ProZ.com Newsletter: January 2007

« return to the newsletter archive

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) Announcing ProZ.com CONNECT! for translation outsourcers (2) Announcing ProZ.com's first translation contest (3) Budapest conference early-bird registration underway (4) Great response to year-end membership campaign (5) Servers upgraded; site faster (6) Prize winners announced - Andrea Torre wins trip to Budapest (7) Site jobs plan posted (in 'Let's improve ProZ.com!' thread) (8) Dusty (Tony M) and team receive EU award for language instr. (9) Site localization moving forward (10) Powwow news: First powwows held in Costa Rica and Uruguay! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (1) Announcing ProZ.com CONNECT! for people who use ProZ.com to find translators ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ProZ.com is proud to announce a new platform for those who use ProZ.com to find translators and interpreters: ProZ.com CONNECT! Developed over the past six months with twenty of the world's top translation outsourcers, ProZ.com CONNECT! features brand new versions of ProZ.com popular job posting and directory search features. These new features provide: * More powerful filtering of candidates * An enhanced ability to access candidates for hard-to-fill requisitions, including those with geographical requirements * A unique, patent-pending interface for greater efficiency in posting jobs, tracking applicants and importing profile data into your company's own systems. * ... and much more! Access to ProZ.com CONNECT! is available, for a fee, to select outsourcers. You must have an excellent Blue Board record, and we ask that you use ProZ.com CONNECT! only for projects in which you will pay rates that are as high or higher than site averages. If you fit this profile, ProZ.com CONNECT! is, without question, the most powerful tool for you to use in finding the world's top translators quickly and efficiently. This platform will save you time, and increase your company's overall productivity and profit. To learn more, see: http://proz.com/connect?_click_=cGZlOmphbl9uZXdzbGV0dGVy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (2) Announcing ProZ.com's first translation contest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A translation contest is currently underway in the ProZ.com forums. Care to try your hand translating this source text into your working languages? Here is a bit of the source text: "When she moved into his tiny house in Stroud, and took charge of his four small children, Mother was thirty and still quite handsome. She had not, I suppose, met anyone like him before. This rather priggish young man, with his devout gentility..." Although informal contests have been organized among members previously, this is ProZ.com's first "official" translation contest. Winners will be decided by voting among peers. The subject matter is literary this time, and translation into English is not possible... but future contests will be different, so everyone who wants to, will have a chance to participate. There are no prizes - this is just for fun! For more details, see the announcement at http://www.proz.com/topic/64642 To see the full source text, and to submit your entry, go to the thread or threads below of the language(s) into which you wish to translate. Albanian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64676 Arabic - http://www.proz.com/topic/64686 Bosnian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64690 Bulgarian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64662 Catalan - http://www.proz.com/topic/64692 Chinese - http://www.proz.com/topic/64666 Croatian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64688 Czech - http://www.proz.com/topic/64706 Danish - http://www.proz.com/topic/64680 Dutch - http://www.proz.com/topic/64670 Finnish - http://www.proz.com/topic/64700 French - http://www.proz.com/topic/64652 Georgian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64698 German - http://www.proz.com/topic/64696 Greek - http://www.proz.com/topic/64656 Hungarian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64674 Italian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64654 Japanese - http://www.proz.com/topic/64678 Latvian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64702 Lithuanian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64694 Norwegian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64682 Polish - http://www.proz.com/topic/64668 Portuguese - http://www.proz.com/topic/64658 Romanian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64672 Russian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64660 Serbian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64704 Spanish - http://www.proz.com/topic/64650 Swedish - http://www.proz.com/topic/64684 Turkish - http://www.proz.com/topic/64664 Ukrainian - http://www.proz.com/topic/64648 Note: The languages listed are the languages in which a dedicated ProZ.com forum already exists. If you would like to see additional forums added, please let us know via the online support system: http://www.proz.com/support If sufficient interest exists, we will create a new forum. Good luck! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (3) Budapest conference early-bird registration underway ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ProZ.com's 5th International Conference is scheduled for April 28 to May 1 in Budapest, Hungary (29-30 April being the core days, and the other days being left for optional pre- and post-conference trainings in TRADOS and Deja Vu). Like previous ProZ.com conferences, this event will provide translators and interpreters with an affordable and enjoyable opportunity to network and learn, in an casual environment and an exciting city. This year's conference, being organized by long-standing member and moderator Csaba Ban, has three main themes: * Translation technology and techniques * Freelancer marketing * Supply chain: end clients, outsourcers, freelancers All translators and interpreters, as well as project managers and others in the industry, member or not, are invited to attend. An ATA exam will be administered in conjunction with the event and ATA continuing education points will be awarded. For more information, including a list of sessions, speakers, and the fifty or so members who are already slated to attend, see the conference page: http://www.proz.com/conference/10 For information about Budapest, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest Here's to fun and mutual learning in Budapest! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (4) Great response to year-end campaign; new members join from 78 countries ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The response to the 2006 year-end membership campaign, which featured the theme "Join, connect, succeed!", was very strong. As a community, we welcomed new members from a remarkable 78 countries. A sampling of comments made by new members upon joining: - "Happy to be part of the growing ProZ community!" - "I was impressed by recent improvements..." - "Oof! Finally joined the team, look forward to meeting you all!" - "I'm glad to be part of this international [translation] community." - "I wish everybody good luck and many fruitful contracts in 2007!" Already, some who joined in the year-end campaign are reporting that membership is paying off. Philippe Etienne, who upon joining explained that he was "Testing how effective an actual membership may be", had some good news to report in the forums a few weeks later: he had met a new client. This prompted two others to comment on their own results with membership, writing "within the first month of being a full member I got my first (regular, as it turned out later) customer" (Joanna Borowska) and "Since I joined in June, I have had about two new contacts per month, of which about 75% have turned into at least one job. I like the increased traffic I've been seeing." (Darin Fitzpatrick). Congratulations and welcome, new members! Advertisement ------------------------------------ Join ProZ.com - the world's leading translator community - today, and maximize your success in 2007. http://www.proz.com/join ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (5) Servers upgraded; site faster for KudoZ searches, and overall ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As some of you already know, part of the income from our year-end campaign was earmarked for improving the speed of the KudoZ archive search tool. (With the database growing and the search tool being used much more than it had a been a year ago, the speed at which results were returned had dropped.) We are happy to report that the planned upgrade was in fact completed at the end of December, resulting not only in faster KudoZ search speeds, but in improved responsiveness of all areas of the site. Thank you, members, for making this possible for all. Also, staff member Justin deserves credit for carrying out the upgrade. 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 with most CAT tools. Learn more at http://www.wordfast.com ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (6) Prize winners announced - Andrea Torre wins trip to Budapest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A number of prizes were awarded as part of the year-end membership campaign. The winners were: * First prize: Andrea Torre from Cantabria, Spain won a free expenses-paid trip to the 5th ProZ.com International Conference in Budapest in April. * Second prize: Myriam S from Cordoba, Argentina, won a new laptop valued at over 1000 USD. * Third prize: Alexander Matsyuk from the Ukraine won a free CAT tool from SDL Trados. As a condition for winning these prizes, members were asked to make sure their profiles were complete, using the new profile updater at http://www.proz.com/quick_profile If you would like to be eligible for future giveaways, and more importantly to help ensure you are getting the most out of ProZ.com, please make sure your profile is as complete as possible using the page now. Extend your congratulations to the winners, if you like, here: http://www.proz.com/topic/62972 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (7) From the 'Let's improve ProZ.com!' thread - site jobs plan published ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Previously, we asked for feedback on site direction from members of the community in a thread entitled "Let's improve ProZ.com!" Many members posted to this thread, and as a result of the exercise, the decision was made by site staff members to modify and, experimentally, make public documents that outline future plans for various areas of the site. The first of eight plans, focusing on "matching" systems (ie. job postings, directory search, etc.), was recently published. You are invited to read it at http://www.proz.com/doc/956 If you would like to respond to it with suggestions or feedback, please do so for now via the online support system at http://www.proz.com/support In addition to the series of plans, specific feedback will be posted by a staff member for each suggestion made in the "Let's improve ProZ.com!" thread. Thanks again to all those who have chosen to participate in the joint process of steering our workplace and community! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (8) Member Dusty (Tony M) part of team awarded a European 'Label' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Member Dusty (Tony M) recently passed along the following good news: "France, dateline 28 January 2006 Translation colleague Tony 'Dusty' is part of an English-French collaboration initiative with a local catering college in the French Limousin region, which has just been awarded a European "Label" — in the top 3 of only 20 to be awarded in France this year. English ex-pats are being recruited as volunteers to help teach English to catering students and staff as part of an 'open up to Europe' drive --- not at all bad for a sleepy little provincial French town! A lot of official interest is being shown in this project, and Tony has been deeply involved in the behind-the-scenes planning and design work. The award ceremony took place in Rennes on 13th December, where Tony was part of the team giving a presentation of the project." Congratulations, Tony! Others have commented here: http://www.proz.com/topic/61138 For more information on European Labels ("awarded to local, regional, or national projects that have found creative ways to improve the quality of language teaching, motivate students, make the best of available resources to diversify the language offer, etc."), go to: http://ec.europa.eu/education/language/label/ Advertisement ------------------------------------ Save on SDL TRADOS MultiTerm Extract Freelance! A group buying round is underway. Save money and get a free membership period: http://www.proz.com/tgb ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (9) Site localization moving forward ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Localization teams are working vigorously to translate the site into more languages. Monthly releases are scheduled to begin again in mid-February and continue through June, with Italian, French and other languages slated for release. If you are interested in learning more about the localization project, please read the article recently published on the topic at http://www.proz.com/doc/1128 Then, if you are interested in taking part, please submit a support ticket with the subject line "Localization volunteer - {your language}". Support tickets can be entered here: http://www.proz.com/support ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (10) Powwow news - First-ever gatherings held in Costa Rica and Uruguay ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ December was a notable month in the history of powwows, with two Latin American countries joining the powwow tradition for the first time: Uruguay and Costa Rica. The first-ever Uruguay powwow, organized by Fabio Descalzi, was a great success, with 41 ProZians participating. See http://www.proz.com/powwow/1008 and http://www.proz.com/?sp=event/powwow_reports_view&powwow_id=1008 for photos and a report. Also, Costa Rica's first powwow was hosted by Carlos Umaña. See http://www.proz.com/powwow/1108 Congratulations, ProZ.com members in Uruguay and Costa Rica! Additional upcoming powwows: February 9: Río de Janeiro (21 members) http://proz.com/pw/1150 10: Ibiza, Spain (5) http://proz.com/pw/1004 10: Brussels (15) http://proz.com/pw/1122 10: Cluj Napoca, Romania (14) http://proz.com/pw/1148 16: Gaza, Palestine (2) http://proz.com/pw/1134 24: Nice, Monaco, France (1) http://proz.com/pw/1170 24: Innsbruck (1) http://proz.com/pw/1156 24: Toulon, France (4) http://proz.com/pw/1138 27: Philadelphia, US (5) http://proz.com/pw/1130 28: Edinburgh, UK (6) http://proz.com/pw/1128 March 3: La Plata, Argentina (29) http://proz.com/pw/1140 4: London (10) http://proz.com/pw/1040 10: Miami (1) http://proz.com/pw/1166 10: Nice, Cannes, France (1) http://proz.com/pw/1168 11: Poznań, Poland (6) http://proz.com/pw/1152 17: Frankfurt (32) http://proz.com/pw/1078 24: Nürnberg (1) http://proz.com/pw/1154 25: Palermo, Italy (8) http://proz.com/pw/1095 30: Cartagena, Colombia (12) http://proz.com/pw/1088 - - - - - - - - - - - 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.