ProZ.com Newsletter: November 2006

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The Translation Workplace Jobs | Kudoz | Go to site --------------------- ProZ.com Newsletter --------------------- Your ProZ.com username: (See bottom for more details related to your ProZ.com account) Promote yourself - become a member! Join now: http://www.proz.com/join (1) Edinburgh conference: Comments from attendees (2) Next conference: Budapest, 29-30 April (3) Please update your profile with the 'quick profile updater' (4) Accomplishments year-to-date / 2006 (5) Membership campaign: "Join, connect, succeed" (6) New feature: Tracking of Blue Board records (7) Upcoming powwows: Montevideo, São Vicente, Venice... (8) Today's poll: Any regrets in becoming a translator? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1) Attendee comments from the Edinburgh conference ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Participants are raving about the recent conference in Edinburgh, organized by members Rebekka Gross and Katharina Wawrzon, which attracted a capacity crowd of approximately 150. Here is what some who experienced it had to say: "The atmosphere was charged with all the excitement of translators from all over the world getting a chance to put a face to each other after so much virtual contact: loads of lively debate, stimulating people and general buzziness." - Sarah Adams, Keynote speaker and winner of Marsh Award for 2005 "Well worth flying across the pond. The spirit, the content (diversity of offered sessions from translating Tolstoy to CAT tools), the camaraderie, high level of professionalism and dedication to our profession, the organizers did their best to make us feel great (they seem to have special connections as they even arranged great weather on the day before the conference, when we were sightseeing) ... Kudoz!!!!" - P. Elana Pick (protolmach), United States "The best business trip I've ever been on." - Drew MacFadyen, ProZ.com "Energizing. Not only did I learn much more than I dared to hope, I enjoyed myself more than I ever thought possible! Met so many great people and am even more motivated and enthused about my profession than I was before the conference! Kudos ;)" - Allison Klein, Netherlands "The atmosphere of the conference was warm and stimulating. We made new friends in every corner, and the audience for my presentation/workshop was remarkable. Everyone seemed well-informed, committed and eager to participate. I thought the questions and comments (all of them pointed and sensible) would never end." - Professor Anthony Briggs, speaker and translator of Tolstoy's War and Peace for Penguin Classics. "I've attended many conferences and translator events, but I can honestly say that I haven't enjoyed any of them as much as this, my first ProZ conference." - Heidi Kerschl, United Kingdom "Inspiring." - Fredrik Vrang, Sweden Congratulations, and thank you, Rebekka and Katharina--and all participants and speakers--for this memorable event! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (2) Next conference: Budapest, 29-30 April ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next ProZ.com conference is scheduled for Budapest, Hungary, on April 29-30. Member/moderator Csaba Ban is the organizer. Themes will include "Translation technology and techniques", "Freelancer marketing" and "Supply chain: end clients, outsourcers, freelancers". There will also be industry and niche-specific workshops, as well as several networking and social activities in beautiful Budapest. Preliminary details are posted here: http://www.proz.com/powwow/859 Mats Wiman writes: "We have booked Stockholm/Skavsta-Budapest with Wizzair on the above dates for approx. EUR 80/person. Wizzair has many destinations, see http://wizzair.com We (Me, Sylvia, Anna (18) and Carl (16)) will stay in an apartment a stone's throw away from the hotel, costing us EUR 350 for NINE days. See http://www.homelidays.com/EN-Holidays-Rental/100_Home/Home.asp? with 10 forms of lodging, so bring your family and/friends, rent an apartment and enjoy spring in Budapest." To stay informed of developments related to the Budapest conference, add your name to the list at http://www.proz.com/powwow/859 For other information related to the conference, see the forum threads on the following topics: * Program: http://www.proz.com/topic/60698 * Travel: http://www.proz.com/topic/60692 * Accommodations: http://www.proz.com/topic/60688 * Fun: http://www.proz.com/topic/60706 Advertisement ------------------------------------ Introducing Wordfast 5.5 - Easy, open, powerful. Translation Memory has never been this fast. Wordfast 5.5 offers a transparent, open format for all its data and maintains compatibility most CAT tools. Learn more at http://www.wordfast.com ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (3) Please update your profile with the 'quick profile updater' (You have not yet done so.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the keys to getting the most out of ProZ.com is having a complete profile. Even if you are not looking for clients right now, and not actively quoting on jobs, etc., completing your profile at the soonest possible date is a good idea. Here are some reasons why: * Having a complete profile is as important in KudoZ as it is in meeting new clients. Colleagues consider your background when considering your suggestions. Telling people what experiences you have had helps them to do their work! * Having a complete profile helps other ProZ.com members to meet new clients. How? We are marketing member services to premium clients, and a very important consideration for them is the completeness of information in profiles. Potential clients can understand that many members are not available now... but they are not receptive to incomplete data. The outstanding response to our call for members to complete their profiles, whether they were looking for clients or not, helped us to sign up several desirable clients. These clients have since found translators via ProZ.com. * Search engines index your profile. When you fill your profile with lots of information about your skills and experience, this information gets recorded by Google, Yahoo, etc. Then, when someone searches for keyword sequences that include the words in your profile (for example, "czech french translator pedagogy"), your profile may come up as a result, leading to potential clients contacting you directly. The thing is, this is not something that happens instantly; the search engines will visit your profile only once every few months (for members, less frequently for non-members). So it is in your interest to complete your profile in advance of the time you would like to meet new clients. Hopefully this is reason enough to update your profile! With the new "quick profile updater", making sure your profile is complete and up to date should take around 20 minutes. It doesn't cost anything, and is likely to be time well spent, so please do so now! http://www.proz.com/quick_profile Note: if you have no intention of ever completing a profile, please visit the page and let us know so that we will know not to remind you in the future. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (4) Annual report to members: Accomplishments year-to-date / 2006 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A report to members was recently published on the ProZ.com community's accomplishments in 2006. See: http://www.proz.com/topic/58926 Among the new activities this year were the announcement of two major new projects: (1) Wikiwords.org (a project to create an open dictionary of all terms in all languages) and (2) Project Connect -- a comprehensive program to actively market member services to the world's top language companies and end clients. A new category of job posting called "premium jobs" resulted from Project Connect, and a number of members have established new relationships with highly desirable clients. See http://www.proz.com/topic/55664 for details on premium job posts. Also among the accomplishments were localization of the site texts (thanks, volunteers!), significant growth in traffic and membership, feature improvements throughout the site, and much more. Many additional improvements are planned for 2007, particularly in the areas of increased marketing of member services to desirable clients, improvements to KudoZ and KudoZ search. The report includes a section expressing appreciation to members who made suggestions or provided feedback that impacted site development and activities in 2006. For the full report on accomplishments, see: http://www.proz.com/topic/58926 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (5) Membership campaign underway: "Join, connect, succeed" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A year-end membership campaign is currently underway, with the theme "Join, connect, succeed." The goal of this campaign is to encourage active site users who are not yet members to become full participants in the community in advance of 2007. A number of incentives are provided for those who choose to do so. Not yet a member? If you use ProZ.com regularly but are not yet a member of ProZ.com, please consider the details of this campaign, as it represents the ideal time to join. If you are not familiar with the benefits of membership (such as meeting new clients at four times the rate of non-members, full access to all site features including the Blue Board, etc.), please review the benefits listed on the campaign page. Or simply ask a member about her/his experience. Some comments from members are posted here: http://www.proz.com/testimonials In addition to the incentives and timing of the campaign -- ie. those who join during the campaign enjoy an extended membership period that includes all of 2007 -- one factor to consider is that this campaign provides the last chance to become a member before pricing is adjusted at the end of the year. (USD and renewal fees will rise slightly after the campaign -- for the first time in five years.) Already a member? If you are already a member, we invite you to pass along word to colleagues whose work you know and respect. In a recent survey, 92.9% of you reported that you would recommend ProZ.com membership to colleagues. But many of you also reported that you had not yet found occasion to do so. Therefore, please consider taking this opportunity to share your experience as a member with a friend. Remember, with each new member, we become more effective as a group--in helping each other, in attracting clients, and in redefining the industry. So spread the word! You may also wish to take this opportunity to pay for your next year of membership. No matter when you renew, a year is added at the end of your current subscription period. Renewing during the campaign qualifies you for the incentives of the campaign (save on settlement fees, get a chance to win one of the prizes), and it also enables you to renew (for one year or more) at the current low rate. The campaign ends Friday, December 15. See: http://www.proz.com/offers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (6) New feature: Tracking of Blue Board records ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new (members only) feature has been released for tracking Blue Board records. With this, it is possible to track records so that you will be notified via email whenever a new entry is made. To get started tracking Blue Board records, simply click the 'Track outsourcer' link in the options box located in the top right hand corner of the record you wish to track. Advertisement ------------------------------------ *WordFinder Webinars* are free Internet seminars that help you evaluate our products and gain the most from your tools. The 30-min webinars are hosted by the tools' creators. Register for Dec 12 and Jan 17 webinars at: http://www.wordfinder.com/webshop/com.asp?country=com&hid=1300541 HOLIDAY Special - ProZ.com members receive 20% off! ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (7) Upcoming powwows: Montevideo, São Vicente, Venice, Edinburgh, Leeds, Washington DC, Geneva, etc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Powwows are free, informal meetings among ProZ.com members in any given area. Member Pierre Gehenne reports from a recent powwow in Lille, France: "Le 18 novembre, nous avons eu l'occasion de nosu retrouver pour débattre des mérites comparés de Trados et Wordfast. Come vous pouvez le voir sur les photos, l'ambiance était (très) studieuse ! L'occasion nous a été donné de partager nos expériences entre freelancers et étudiants en master de traduction. Merci à tous les participants, en particulier à celles et ceux qui ont fait une longue route pour nous rejoindre. Un merci particulier à Véronique qui a su nous présenter un exposé concis mais complet de Trados. Pardon à Isabelle pour le manque de temps qui nous a empêché de profiter pleinement de sa présentation de Wordfast. Merci aussi à Vitaliy pour nous avoir trouvé cette salle agréable. Bon, j'arrête ici les remerciements, cela commence à ressembler à la cérémonie des Césars ! Je crois que l'expérience a été agréable pour tous les participants, professionnels actifs comme en devenir. La preuve, nous sommes promis de donner suite à cette sympathique rencontre car il reste encore beaucoup de sujets à aborder, tant sur le plan technique qu'organisationnel. Si une rencontre avec des collègues vous intéresse, dans une atmosphère détendue (n'oublions pas que c'est ch'Nord, ici et que les gens ont dans le coeur, patati, patata...). A bientôt." See the pictures here: http://www.proz.com/?sp=event/powwow_reports_view&powwow_id=1046 Many more powwows are scheduled for the coming weeks and months. Looks for one in your area - or set one up yourself! Powwows scheduled for the next two months: December 1: Montevideo, Uruguay (73 members) http://proz.com/pw/1008 2: São Vicente, Brazil (18) http://proz.com/pw/990 3: Venice, Italy (35) http://proz.com/pw/988 6: Edinburgh, UK (11) http://proz.com/pw/1024 7: Leeds, UK (21) http://proz.com/pw/1060 9: Washington DC, US (14) http://proz.com/pw/1052 9: Geneva, Switzerland (10) http://proz.com/pw/1050 9: Groningen, Nether. (6) http://proz.com/pw/1086 11: Montreal (20) http://proz.com/pw/1068 13: Moscow (36) http://proz.com/pw/881 14: Prague (12) http://proz.com/pw/1074 15: Munich (8) http://proz.com/pw/1064 16: Serra da Es..., Portugal (20) http://proz.com/pw/1056 16: Haltern am See, Germany (6) http://proz.com/pw/1026 16: London (15) http://proz.com/pw/1082 21: Tel-Aviv, Israel (30) http://proz.com/pw/1084 23: Bangkok (11) http://proz.com/pw/1062 January 4: Cairo (11) http://proz.com/pw/998 5: York, UK (3) http://proz.com/pw/1101 6: Budapest (5) http://proz.com/pw/1094 13: Breda, Nether. (14) http://proz.com/pw/1036 19: Lisboa (8) http://proz.com/pw/1076 20: Bordeaux (6) http://proz.com/pw/1090 20: Cancun, Mexico (3) http://proz.com/pw/1099 21: Palermo, Italy (2) http://proz.com/pw/1095 24: Edinburgh (1) http://proz.com/pw/1066 25: Ibiza, Spain (4) http://proz.com/pw/1004 27: Wroclaw, Poland (11) http://proz.com/pw/1097 27: Milano (1) http://proz.com/pw/1102 To see more powwows, or to post a powwow in your area, go to: http://www.proz.com/powwows Or, enter a support ticket - http://www.proz.com/support - and staff member Romina will walk you through the (simple) process of picking a venue, setting a date, and posting the information to the powwow area of the site. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (8) Today's poll: Any regrets in becoming a translator? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you follow the quick polls, which rotate on ProZ.com every day or so? Today's poll question, put forward by member KPonnan, asks: "Any regrets in becoming a translator?" Read and participate in the discussion that follows here: http://www.proz.com/topic/60644 - - - - - - - - - - - Your username: Membership status: Registered user KudoZ: BrowniZ: Wallet balance: $0.10 Your profile: http://www.proz.com/profile/0 - - - - - - - - - - - Forgotten password? http://proz.com/?sp=new_password ================================================================= You are receiving this email message because you signed up for email notifications of this type in your ProZ.com email preferences. To unsubscribe from ProZ.com email notifications, go to this page: https://www.proz.com/unsubscribe If you have trouble adjusting your email preferences, please submit a support request: https://www.proz.com/support Do not reply to this message; your reply will not be read. ProZ.com 2509 James Street P.O. Box 323 Syracuse, NY 13206-9277 USA+1 (315) 463-7323 Copyright © 1999-2010 ProZ.com - All rights reserved.