For the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA), the largest global, non-profit trade association for the translation industry, it is a standard procedure to elect a new Board of Directors at the turn of each year. For Klaus Fleischmann, founder and CEO of Austrian based Kaleidoscope Group, it was a very special moment in his localization career: He has been named the new chair of the GALA Board.
Having been on the GALA board for two years already, he starts his new task with humility and vision: “I am proud and intimidated at the same time to have been elected as Chair for the GALA Board of Directors.” He is looking forward to his tasks: “I believe this will be a very dynamic year for our great industry from a geopolitical, an economic and a technological point of view.”
Moving GALA forward and helping companies get the most benefit out of their membership and advance their individual businesses has always been the goal of GALA and the board. In recent years, the association has evolved from a strongly LSP-focused association towards an inclusive body representing end clients, tool vendors and of course localization providers. This is reflected in both the program of the GALA conference, the annual highlight of its work, as well as the ongoing initiatives and programming. Klaus has been particularly focused on bringing the technology aspect to the association, pushing the Translation API Class and Cases (TAPICC) initiative, a collaborative, community-driven, open-source project to advance API standards for multilingual content delivery.
The present times with its increasing speed of technological development, exploding outside and inside investment plus a geopolitical landscape advancing global business have the potential to move the focus of the language industry to different areas of the globe and different top players in the market. This offers incredible opportunities but stresses the need for a strong association focused on inclusion, collaboration, and professionalism even more.
GALA is uniquely positioned to pursue these opportunities and to support the entire industry. “As an ambitious team, the GALA board and staff will continue to make GALA a place of ever more meaningful guidance, learning, insight, professional development and fun”, says Klaus. This current board is a uniquely dynamic and diverse group of people, including Kåre Lindahl (Venga Global, USA) as vice chair, Sabina Jasinska (Donnelley Language Solutions, UK/Poland) as Secretary and Conference Program Committee Liaison, Wafaa Mohiy (Saudisoft, Egypt) as treasurer and Pedro Gomez (Microsoft Corporation, USA), Tea Dietterich (2M Language Services, Australia & France) and George Zhao (Boffin Language Group, Canada & China) as Membership Liaison.
All board members and the entire GALA team will be present throughout the 2018 Language of Business – Business of Language Conference, taking place 13-16 March in Boston. We encourage everyone to attend the association’s annual meeting on Friday morning at the event. For more information, visit the GALA 2018 conference site.
About GALA
The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) is a global, non-profit trade association for the language industry. As a membership organization, GALA supports its member companies and the language sector by creating communities, championing standards, sharing knowledge, and advancing technology. GALA membership delivers measurable value to companies and their employees through access to professional development and expert resources, participation in industry initiatives, opportunities for visibility, connection with a network of industry peers, and discounts on events, software, and programs.
About Klaus Fleischmann
Having begun his translation and interpreting studies at the University of Vienna, he holds an MA in Conference Interpreting from Monterey, California, and a MAS in Technical Communication Krems, Austria. In 1996, he founded Austria-based Kaleidoscope, a company implementing content, translation, and terminology management processes for internationally active companies. In addition, Kaleidoscope develops online collaboration software for terminology workflow, translator query management, in-country review, quality evaluation, process automation etc., making the translation quality process comprehensible and strategically manageable. In 2007, he became CEO of Austria´s leading LSP, eurocom Translation Services GmbH. It is Klaus’ firm conviction that it is vital to be part of international industry associations such as GALA: “It is always refreshing and inspiring to share perspectives with industry leaders in our field, both giving to the community and learning from it. And it’s especially nice to meet all the incredible people in this very special industry.”
About Kaleidoscope
Taking Your Content Global – with Kaleidoscope your product will speak every language! The combination of decades of expertise, our software solutions developed in-house, and select software from market-leading technology partners has been making this a reality since 1996. Coupled with the full-service approach from eurocom, Austria’s largest and most innovative translation agency, Kaleidoscope offers a unique and unrivaled synergy of language and technology.
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