay tuned for next Friday’s podcast.

Romina

10 strategies to expand your translation business: Part 7 Reply

This is the seventh post in the ten-part series providing information on ten different strategies for staying competitive and growing your translation business.

Seventh strategy: Social networking

Online social networks are an excellent way to meet colleagues and keep in touch with them. They are also a great means to share industry news.

Language professionals should try social and professional networks such as Twitter and LinkedIn. These networks allow users to reach a wider market while promoting services and networking, if used as resources to set up a global business presence.

Many translation professionals have an active presence in these communities, with profiles reflecting their services, and share articles or news of interest to translators, promote their services or special discounts or surcharges, help promote translator events, and even pass jobs.

Translator blogs are also an interesting and creative option for networking, staying informed and advertising.

How can I meet colleagues in social networks through ProZ.com?

In ProZ.com Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter groups, professional translators can meet colleagues, highlight participation in industry specific discussions, share links to jobs or interesting articles, find clients and peers, and provide information on services offered, etc.

Join ProZ.com groups in social networks and start networking!

What other social networks do you know or use? Have they helped you to meet colleagues?

Next post in this series: Building an online presence. Check the blog in the next few days to learn more.