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Localization World 2004, San Francisco – a freelancer’s conference reportFreelance translator, Martin Wunderlich gives us a review of the Localization World conference in San FranciscoOriginally published in March 2005 issue of Localisation Focus. To learn more about Localisation Focus, click here.If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to bring your notebook computer and business cards. From the 15th to the 17th of November the former city of love became the city of localisation and played host to Localization World, an industry conference jointly organised by the Localization Institute and Multilingual Computing. The Programme This was the third Localization World conference, following previous events in Bonn and Seattle. The conference lasted for three days and focused on medical devices, as a specialist field in localisation, and on Asia as a region. Monday began with pre-conference workshops, of which the one on translation automation attracted me most (being a freelance translator) and so I went there to familiarise myself with the latest developments in machine translation. The conference was organised according to six tracks to suit different interests and to make orientation easier. The resulting schedule was busy enough, boasting 3 sessions running in parallel at any given time. The six tracks were business, automation, industries, process, standards, and geographies. Three further categories (Perspectives, Point- Counterpoint, Praxis) gave an indication as to the form of the content. Day one of the conference itself kicked off with the keynote address, followed by a plethora of interesting sessions. The morning, for instance, offered a presentation on the launch of wireless internet access on aeroplanes and the localisation work involved in the project. In the afternoon there were talks on convergence and standards - another hot topic in the industry. A presentation on machine translation reassured me that translators will keep their jobs for another few decades. The second day was equally packed with interesting presentations and discussions. From the sessions I attended, on fighting commoditisation, the convergence of localisation and knowledge management, virtual teams, and localising computer games, I can say that my high expectations were fully met. The People So, who does and who should attend Localization World? According to the organisers, the event is aimed at “executives responsible for international marketing, product management, customer relationships and content management. Webmasters and content editors … translation and localization professionals”. However, the majority of the attendees seemed to be vendors, i.e. representatives of localisation and translation companies. Second in line (and visibility) were tools’ providers (the usual TM suppliers, but also from related industries, such as content management and authoring). Strangely enough, I have been told that I was the only representative of the freelance side of the business to attend the conference. Perhaps the cost is seen as prohibitive. However, the networking opportunities were amazing and, being the one freelancer in attendance made me stand out and gave me great visibility – even without a booth. One group that hardly seemed to be present were the buyers of localisation services. Few companies and corporations used the event to actually shop around for vendor services. The Setting The conference took place in a four-star hotel, right around the corner from Union Square. During lunch breaks the attendees not only enjoyed the food, but also the great view from the 25th floor. Lunch, coffee breaks and a reception the evening before the conference began presented further excellent opportunities for networking. The highlight, however, was a dinner held in a location that resembled a former factory hall, converted into a gallery/atrium. The setting was well chosen and with regards to the weather – it never rained. The Verdict As I am not much of a conference goer I cannot compare this conference to others. However, I was impressed with the effort that was put into the organisation. Everything went smoothly and was well planned. The high profile of the presenters and attendees, as well as the companies represented, attest to a high focus on quality that sets an example to others involved in the industry. Nevertheless, I feel that I must mention that I noticed quite a discrepancy between the sophisticated concepts and technologies and my everyday work. My impression was that a great deal of effort is invested in developing technologies (and creating buzzwords and the ubiquitous acronyms in L10N), but very little effort seems to go into implementing these technologies. Despite all the talk of automation, a large part of the job is still manual and requires human input during the entire process. The underlying reason might be that, on the one hand there is much discussion about convergence—as there was at this conference—but on the other hand everyone’s concept of convergence appears to be purely individual and there seems to be no consensus on what convergence actually involves. It is clear that standardisation, perhaps combined with open source tools, will bring us nearer to convergence. Thanks to the organisers and participants, the Localization World conference was an impressive event that offered attendees the opportunity to gain further insight into our rapidly growing industry. The next conference will take place in Bonn, Germany, from 31 May to 2 June. (For further information see www.localizationworld.com). Martin Wunderlich is a freelance translator (En<>De), specialising in technical material, IT and localisation. He can be reached via: www.martin.wunderlich.com
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