Translation Confidential
By Peter Argondizzo
Translation ConfidentialNov 30, 2022
EP 114 - Project Management Unpacked
Join Peter, Patrick, and the Argo Translation project management team leads for a discussion on how they got into this career, their most memorable projects, and how AI will affect their jobs and the industry overall.
EP 113 - What Is LangOps, and Why Should You Care?
Join translation industry experts Peter Argondizzo and Patrick Daley to discuss what Language Operations is, the associated risks with adding AI, and how LangOps in a translation workflow benefits customers.
EP 112 - Automation & AI
Join co-hosts and translation industry experts Peter Argondizzo and Patrick Daley to discuss instances where AI automation can increase your business' productivity and what concerns you should consider before using an AI tool.
EP 111 - Navigating Mergers & Acquisitions With Paul Doherty
Special guest, integration expert Paul Doherty joins Peter and Patrick to share his first-hand experience with mergers and acquisitions, tips for managing employees through the process, and how to foster a cohesive entity upon completion.
EP 110 - Crucial Business Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Join Argo Translation Founder and President of nearly 30 years, Peter Argondizzo, and his cohost, Senior Project Manager Patrick Daley, for a broad discussion on business lessons learned in their careers and important suggestions and tips for entrepreneurs.
EP 109 - AI Translation: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss concerns companies should have about using AI in their translation workflows, privacy concerns with customer content, and some positive use cases of AI in translation.
EP 108 - Prerequisites for a New Multilingual Website
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss important considerations before launching a website that will eventually require translation, including choosing your CMS, theme considerations, and workflow accommodations.
EP 107 - The Commoditization of the Translation Industry
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss a common topic on Translation Confidential: the commoditization of the translation industry. Topics include the factors affecting price, the perceived value of translation, and what the future holds for the industry.
EP 106 - Ūsked, a Service Management Platform
Special guest Lyle Vold, Co-founder and CEO of service management platform Ūsked, joins Peter and Patrick to discuss the company's origins, Lyle’s background, and what the future holds for Ūsked.
EP 105 - What Happens if There’s an Issue With a Translation?
Join Peter, Patrick, and special guest, Argo Translation's Director of Sales, Sarah Van Lanen, as they discuss quality concerns in translation for both the buyer and the agency.
EP 104 - 1 Year Post-Acquisition
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss Argo Translation's acquisition of ICD Translation at the 12-month mark. Topics will include lessons learned, banking concerns, legal concerns, and financial analysis as part of an acquisition strategy.
EP 103 - Education in Translation With Dr. Lorena Terando
Special guest Dr. Lorena Terando from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee joins hosts Peter and Patrick to discuss the impact of AI on education and recommendations for students pursuing an education in translation.
EP 102 - Ethical AI
Peter and Patrick discuss the impact of AI and ChatGPT on the translation industry. They explore how AI affects corporate policy, employee screening, and privacy concerns.
EP 101 - CRM & AI Tools for the Translation Industry
Join Peter and Patrick for their discussion with Zin Global founders Angelo Passalacqua and Bryan Montpetit on their translation industry-focused software tools: Zin CRM and Gaby-T, a no-code prompt engineering platform for the language industry.
EP 100 - A Look Back on 29 Years of Service
For the 100th episode, Patrick interviews Peter and guests Jackie Lucarelli, Co-Founder and Director of Employee Wellness, and Kimberly Miller, Director of Operations, about how Argo Translation has grown since its establishment in 1995.
EP 99 - Investing in People
Join Peter, Patrick, and guests Jackie Lucarelli, Director of Employee Wellness, and Kati, Project Management Excellence Lead, for a discussion on Argo Translation's extensive training process and how their company culture fosters continuous improvement and learning.
EP 98 - Non-Language Careers in the Language Industry
Peter and Patrick are joined by Argo Translation's Marketing Coordinator, Meghan Furlong, to discuss non-language careers in the language industry.
EP 97 - A Translation Discussion With Dr. Joyce Tolliver
Join Peter and Patrick as they interview Dr. Joyce Tolliver, Director of the Translation and Interpreting Studies Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The discussion will include a look at an exciting new research project that involves the TIS and the Illinois State Board of Education.
EP 96 - Translation Workflow (why minimum fees exist)
Translation industry experts Peter and Patrick provide an overview of what drives translation prices, why minimum fees exist, and what drives per-word cost.
EP 95 - Translation Automation That Isn’t Automated
The translation industry continues to develop connectors and software that automate the translation process. A rising trend is the sale of complex systems that complicate the process rather than make it simpler. In this episode, Peter and Patrick focus their discussion on the part of the process where files are received and delivered but don’t provide any value to the larger translation process.
EP 94 - Holiday Traditions Around the World
Peter and Patrick share their personal holiday traditions and the traditions of several international colleagues. Countries discussed include Argentina, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, Italy, Germany, China, Israel, and India.
EP 93 - Setting Expectations
Peter and Patrick discuss the importance of setting and holding proper expectations in a consulting business. Topics include the importance of clarity and communication, setting expectations in the employer/employee relationship, and setting proper expectations for projects The idea of holding proper expectations is extremely important in business and in life.
EP 92 - 7 Things You Should Never Do in a Translation RFI
Peter and Patrick cover 7 things you should never do as part of a translation RFI, including pricing models that don't match the industry, asking for per-word pricing, asking for profitability and revenue figures, considering the number of offices as an indicator of bandwidth and expertise, telling your prospective agencies that quality matters when it doesn't (e.g., pricing is your most important topic), inviting agencies who you know don't fit your requirements, and using a reverse Dutch Auction.
EP 91 - 5 Things You Should Absolutely Do Before You Start Translating Content
Peter and Patrick cover important topics to consider before you start doing any translation work for your organization, including identifying your target markets, choosing a language service provider, creating a glossary of key terminology, establishing ground rules around translation memory ownership, and choosing in-country subject matter experts (if available).
EP 90 - Thinking About Machine Translation for Your Organization?
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss the critical points to consider for using Machine Translation in your organization. It seems like tech companies who pride themselves on tech and promise the stars with Machine Translation and AI don’t actually use it themselves.
Is MT merely a promise to get customers in the door only to substitute plain vanilla MT and human editing? Isn't the goal for the client to save money and time? Is how you get to the goal really important?
EP 89 - Technology and Translation, a Discussion With Argo Translation’s CTO
As the technology landscape broadens and more companies get purely “digital” with their initiatives - more platforms are used that store content. In a company serving international markets via content from numerous systems, the success of these digital programs to partner with an LSP that can centralize translation of content will drive beneficial cost-savings, time savings, and increase engagement. This is achieved via connectors and integrations and will compound cost savings through a single translation memory. In order to have this discussion, we needed to bring on the CTO at Argo Translation to discuss how technology makes all of this happen.
EP 88 - Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion and Language
Join Peter, Patrick, and their special guest Nadia Fischer as they discuss Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and Language. Nadia is a tech Entrepreneur, CEO, and Co-Founder of Witty Works, and a speaker on bias in language and business.
EP 87 - Remote Work in the Translation Industry
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss remote work in the translation industry. They cover the post-pandemic landscape, including the positive and negative impact of remote work on employers and employees.
EP 86 - Translation and Human Connection
In this episode, Peter and Patrick cover the idea of translation and human connection. All too often, people forget the impact of their work. Translation has an incredible impact on people's day to to day lives, from the workplace to schools to hospitals.
EP 85 - What To Do When Your Employees Don’t Speak English
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss strategies on how to engage with employees when language is a barrier to engagement. Tools to help eliminate the barriers are telephonic interpretation, written translation, ELL classes, and the most important tool, empathy.
EP 84 - The Role of Trade Organizations in Translation
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss the role of trade organizations in the language industry. Topics include the most important advantages of being a member, lobbying efforts, price collusion, and trade shows.
EP 83 - Acquisition of a Competitor
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss Argo Translation's recent acquisition of a competitor. Topics include lessons learned during the acquisition phase of the purchase, the motivation behind the acquisition, and the important aspects of the selection process.
EP 82 - Consistency and Translation
Join Peter, Patrick, and our special guest Mike Van Norman, Project Manager Team Lead at Argo Translation, for a detailed discussion on how consistency impacts translation. Topics covered include using the same translation team, translation memory, glossaries, and client review.
EP 81 - A Discussion With Saul Arteaga
Join Peter, Patrick, and their special guest Saul Arteaga in a discussion about the post-pandemic challenges and opportunities in the Interpretation Industry. The topics covered include advice to interpreters entering the industry today, the challenges facing Saul and his company and the industry, as well as some information on Saul and his company SWITS.
EP 80 - ASL and Deaf Culture
Peter and Patrick are joined by special guest Jenny Rieck to discuss ASL and Deaf culture. The discussion starts with a discussion on the Oscar-winning movie CODA and the following topics:
- What would you suggest to someone who wants to learn ASL?
- How does someone become an interpreter and have you ever thought about being an interpreter?
- With technology to allow speech-to-text captioning do you think interpreters will become unnecessary or a thing of the past for events other than live in-person presentations?
- What are the challenges that can happen when a person who is deaf or hard of hearing has a meeting with a doctor or a lawyer?
- What is the difference between a video phone and telephonic interpretation or video remote interpreting?
EP 79 - Interpretation Today With Kate Accetti
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss the state of the interpretation market with Kate Accetti, Senior Sales and Marketing Manager for Interprenet. The discussion includes covering how Covid has impacted the industry, some of the new technology impacting the services offered, and the prospects for live events post-Covid.
EP 78 - Marketing and Translation - Part 2
Join Peter and Patrick and their special guest Nathan Lorum, Director of Marketing at Argo Translation as they continue their discussion about translation and marketing.
This episode covers the following topics:
- Create a plan for the UX of your website
- How will visitors to your website interact with the other languages?
- How will you handle regional websites?
- Will linked documents be translated (e.g. PDF case studies, brochures, manuals, etc.)?
EP 77 - Marketing and Translation
Join Peter and Patrick and their special guest, the Director of Marketing at Argo Translation, Nathan Lorum. This episode focuses on the following topics:
- how to link a business goal to your translation efforts
- determine what resources you need
- the importance of long-term thinking
This is part one of a two-part series on translation and marketing.
EP 76 - Sharepoint and Translation
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss how companies are looking at the translation of SharePoint content. The topics included in this episode's discussion are the use cases of SharePoint, how the content relates to the translation process, the creation of a connector between SharePoint and a translation memory system, and why SharePoint collaborators should care about process automation for translation.
EP 75 - How To Tell if a Translation Is Accurate
Join Peter and Patrick as they discuss how to measure the accuracy of your translation projects. Determining translation quality is a very subjective exercise. Learn objective strategies on how to implement a strong client review process and the role the source language plays in the quality of the final translation.
EP 74 - Translation and Inclusion
Peter and Patrick discuss the idea of Inclusion and Language. Translation and interpretation are valuable tools in creating inclusion in the workplace. The discussion includes using language to create inclusion across various business functions like:
- Human Resources (Policies, training documents and programs, Benefits information)
- Corporate Communications (Internal knowledgebase, news releases, websites)
- Marketing (Branding documentation, Core values)
EP 73 - A Look Forward at the Translation Industry in 2022
Peter and Patrick weigh in on the state of the translation industry as we head into 2022. Topics include:
- Increased reliance on automated workflows
- The increased role of AI in all aspects of translation
- Mergers and Acquisition
- How video and other digital media dominate new growth in the industry
EP 72 - 2021 in Review
Peter and Patrick discuss their favorite shows of 2021 by highlighting the key takeaways from the following shows:
- EP 71 - People Power
- Ep 60 and 61 - The Argo Way PT 1 and PT2
- EP 70 - Translation Industry Trends
- EP 69 - Hard Truths your LSP won't tell you
- EP 65- WordPress and WPML
- EP 59 - What makes Translation Difficult
EP 71 - People Power
With an ever-increasing focus on machine power in the translation world, the true multiplier in this business (and others) is people power. Patrick and Peter discuss the impact a strong team has on an organization's overall health and growth.
Topics include:
- The impact of culture
- The idea of hiring the best possible people
- The impact of an economic downturn
- Training and support from your team
EP 70 - Translation Industry Trends With Florian Faes From Slator
Peter and Patrick are joined by Florian Faes, managing director of Slator. Slator is one of the most important news sources in our industry. We discuss positive and negative trends in our industry, the state of conferences in a post-Covid world, and the most impactful translation news story in 2021.
EP 69 - Hard Truths Your LSP Won't Tell You
Peter and Patrick discuss the hard truths of translation projects. These may be things a buyer does not want to hear, but needs to hear! Find out why translation isn't perfect, why making changes on the fly is draining your budget, and much more!
EP 68 - Why Is Formatting Important?
Peter and Patrick discuss why the formatting (aka DTP or layout) is important. Following some formatting best practices can drive revenue, reduce costs, and improve the translation process. Tune in to learn some best practices about formatting, and how you can never have to worry about formatting again!
EP 67 - Maximizing Translation Investment
Peter and Patrick cover some best practices for new buyers of translation, and how to stretch every penny of the budget. They discuss how web traffic and revenue should drive your target markets, why translation memory is so important, and some red flags that should be on your radar as a buyer.
EP 66 - Translation for Human Resources
Peter and Patrick talk all things related to translation for Human Resources. At their core, businesses rely on people, and communication in their native language is key. Peter and Patrick discuss various types of HR projects, and some best practices for HR translation.
EP 65 - WordPress and WPML
Joined by WordPress expert developer Kyle Rumble, Peter and Patrick talk through some best practices when developing a website. Tune in for tips and best practices from the web development side as well as the project management side.