Until Next Time GALA Friends
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You
María Jesús de Arriba Díaz
As I commence my return journey home after 4 days at the GALA 2019 Conference in Munich, I reflect on what I am bringing home with me.
And if learning, curiosity, excitement, inspiration and friendship were weighed in kilograms, my “baggage” on this return journey would be well over the permitted weight.
From having the honor to host a visionary discussion with 3 heavy weights in our industry – Patrick Nunes, István Lengyel and Patricia Paladini Adell, and how much I have learnt from each and every one of them (and not only about the evolution of the traditional L10N roles with the advent of AI), to being present, in every way, at one of the most inspiring keynotes I’ve ever had the pleasure to listen to, thanks to Véronique Ozkaya.
From sharing the floor with 3 terrific experts – Sasan Banava, Oleksandr Bondarenko and Lena Marg, to explore together how the modern project manager will look like and how we can empower existing PMs to transform their role, as well as equip the new generations of PMs to excel in our new reality, to learning about emotional intelligence, empathy and leadership with Yuka Nakasone, Kris Girrell, Patrick Nunes, Latha Sukumar and Roman Zelenka.
From meeting life-long friends again (you know who you are) and pick up the conversation right where we left it when we last met a couple of years ago, to making so many new ones, such as my amazing tribe of Women in Localization, and the amazing ladies who are the driving force behind Translated in Argentina.
From having the opportunity to meet in person the language and technology professionals that support our customer success stories day in and day out (THANK YOU guys!), to feeling that, as members of GALA, we are building something larger than us, a legacy that will remain for future generations of global businesses and multilingual communication “addicts” 😊.
From the fascinating conversations at every coffee break and lunch time, to the hilarious fun of the 80s tunes at the Translators without Borders #TakeonMe4TWB. Thank you Andrew Hickson for your selfless dedication and a memorable party!
So, despite the late nights and early mornings, the natural nerves and “impostor syndrome” of two speaking slots in front of a very large audience, the high heels and copious amounts of coffee, I return home excited, inspired, and energized, ready to help the continuous growth of my terrific Vistatec family, and the wider globalization and localization community, and above all I make my return journey with the utmost sense of fulfilment.
I know we all draw something different from life’s experiences, and I am sure that the other #GALAMunich attendees are taking home lots of other learnings, perhaps ideas on how to plan for the integration of AI in their businesses, or how to implement Lights-Out Project Management, or how the latest advances in NMT will help translators focus on elevating the user experience of the translated content for the target audience, or how the interpreting world is being revolutionized with the integration of AI in sophisticated remote interpreting systems.
Whatever it is that you are bringing home with you, I hope you got half as much as I did from all of you.
This article first appeared on María Jesús de Arriba Díaz’s LinkedIn blog.
About Vistatec
We have been helping some of the world’s most iconic brands to optimize their global commercial potential since 1997. Vistatec is one of the world’s leading global content solutions providers. HQ in Dublin, Ireland with offices in Mountain View, California, USA.
To learn more about Vistatec please visit: www.vistatec.com