ProZ.com Newsletter: June 2008

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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) Welcome, new members! (2) Sharing - the way to succeed (3) Conference in Córdoba, Argentina on 16 August (4) Conference in Montevideo, 23-24 August (5) Conference in Santiago, 30 August (6) Conference in Bologna, Italy on 17 and 18 October (7) Conference in Barcelona on 25 October (8) Contest #7 ("Sports") - last chance to pick the winners (9) Free file storage of TMs / glossaries for members (10) Outsourcers: Connect more quickly with your own translators (11) Do you charge extra for weekend jobs? (12) Upcoming powwows: Montreal, Nîmes, Warszawa, New York... (13) Poll: Use of client feedback ("WWA") on the increase (14) ProZ.com now the leading source for translator training ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1) Welcome, new members! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On behalf of the community, we on the site staff would like to extend a warm welcome to the many translators around the world who accepted the invitation of the "mid-year" campaign to join as full paying members of the ProZ.com community. In the early days of the site, fewer than ten percent of site users were paying member of the community. This meant that one person was subsidizing use of the site for nine others. In contrast, today nearly half of logged in visitors are members... and in forums, job postings, etc., the percentage of participants who are members is even higher. This has made it much easier to invest in promotion and development, and as a result, more clients visit the site, more offline events and activities are organized, servers are state-of-the-art and support and development are quicker and more comprehensive. The benefits of all of this are directed first and foremost to members, in appreciation of their having made it all possible. This makes it a great investment and explains the high satisfaction rate and return on investment among members. New members, as you collaborate with each other to mutual advantage, and as you network and market your services in the community, we on the site staff look forward to further supporting you in line with our mission to "provide tools and opportunities for you to network, expand your business, do better work and have more fun". Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help you and the rest of the community get more out of your investment in ProZ.com membership. Please use the online support system to contact us with requests or ideas: http://www.proz.com/support Advertisement ------------------------------------ Wordfast is pleased to offer WFServer, a full-fledged TM Server that runs on any Windows machine connected to the internet. WFServer enables LSPs, corporations and linguistic teams to reduce translation costs and speed time to market by sharing Translation Memories in real-time over the internet. For more information on WFServer or to receive a free demo version, please email [email protected]. ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (2) Sharing - the way to succeed ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have been in the industry for a while, you may remember the days when translation tended to be a solitary pursuit. A recent exchange shows just how interconnected we have become... Member Eleni Makantani, writing from Greece, shared a tip in the ProZ.com forums earlier this month on how to toggle a block of text from uppercase to lowercase, or to first-letter caps. In addition to eliciting a host of enthusiastic thank you's, Eleni's post prompted others to share useful tips of their own. See: http://www.proz.com/topic/107851 Eleni's source for the tip was Corinne McKay's "Thoughts On Translation" blog: http://thoughtsontranslation.com This is a great blog, so check it out. ( While you are there, be sure to read Corinne's description of her treadmill desk! http://thoughtsontranslation.com/2008/05/07/a-hamster-wheel-with-e-mail-the-treadmill-desk ) This is the kind of sharing that is happening all over the web today, and it is great, because when translators take the time to share tips, we all get ahead. So thanks, Eleni, Corinne, Jamie, and everyone else who joined in with tips, for being "sharers". The future belongs to those who collaborate! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (3) Conference in Córdoba, Argentina on 16 August ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A one-day ProZ.com event will be held on 16 August in Córdoba, Argentina. Speakers include Claudia Aguirre, Manuel Ramiro Valderrama and Xosé Castro Roig. Over 100 ProZ.com translators will be in attendance. A student discount is available. For details, and to register, see: http://www.proz.com/conference/37 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (4) Conference in Montevideo, 23-24 August ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A ProZ.com conference will be held 23-24 August in Montevideo, Uruguay. The theme is "Construyendo puentes hacia el mundo", or "Building bridges to the world". Organizer Fabio Descalzi's 2-day program is packed with great content from 16 speakers. Over 100 ProZ.com translators, from 10 countries, have already registered. A student discount is available. For details, and to register, see: http://www.proz.com/conference/23 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (5) Conference in Santiago, 30 August ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A one-day ProZ.com conference will be held on 30 August in Santiago, Chile. The venue is the Auditorio de la Facultad de Letras de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. For a list of speakers, sponsors, participants and vendors, see http://www.proz.com/conference/46 Nearly 60 translators have registered so far. A student discount is available. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (6) Conference in Bologna, Italy on 17 and 18 October ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A ProZ.com conference will be held in October in Bologna, Italy. Organizer Bruno Ciola has lined up a series of presentations from nine speakers for Friday the 17th. On Saturday, there will be three workshops. (Two are already full.) Register now, for either or both days, to reserve your spot. 125 ProZians are already scheduled to attend and space is limited. See: http://www.proz.com/conference/58 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (7) Conference in Barcelona on 25 October ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A ProZ.com conference will be held on Saturday, 25 October at the Hotel Cataluña Duques de Bergara in Barcelona. This will be the first ProZ.com conference ever held in Spain. Organizer Patricia de Gispert will be joined on the one-day program--a "celebration of the Spanish language"--by Amparo Alcina, Manuel Ramiro Valderrama and Xosé Castro Roig. Register now to reserve your spot at the early bird price. 112 ProZians are already scheduled to attend, and space is limited. See: http://www.proz.com/conference/49 Advertisement ------------------------------------ Sharing your files, even large ones, with your clients and colleagues is easy and safe thanks to Memopal, the online backup and sharing service for translators. Thanks to Memopal, you can access your data when and how you wish. Try it for free! http://www.memopal.com/en/translators.htm?ref=proz_nwsl2 ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (8) Contest #7 ("Sports") - last chance to help pick the winners ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Final round voting is now underway in ProZ.com's 7th translation contest. The theme is "Sports". Site users are invited to help select the winners, for announcement Tuesday. To review submissions and cast your vote, go to: http://www.proz.com/contests Notable in this round were improvements to the qualification process, which seems to have helped ensure that the top entries make it to the finals. Also, reviewers are now able to post "like" and "dislike" tags, as a means of providing useful feedback to contestants. The next round of the contest will be the community's first "annual" contest. (The first 7 contests will be regarded as "quarterly" ones.). A number of prizes will be featured in the annual contest including a trip to a ProZ.com conference for one of the winners. To be notified when the next contests opens, be sure to subscribe to notifications from the main contest page: http://www.proz.com/contests Advertisement ------------------------------------ SDL Trados is pleased to announce the re-launch of Translationzone.com - the one-stop site dedicated to freelance translators. Key site improvements include: new homepage, SDL Trados 2007 ROI calculator, resource area for hints and links, new shop and special offer area, and now chat on-line with our team! Visit http://www.translationzone.com today! ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (9) File storage for TMs and glossaries now included with membership ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A new feature has been released to assist in the handling of translation memories, glossaries and other files. This feature provides a way for site members to quickly and securely upload and save a number of files for their own personal use. For now, consider using this as a simple way to back up small to mid-sized linguistic files and make them available to yourself from multiple places. The cost of the service is included in your membership fee. (For a more complete solution, consider the online backup service offered by ProZ.com advertising partner Memopal: http://www.memopal.com ) Later, the ability to selectively grant access to the files to others will be added. This will make it easier for those who share language assets with others at ProZ.com (outsourcers, for example) to organize the work. Select "My files" under the "My ProZ.com" menu item to learn more about this new feature. Advertisement ------------------------------------ Are you ready to switch translation memory tools, but you just don’t know which one is right for you? Save yourself time, money, and headaches with TranslatorsTraining.com. No hype. No bias. Just side-by-side comparisons of all the major translation memory tools. Go to http://www.translatorstraining.com/ProZ.php ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (10) Translation outsourcers: Connect with your own translators more efficiently ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The ProZ.com "Connect" team has been preparing a tool designed to help translation companies outsource work more efficiently to translators with whom they are already working. Now, a beta version of the system is ready for release. Use of the system will be included free with corporate membership. If you are a corporate member interested in testing the system, please send an email to staff member Andre, at 'andre at proz.com' Advertisement ------------------------------------ Introducing MeGlobe – IM with real time language translation! MeGlobe was built to diminish language barriers from online communication. Our free web client will allow you to type in your own language, but sends a translated version, in real time, specific to the native tongue of whomever you are chatting with. Visit us today at http://meglobe.com ! ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (11) Do you charge extra for weekend work? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Many freelance translators don't work weekends. But among those who do, a large number don't charge extra. In fact, in a recent quick poll on the subject, proposed by member LauraDK, a full 71.4% of nearly 2000 respondents said they don't charge extra for jobs that require work over a weekend. Comments: - "I don't... but I should..." said Carla Guerreiro. - "I work best on weekends, less distraction... I can kick back any other day of the week or any time I want." wrote Henry Hinds. - Paul Lambert explained, "...whenever I am asked on a Friday afternoon for a Monday morning delivery, I try to negotiate for Tuesday" What is your opinion? Join the discussion at http://www.proz.com/topic/107788 And by the way, have your rates kept up with inflation? Use the online rates calculator to help determine what you need to charge to earn both "bread and holidays", after costs, over the next year. http://www.proz.com/rates_calculator Advertisement ------------------------------------ Infix PDF Editor - Translate your client's PDF documents directly. Infix offers intuitive tools to enable direct editing of the text in any PDF. Translate and re-write entire stories, reformat, reflow and re-justify to produce perfect looking PDF results. Get the free demo at: http://www.iceni.com/refinfixpn.htm ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (12) Upcoming powwows: Montreal, Nîmes, Warszawa, New York... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Powwows are free, informal gatherings organized by and for translators in a given area. If you have not been to one, consider attending one of the following: July 3: Montreal (19 members) http://proz.com/pw/1916 5: Nîmes, France (10) http://proz.com/pw/1985 5: Warszawa (8) http://proz.com/pw/2048 12: Louisville, US (5) http://proz.com/pw/1771 13: New York City (15) http://proz.com/pw/1963 13: Mariupol, Ukraine (4) http://proz.com/pw/2042 19: Ciudad de México (34) http://proz.com/pw/1964 19: Louisville, US (1) http://proz.com/pw/2024 19: Nottingham, UK (6) http://proz.com/pw/2023 20: Alicante, Spain (7) http://proz.com/pw/2018 26: Tokyo, Japan (10) http://proz.com/pw/2032 27: Vienna, Austria (17) http://proz.com/pw/1991 August 9: Brasilia, Brazil (6) http://proz.com/pw/2017 20: Abu Dhabi, UAE (6) http://proz.com/pw/1975 21: Høybråten..., Norway (20) http://proz.com/pw/1906 30: London (1) http://proz.com/pw/2033 30: Lancaster, PA, US (3) http://proz.com/pw/1988 For more information, to sign up, or to propose a powwow in your area, go to: http://www.proz.com/powwows Advertisement ------------------------------------ Wordfast 5.5 is the industry's most user-friendly Translation Memory tool for Windows, MAC and Linux users. It features real-time Quality Assurance, technical support forums in dozens of languages, and web-based collaboration and TM sharing – all for a fraction of the cost of the competition. For a risk-free trial and free online training videos, please visit http://www.wordfast.com ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (13) Client feedback ("WWA") increasingly used for marketing purposes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today's quick poll suggests that client feedback, obtained via ProZ.com's WWA ("willingness to work again") system, is increasingly being used by translators as an effective marketing tool. Over 9000 ProZ.com translators have now opted to make use of the voluntary WWA feedback system. See: http://www.proz.com/?sp=polls&poll_id=5497&action=results&sp_mode=past If you have not reviewed the possibility of obtaining positive feedback from clients and displaying it in your profile, go to http://www.proz.com/wwa for more information, and usage instructions. Advertisement ------------------------------------ NOBABEL TRANSLATOR - Automatic & Accurate. Industry Standard Input/Output. Easy to Use. Familiar Work Environment. SCRUBBER Cleans Existing TMs. ANALYZER Grades Existing TMs. ENHANCER Increases & Improves Leveraging. AUTOALIGNER Creates TMs. NO RISK - BIG REWARD! Pick What You Need. Pay as You Go. NOW NO CHARGE INITIAL $100 of NOBABEL SERVICES at http://www.nobabel.com ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (14) ProZ.com trainings - now the leading source for translator training ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Did you know that ProZ.com trainings, announced just last year, are now the leading source of training for translators worldwide? In June alone, 15 training sessions are scheduled in 10 countries. Online trainings are also now available. See: http://www.proz.com/translator_training The initial focus of the ProZ.com training facilitation program has been in the area that the greatest need was expressed by members: CAT / TM tools. Going forward, expect to see diversification to field-specific topics, business matters, and other areas. If you are an experienced trainer who would be interested in offering training via ProZ.com, contact Leonardo by email to 'leonardo at ProZ.com'. Advertisement ------------------------------------ Alchemy CATALYST 7.0: Translator Pro - the only translation tool to support software, web content and online help. Specifically designed for translators, Alchemy CATALYST 7.0 Translator Pro offers: 100% visual context, advanced TM (incl. fuzzy), UI changes and metadata, concordance, consistency checkers, compatibility with all industry TMs, TMW, TMX, etc. A 60% discount is available to ProZ.com members: http://www.alchemysoftware.ie/products/proz_offer1.html ------------------------------------ - - - - - - - - - - - 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. 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