iWL Cares helps families celebrate Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

As the official day to give thanks, we want to express our gratitude to all of you – a big fat THANK YOU to all of our clients and translators who every day make inWhatLanguage what it is! It is thanks to you that we strive every day to be a little better and to do greater things for our community.

And speaking of which, Thanksgiving has also been a wonderful opportunity to give back to society with a new iWL Cares initiative! Once again, Karlie Bodine has been in charge of organization.

“We visited three families the day before Thanksgiving”, she explains. “Each family has had their own hardships they have faced and continue to face every single day- whether it was extreme health problems, abuse, single parenthood, or other adversities. Each family genuinely deserved the help and we were all extremely grateful to help them, as they were grateful to receive the help.”

The experience was particularly moving, according to Karlie: “Through tears, we delivered hams, rolls, pies, salads, yams, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, food cans, and many other Thanksgiving day goodies along with a grocery store gift card to each family. Perhaps one of the most inspiring moments, was when one of the people we visited offered to pay it forward, stating that she knows others who could use the help more than her.”

Everybody deserves a plentiful Thanksgiving dinner, and the team at inWhatLanguage cannot feel more proud to have contributed to this beautiful tradition in these three homes. “While we all live our day-to-day lives with have our own struggles, it is important to remember what you have and be mindful that there are always others who may be less fortunate,” says Karlie Bodine. “It is then crucial to remember to reach out to those people. This is an idea that I think is being lost as our world advances, but at inWhatLanguage we don't want people to ever forget that there are always going to be people there for them and to remember to help and inspire those around you.”

“Thank you so much! All of you!! (...) I love you all! I know I didn't express it well...  Kind of overwhelmed by the love! Please let them all know! (...) What a blessed wonderful day!” This was a message we received from one of the families after iWL’s visit. The knowledge that we helped some families enjoy a more blissful Thanksgiving day is undoubtedly our greatest reward!

inWhatLanguage and FIFA: a team for posterity

Translating for FIFA is much more than a regular translation project: it is an honor. iWL was selected to work on specialized documents in preparation for the World Cup – and the results have granted the young translation agency the praise of the biggest football association in the world!

For any professional translation agency, there is always that “moment of truth” when it has to prove that it really is all that it promises to be - that it can really work with huge volumes, or that it can deliver expert translations with the quality and accuracy that it guarantees. Big words must be reflected in big results, and not all projects offer the chance for this to happen.

But thanks to FIFA, such a “moment of truth” came for inWhatLanguage.

It all started in October 2013, when the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) selected iWL after a two-month competitive process against 15 other preselected translation companies to translate all of its PR communications in preparation for the World Cup. From that point until the actual World Cup in Brazil took place, we worked on website content, magazines and print media, as well as news and press releases in more than 20 languages.

An “intimidating and overwhelming task”, in the words of actual FIFA representatives; a real Goliath of a translation project, admittedly, but one that inWhatLanguage was more than ready to undertake.

The intricacies of project management

“Working with FIFA has helped catapult inWhatLanguage to a higher level of customer interest,” says inWhatLanguage CEO Cody Broderick. “It has also validated questions from potential clients about our technical and volume capabilities.”

Certainly, managing this project has not been a walk in the park: it involved huge amounts of diverse and extremely technical content. This required a careful selection of professional and football-expert native translators, as well as constant quality control measures to make sure that the documents were delivered correctly, on time and with the right format.

But the effort has been absolutely worth it, according to Broderick: “We now use FIFA as a case study when engaging some of the top organizations in the world to prove that, if FIFA selected inWhatLanguage, they should do so as well. I’m confident we will get more volume from them as the sport picks up momentum for upcoming games.”

Positive feedback: our most valuable reward

Maybe it is too soon to predict iWL’s future with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, but there is one thing that we know for sure: FIFA was very satisfied with the addition of the young translation company to its ranks.

“inWhatLanguage proved to be fantastic partner as we worked hand-in-hand to translate hundreds of documents in over 20 languages – all on time and under budget. Thank you, inWhatLanguage!" This was the feedback we got from FIFA once the project came to an end - right when we were all at the edge of our seats, absorbed in the magic of the actual World Cup games, knowing that a little part of that amazing event had been possible thanks to the good work of iWL.

Translation agencies: definitely the way to go!

While modern translation technology might have driven many people to think that translation is a pretty straightforward science -as in, you input certain words, press “translate” and less than a second, your translation is “served”-, truth is, translation is a highly subjective art.

Many translations from one original text can differ significantly depending what their purpose is, the targeted audience, and the location of said audience. The style and tone change when addressing teenagers or veterans, architects or restaurant chefs, citizens from the North or people from the South of a country (usually).

To make a translation as localized and culturally adapted as possible is what truly makes a difference in a world dominated by instant machine translation.

Of course, that is nothing short of impossible when you are managing a global business with your own team of translators. No matter how many they are, they will never be enough.

The secret of a globalized, effective translation campaign is to have immense numbers of professional translators, not just one for each of the “big” languages. There are many different registers, dialects and varieties in every language, as well as innumerable minor communities that are sadly left behind if you only focus on the bigger picture.

Working with a translation agency, this is one load you can take off your shoulders. We have the manpower and the expertise to deal with a vast amount of languages, localizing each and every project and providing advice about the best, most efficient way to work.

Translation is a subjective art, but we know how to go about it!

With a translation agency, you can be sure that...

• ·        Your projects will be taken care of in a timely manner by the most suitable translators chosen specifically for you.
• ·        You can choose from a big pool of professionals and express your personal preferences any time.
• ·        The translation will be proofread and quality-checked prior to delivery.
• ·        The format will be as close to the original as possible, even when we are dealing with languages that use different scripts and directionalities.
• ·        You will always have a reliable person to talk to and who will inform you regularly about the development of the translation project.
• ·        You can send your comments and questions to the Project Manager whenever you want, who will answer directly as soon as possible, or transmit the message to the translators and get back to you with the reply.
• ·        You have the guarantee of a job well done.

Working with a translation agency is the easiest, safest way of getting your documents translated the right way. And if you are worried about the costs that this implies, just request a quote at inWhatLanguage - our prices are simply unbeatable!

DevLearn 2014: Great success and awesome nerdiness for iWL!

iWL's booth at DevLearn!

“As technologies continue to emerge and advance, new worlds of possibilities are opening up for learning and development. But new technologies also bring new challenges—and new expectations—for driving learning and performance. To keep up, you need to understand what’s possible today, as well as what’s coming next.”

This is the premise of DevLearn 2014, the big eLearning Conference and Expo that took place last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Of course, the message refers to online training and learning technologies, but it could just as easily be talking about the world of translation. Translators and translation agencies are facing the same challenges and the same need to adapt to the new formats and possibilities that new technologies bring along.

And that is why inWhatLanguage fits in DevLearn like a glove!

Once again, inWhatLanguage had a booth at DevLearn in Las Vegas, and once again, the outcome was more than positive. “It was great,” says iWL CEO Cody Broderick. “We talked to more than a hundred potential new clients. Going to DevLearn is definitely worth it!”

Maurice van Zutphen and Cody Broderick,
self-declared language nerds

It’s a nerdy world!

This year, the inWhatLanguage team went to DevLearn with a hilarious message printed on their T-shirts: “Talk Nerdy to Me”. That is what’s written on the back of the T-shirts that Cody and his team wore and gave away at the conference. Along with the complimentary glasses, the whole “nerdy” costume ended up being quite a hit.

“People loved it,” Broderick says with a smile. “Everybody wanted a T-shirt! It was crazy, and beautiful. Our booth was so warm and inviting. The people wanted to stop by and talk to us, and everybody was laughing when they saw the glasses and the message from the T-shirts.”

inWhatLanguage, all services in one great agency

Of course, the best thing that DevLearn has for inWhatLanguage is the people that attend the conference. They both share a common interest in eLearning and online formats, and inWhatLanguage has a capable team of experts fully dedicated to eLearning translation and its multimedia possibilities.

“In DevLearn we get to meet great potential clients, because their projects encompass translation, voiceover, multimedia localization, proofreading, editing, etcetera,” explains Broderick. “Instead of the typical document translation project, an eLearning project has many steps, a whole process that we can work on in its entirety, or just do some of the steps." 

From left to right, David Kasteler, Cody Broderick and Maurice van Zutphen.

"We have a full range of services, and they are a la carte. This means that we are the perfect option both for corporate organizations that offer and create their own eLearning training programs for their employees, and for the big eLearning companies that create custom training courses for other organizations. We have everything they might need on offer!”

To be continued...

Clearly, DevLearn is a 'must attend' event for inWhatLanguage. And Cody Broderick has already made sure that his translation agency will have a booth –and a big one!- in next year’s conference: “We have booked a booth for DevLearn 2015, which is going to be double the size of the one we had this year. And my wish is to bring more people with me, because seeing the traffic we had this year, it’s obvious that we are going to need the extra hands.”

iWL Cares provides warmth for the upcoming winter!

Coats ready for their new owners!

Winter is almost here! Once again, the low temperatures will make us want to stay warm at home as much as possible. And if we have to go outside, most of us can always rely on a warm coat to protect us from the cold!

Unfortunately, not everybody is so lucky. Some people cannot afford a good coat, and for them, winter can be a real nightmare. That is why this year inWhatLanguage Cares has launched an initiative to help solve this problem: a Coat Drive!

The newest member of the iWL team, Karlie Bodine, has been in charge of organizing the gathering and shipping of the coats. “I came up with the idea because, truthfully, I am not a big fan of the cold!” explains Karlie. “I knew that there were many people in our community that needed the appropriate clothes for the fall and winter, and I thought a Coat Drive would be the perfect way to help.”

Karlie Bodine was
responsible for the Coat Drive.

The campaign lasted a week and finished on October 31^st, and even though the response at first was “slow”, according to Karlie, in the end she was able to gather many bags full of warm coats… Really good-quality ones! “Once the deadline started getting closer, many people started to come forward and say that they had coats to donate! A lot of people had old skiing and snowboarding coats that they donated,” says Karlie.

The coats have been successfully donated to the Road Home, in Salt Lake City, where they accept donations of coats, jackets, hoodies and blankets for the people in need.

All of these bags are full of
the coats that were donated!
Thank you very much!

This iWLCares initiative has been the perfect way for Karlie to start feeling integrated in the team – giving back to the community is, after all, one of the cornerstones of iWL’s philosophy. “I think that it is amazing that inWhatLanguage does so much community service. I mean, how many other companies do you hear of that do service projects every month? It is truly a worthwhile experience to help those around you, and I'm so grateful to be a part of it.”

Karlie admits that organizing the campaign was a little overwhelming at first, but as things began to work out, she felt it was great – among other things, because she could count on the help of the rest of the team. “I think everyone really tried to collect as many coats as they could and we all came together nicely! I'm very happy with the outcome. We have collected so many coats to help so many people! I couldn't be happier with the turnout.”