Many of us fall into academic-speak when creating technical content, even for an English-only audience. The problems are multiplied by the number of target languages your work is localized into. Would you rather “deploy identified resources throughout the enterprise” or “use existing staff throughout the company?” Some extremely simple exercises and common sense can help you transform your content in order to leverage more existing work and avoid unnecessary expenses when sharing your message with an international, multi-lingual audience.

Preparing content for a global audience, (especially in multi-lingual form) involves 3 main areas: (a) text content and tone, (b) appropriate use of photographs and artwork and (c) flexible, non distracting layout and “containers.”

Whether your message is communicated via Web or Help based files, or paper/PDF based documentation, this presentation will cover the essential skills you and your team need to master.

• Find out how Martha Stewart, infomercials and a few good blogs can help you convey an effective message in as few words as possible.
• Learn how to shift gears to address an international audience while creating content. Surprisingly, this is a skill that you already have; you just need to be reminded to use it.
• Learn the dirty dozen of basic “no no’s” in English to avoid creating ambiguous content that can be translated multiple ways. Discover why English may give you a dozen ways to say something that can only be expressed one or two ways in a target language.
• Learn how to avoid “traffic jams” with text flow in translated, target language web pages or documents. There are hidden format and layout traps that can make matching page breaks to English originals nearly impossible.
• Some web page and document layout designs are just plain bad when it comes to anything beyond English. Found out what they are and how to avoid them.
• Discover how to use “neutral” yet effective images that will support your message and not offend other cultures.

Whether you want to make visually compelling, more effective content for an English-only audience, or have your content optimized for a broad, multi-lingual, global audience, this session is for you!

There is no question that as the immigration of foreign nationals to the US is changing the landscape for product marketing. Over 100 languages are spoken in the US today, with Spanish being the most common language amongst non-native English speakers. Of these 100 languages, there are 11 languages that correspond to populations greater that 500,000 people in the US (ranging from Arabic with 0.6 Million US residents to Spanish with 28 Million residents). Communicating effectively with these consumers, especially the large US Hispanic market, brings the need for effective localization and translation strategies to further increase market opportunities in the US.

John Watkins presents an overview of the evolving demographic trends, especially in the Hispanic community, within this rapidly growing market and highlights effective strategies used to communicate with the target audiences. Real-world examples highlight relevant considerations and effective strategies for translating and localizing content for this market.

Topics include:

• Identifying a growing market through demographics
• Knowing your audience to communicate your message effectively
• Understanding when you must translate your message
• Implementing effective strategies for targeting the non-English speakers

The localization technology landscape is changing rapidly, and the pace seems likely to continue. Customers expect improved productivity as these technologies mature, and LSP’s are counting on technology to help them meet those expectations. But have our processes evolved to take advantage of the new potential? Traditional project management is (at its root) cost-based. In contrast, Bob Donaldson will discuss an approach that focuses on overall throughput, maximizing value per unit of time, addressing client demand for shorter turn times and maintaining margin through increased volume.

Attendees can expect to learn about the five-step continuous improvement process derived from the Theory of Constraints:

1. Identify the constraint (Select the best leverage point)
2. Exploit the constraint (Focus the process to gain maximum leverage at that point)
3. Subordinate everything else to the constraint (often involving counter-intuitive choices at other stages of the process)
4. Elevate the constraint (Invest to increase capacity/leverage, further improving throughput)
5. Evaluate the results (when done successfully, the process constraint will have “moved”)

Each of the above steps will be applied to practical problems in localization project management in the context of emerging technologies.

Translation and Localization are intrinsically pragmatic endeavours. They also require a good deal of human effort that can be aided by technology. Numerous companies have developed solutions to help themselves, then realized that they were onto a good thing, so they have productized their proprietary solutions for more generalized usage. Well-known localization expert Richard Sikes will paint the background and evolution of three such stories, featuring products for visual software localization, translation workflow, and translation business management, and showing how they are used today.

PASSOLO is a leading software technology for visual software localization. Used worldwide to create software products in many languages, PASSOLO is itself available in several languages. Pass Engineering, a wholly owned subsidiary of SDL International, has automated PASSOLO so as to use itself recursively to build alternate language versions.

At Nero, the manufacturer of popular media creation software that is available in many languages, the localization management team sought, and failed to find, a workflow system to connect Nero’s in-house resources and external service providers that met their needs and desired price point. Deciding that this was a market opportunity, Across GmbH was formed to develop the Across Language Server. Still in use at Nero, the Language Server platform is now available as a mainstream linguistic asset management platform that is continually gaining traction in a highly competitive market.

Several years ago, translation service provider Eurotext approached a neighboring company, EDV-Konzepte, to tailor a system that would manage the business side of translation projects. The resulting application, Plunet BusinessManager, and the company formed to develop it, Plunet GmbH, has increasingly taken on a life of its own, becoming a 100% independent company that has learned from the needs of its customers as it has developed the BusinessManager from a proprietary solution for one company to a customizable solution adopted by a wide palette of clients.