Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, May 18, 2009
Networking event May 13 New York
TranslateMedia and UK Trade & Investment recently co-hosted an event on how to improve Translation results and increase efficiencies. The event was held on a beautiful New York evening and was well attended by many companies from the creative, media, legal, and financial sectors, together with a strong representation from the United Nations and several foreign Embassies who received valuable information about the role of translation agencies, how they can provide efficiencies, and ensure quality results for your language requirements.
Photos from the event can be found here:
If you would like further information about the event, recieve a translation guide book as referenced in the presentation by TranslateMedia Managing Director Hamish Wood, or would like to know more about TranslateMedia’s services, please contact Hamish @ translatemedia.
We look forward to seeing you at our next event.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Save the date:-
:: Wednesday 13 May 2009 :: 6pm :: 845 Third Avenue ::
Appetizers and Drinks
TranslateMedia will be hosting an evening presentation and seminar on:
- Tips for selecting a translation agency
- How to outsource translation projects while keeping translation costs down
- Lost in Translation: A comical selection of classic translation boo-boos
The event represents an opportunity to not only learn more about TranslateMedia its operations and capabilities, but also to engage on personal terms with members of the agency’s project management team.
Friday, April 3, 2009
TranslateMedia is green too.
TranslateMedia is green too.
We know it isn’t polite to brag, but we thought we should explain our greenness to you – just in case you had ever wondered.
Whilst being green is not the main business goal of TranslateMedia, through our business model we employ, we do in fact have a very small carbon footprint.
So what is it that makes TranslateMedia so green?
And best of all, none of our 1,500 plus translation team has a polluting commute –they login to us from home, we send them job alerts; they translate, and sign out.
So what is “environmental translation?”
Simply put, it is the translation of documents that focus on such themes as the environment, environmental effects, or the environmental performance of governments, companies, products, and services. That definition is wide enough to include highly technical academic papers, dense government reports, product news releases, adult and children’s literature, and advertising.
Following are some specific examples of environment related documents for which there is translation demand.
Reports/CSR Reports
One fairly significant source of work in this field is a document put out by corporations called a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report, which discusses an organization’s responsibility for the impact of its activities. In the 1990s, a handful of corporations started publishing so called environmental reports occasionally, in which they talked about how they were saving energy in the workplace, taking steps to reduce waste emissions, and even sending staff members out to do neighborhood cleanups. More and more businesses started to produce these reports, and eventually their scope grew to include economic and social concerns as well as the environment. This practice was in keeping with a concept known as the “Triple Bottom Line,” which says that a business should not be judged just by its economic results, but by its economic, social, and environmental results.
Environmental reports have mostly given way to CSR reports. In keeping with the “triple bottom line” concept, these reports are generally organized into three main sections corresponding to economic, social, and environmental concerns. CSR reports are published once a year as a sister publication to the traditional annual report.
Translating CSR reports is moderately difficult, about the same as annual reports. Generally, they are not highly technical and the writing is fairly straightforward. A translator does not need an advanced degree in environmental studies to translate them. They do however need to be able to write well enough for public consumption as corporate clients can be very demanding about the quality of the work.
Marketing Literature
Another type of environmental subject matter is marketing literature, such as corporate press releases. This might include coverage of the launch of a new product that the manufacturer wants to advertise as eco-friendly, or it might be a statement that the business is providing financial support to some environmental nonprofit. The difficulty level of this type of translation will be no higher or lower than any other corporate press release.
Internal Documents
Corporations also put out a lot of documents for internal use that relate to the environment, such as environmental standards. Because corporations are very interested in raising the environmental awareness of employees, these documents can include internal policies, standards or procedures for employee reference, or educational materials.
The difficulty level can vary considerably, and the translation might be more difficult if the document uses a lot of technical or internal jargon and no glossaries have been provided by the client.
Material Safety Data Sheets
One of the most familiar environmental documents of all is the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). An MSDS is a document that describes the toxic properties of a chemical product and gives instructions for preventing accidents and for responding in case such measures fail. The difficulty level of this type of translation can be rather high and the translator should be familiar with chemistry.
Applications for Certification
Another type of corporate literature that bears mentioning is certification literature.
For example, you have probably heard of Energy Star, a program to certify energy-efficient consumer products. There are all types of certifications that corporations are trying to earn. Some of these are environment-related and some are not; some are mandatory and some are voluntary. Among the environment-related ones, several come to mind: ISO 14000 standards, European Union directives like RoHS (the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) and WEEE (the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive).
Written by:
Hamish Wood, Managing Director of TranslateMedia - Americas Division.
Hamish is based in New York and can be contacted directly: hamish@translatemedia.com
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Welcome to Inside Translatemedia (Edition 1)
Inside:
Welcome to the first edition of Inside TranslateMedia - our Global Newsletter that will be issued each quarter.
The concept of Inside is to give you a peek ‘inside’ the agency, so you get to know us better, and give you some news about the projects we currently have on the go.
You all know TranslateMedia: however, Inside will introduce you to the people that makes the wheels go around, get your translation projects done, the bills paid on time, answer the phone, and reply to your email requests. This is the first edition, so please send us your feedback.
Latest news:
Inside TranslateMedia, we are celebrating too: Of late we have signed global alliances with Regus Office Solutions and the Publicis Groupe, and have been selected as a case study for successful market penetration for UK Trade & Investment.
In Canada we are translating engineering material for the A30 motorway extension, while in France an interesting array of top level legal companies have been keeping the our project staff occupied into the small hours.
Focus on….New York
In each edition of Inside we will be introducing you to a member of TranslateMedia – starting with the newest of our operational bases, New York.
In charge of clients and production is Daniel Crawford, BA (Hons) PgDip MCIL.
Daniel originally worked in our London office, and came to New York in May to ensure a smooth start for the US operations.
Daniel is enjoying life in New York, confusing many with his English accent – and his fluent Spanish.
Did you know….?
On average, a translator can translate around 2,000 - 2,500 words per day – however, different translators work at different rates.
If you do require your text to be translated urgently then please advise a member of our Project Management team who will advise you whether or not it is possible to speed up the process. This usually involves splitting the document between translators, then having it proofread and reviewed to avoid inconsistencies. get more FAQs…
edition 1 Spanish version
Inside :
Bienvenido a la primera edición de Inside TranslateMedia - nuestro boletín de noticias internacional de publicación trimestral.
El concepto de Inside es dar a conocer los entresijos de la agencia, para que pueda conocernos mejor, e informar acerca de los proyectos que actualmente tenemos en marcha.
Todos conocemos TranslateMedia: no obstante, Inside le presentará a aquellas personas que lo hacen posible, que gestionan sus proyectos de traducción, que tramitan las facturas a tiempo, que contestan al teléfono y que responden a sus solicitudes de información por e-mail. Ésta es la primera edición, así que no dude en enviarnos su opinión.
Últimas noticias:
La noticia de la elección de Barack Obama como próximo presidente de EE.UU. ha fascinado a todo el mundo
En TranslateMedia, también lo estamos celebrando: Recientemente, hemos firmado acuerdos internacionales de colaboración con Regus Office Solutions y el Grupo Publicis y hemos sido seleccionados por UK Trade & Investment como caso de estudio en términos de penetración eficaz del mercado.
En Canadá, estamos traduciendo documentos de ingeniería para la ampliación de la autopista A30, mientras que en Francia una interesante serie de empresas legales de primer orden ha mantenido ocupado a nuestro personal de proyectos hasta altas horas de la madrugada.
Primer plano de… Nueva York
En cada edición de Inside le presentaremos a un miembro de TranslateMedia y vamos a empezar con la más reciente de nuestras bases operativas, Nueva York.
A cargo de clientes y producción está Daniel Crawford, Licenciado con honores, Diplomado de posgrado, miembro del CIL.
Inicialmente, Daniel trabajaba en nuestra oficina de Londres y se trasladó a Nueva York en mayo para ayudar en la puesta en marcha de las operaciones en EE.UU. Daniel está disfrutando de la vida en Nueva York, confundiendo a muchos con su acento británico y su español fluido.
¿Sabía que...?
De media, una traductor puede traducir alrededor de 2.000 - 2.500 palabras al día; no obstante, no todos los traductores trabajan a la misma velocidad.
En caso de precisar la traducción urgente de un texto, informe al miembro correspondiente de nuestro equipo de gestión de proyectos para que le indique si es o no posible acelerar el proceso. A menudo, esto implica dividir el documento entre varios traductores y, a continuación, revisarlo para evitar cualquier incoherencia.
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