AALC Newsletter February 2021
In this Edition:
Welcome from the President | New Zealand Update | Meet the Board | Member Spotlight | Webinar Program | Subcommittees | WhatsApp | New Team
Welcome from the President
Dear Members, Colleagues and Industry Partners
The AALC Board kicked off 2021 with a Strategy Workshop to evaluate the state of the industry in Australia and New Zealand, impact of the pandemic, trends & technology developments and how the AALC can best support our members and the industry at large. Strategy always starts with a high-level helicopter view and deliberations on the Why, the How and the What.
We like to see our members thrive, add value to their clients, grow their businesses and achieve their goal of creating access to information in their own language. COVID has exposed just how vital it is to facilitate access to information for all of Australia’s CALD Communities through quality language services. Technology also plays a big part in providing this access timely, accurately and through the right channels with qualified and certified linguists in the loop.
All of this motivates us to be the leading Voice of the Industry in Australia & New Zealand, the Forum of Exchange, Provider of PD Seminars for LSPs and a trusted partner for our sister organisations across the world. We strive to act to promote the highest standard of expertise, business practice and quality across the industry.
An exciting Webinar Program Series has been designed for our members and industry colleagues featuring industry talent from within the Region and internationally.
Alternating monthly with our AALC After Hours Series: Connect to the Language Industry, we provide an intimate meeting place to discuss what is currently happening from government tenders to technology breakthroughs, industrial relations to international standards.
Talk to us about what keeps you up at night, chat with your peers and learn from your colleagues!
I would like to repeat my quote from my last newsletter: When facing a problem, Bill Gates says his “first inclination isn’t to come up with a solution, it’s to learn more about what others are already doing.”
This is an invitation: Come and see what others are doing. And let us learn from you. Join our Subcommittees!
Lastly: AALC suite of partnerships with sister organisations create more opportunities for AALC members to access further relevant content through virtual conferences and webinars:
The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA)
European Language Industry Association (ELIA)
The Association of Language Companies (ALC)
European Union of Associations of Translations Companies (EUATC)
Translated in Argentina (TinA)
The Argentine Association of Language Services Companies (AASL)
Looking forward to seeing you at our next Event!
Tea Dietterich
AALC President
New Zealand Update
As reported in previous newsletters, the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Investment and Employment (MBIE) recently ran an RFP for the provision of face-to-face
interpreting services to participating government agencies. Their intention is to have an interpreting provider panel in place and operational by 1 July 2021.
A key specification in the MBIE procurement focuses on providers’ intended approaches relating to the NZ Government’s plan to adopt NAATI Certification standards as a mandatory requirement for interpreters by 2024.
Naturally, this will not be a straightforward transition and will require a significant and coordinated effort between NZ Government, LSPs, interpreters, the education sector, and NAATI. There will be numerous challenges and a key challenge for LSPs will be the focus on individual practitioner level certification versus LSP level certification. It will be more important than ever to define the LSPs role and added value in the provision of interpreting services to NZ Government users, including the LSP’s role in industry growth and wellbeing, such as through investments in training and interpreter support programs. The issues and challenges in the NAATI Certification roll-out differ slightly between interpreting services and translation services, though how these are addressed is equally important for providers of either language services.
AALC is focusing on these issues and invites input and involvement from all members with interests in these developments.
For more information and to be involved in the discussion regarding NAATI developments in New Zealand please contact Hagen Issell – vicepresident.nz@aalc.org.nz
Meet the Board
Patricia Jaworski started working in the Language Services industry as a company director for All About Languages in 2017 after her late mother became ill. Elected as Executive Board Member for AALC in Oct 2020, Patricia has demonstrated her passion to learn and improve within the industry by participating in events and approaching the organisation for matters around running an LSP. Patricia has extensive experience working in the Pharmaceutical Industry where she was successful in sales and account management and actively involved in the marketing committee. She has worked across many parts of Australia, her favourite being in the Top End.
Her passion for helping others is also demonstrated by her past involvement in Surf Life Saving where she was a trainer and crew member of the State Jet Boat Rescue Service in South Australia.
Now, Patricia’s focus is on inspiring and supporting her team of Interpreters, translators and staff at All About Languages as well as the wider LSP industry, where the goal is to provide professional services whilst demonstrating empathy where technology cannot.
AALC Member Spotlight
We are also pleased to welcome Ethnolink as a new AALC member!
Costa Vasili, Founder and CEO of Ethnolink, is excited and ready to get involved with the association’s activities and sharing his experience in Language Services with the other members.Check out the company details on our members page here.
2021 Webinar Program Topics
Sales in a Post Pandemic World with Richard Brooks from UK based LSP K International – Feb 18th 4PM AEDT. Register Here
The AALC 2021 Webinar Series includes:
Our AALC Webinars run on the 3rd Thursday of every 2nd month either lunch time spot or afternoon depending on the timezone of the Speaker. See you there!
- Localization Engineering
- Project Management
- Vendor Management
- Marketing and Business Development
- Superannuation and Tax Obligations for LSPs
- SEO – Search Engine Optimisation for LSPs
- Insurance for LSPs
- MT/AI (technology)
Want to help shape the Industry? We Want You!
Members, please join us on one of our AALC Subcommittees to stay on the pulse, be in the know, make a difference to the industry and get to know AALC behind the scenes for a future Board role!
AALC Subcommittees include:
- Membership/Business Development Committee (Growing AALC Membership) Chair: Greg Zucchi
- Program Committee (Webinars and Events) Chair: Patricia Jaworski
- University Industry Partnership Program (Bridging the gap between Universities and Industry) Chair: Tea Dietterich
- Government Relations, Chair: Karen Hodgson
If you are interested in further information about these groups and how to join, please email your inquiry to info@aalc.org.au
Please be advised this is a members only opportunity.
Members Only: AALC Whatsapp Group
The AALC Whatsapp Group is kicking off: If you are a member and want to be included in the exclusive AALC Whatsapp Group, please contact Jordan @ info@aalc.org.au nominating your mobile phone number
Welcome to the Team
We would like to introduce and welcome the two newest AALC team members, Greg Zucchi and Jordan Garafola.
Greg Zucchi is a Sales and Business Development professional with 13 years international experience. Born and raised in Italy, in a bi-lingual environment, he moved to Australia 9 years ago and is currently pursuing his passion and interest for languages, multi culturalism, and community development. His strong commitment to customer service and attention to detail are skills AALC can rely on to grow its membership base and presence in Australasia.
Greg is joining AALC as the new Member and Social Media Director. You can reach him at eo@aalc.org.au
Jordan Garafola is a USA based Virtual Assistant originally from Australia.
Jordan is joining AALC in the Admin Support position, monitoring the inbox and updating the website. You can contact Jordan for assistance with any membership, website, or event queries.
You can reach her at info@aalc.org.au
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