Localization Fireside Chat
ALC Summit 2024 Highlights: Exclusive Conversations with Language Industry Pioneers
(upbeat music) - Good afternoon everybody. This is Robin Ayyub from the localization firesite chat coming to you live from ALC Summit in Montreal. And today we're doing a few interviews at the ALC trying to introduce a few new faces to the localization firesite channel. And I have with me, Brutus. And Brutus, would you mind introducing yourself to the adults? - Of course, nice meeting you, Robin again. My name is Brutus Marquin. I'm from One World Global Services. I'm the CEO of One World Global Services. - Nice to meet you. - And where are you located? - We have two offices, California and Salvador. - There must have been a long flight for you coming to Montreal. - And I get it from the Salvador, yes. - You do it from the Salvador. - Salvador, Panama, Panama. - Hello, how long it took you to get to Montreal? - It was two hours and a half to Panama and seven hours to Montreal. - God bless you, man. I tell you, you must really like to be at ALC. So the first question for you, why ALC? - Well, right now, everything related to language industry, I'm passionate about it. It's like it has become my passion. So I'm trying to learn as much as possible, meet people. I love that. - Learning, networking. - Networking and community industry. - Exactly. - So what does your company provide? What kind of services can you do? - OPI, over the phone interpretation, VIARIDE. And we also do customer service retention cells. - Absolutely, great. Now, the second question is I have for you and thanks for being so generous with your time and joining me today as well. I know a lot of things happening back there, so I wanna make sure that we have a cognitive time because why ALC Montreal? - Mon, first time in Montreal. - I know we saw each other the first time in Toronto at the CLIA conference last year, right? And that's where I first met you. - So it's my first time in the ALC event and the first time in Montreal. Last time I went to Gala in Spain. - Yes. - And I love it. - Did you like it? - Yeah, Gala. So I believe that ALC will be even better, even better. And is there any interest in the Canadian market? Are you interested in the Canadian market and what would be the type of interest to be looking for? - It will be. I believe that Canada is growing really fast because there's a lot of immigrants. - Yes. So it's growing really fast, not only in French, which is basically the main in English, but also in other languages. - Oh, great. - It's a good market too. - So we wish you best of luck in today's event and tomorrow I guess. And I hope whatever you're looking for is successful. - Awesome. - And welcome to Canada, welcome to Montreal. - Thank you so much. - The Canadian, I'd love to welcome you here. And I hope your trip to Canada is successful on the worthwhile. - Thank you so much. - Thanks again, thanks for joining me. - We appreciate it. - I appreciate it. - Thank you, thank you. - Hi everybody, this is Robin A.U. again from the localization fireside chat and welcome to another guest. We have on the channel today as well. We're collecting these conversations throughout the day today at ALC Summit in Montreal. And today I have the honor of the British, another guest, important guest to be with me today, Peter Madachian. Peter is the current president of CLIA. And I'm gonna ask Peter to introduce himself. And we have a few questions for you. - Hey. - Regarding the summit. - Okay. - If you don't mind introducing yourself. - No, not at all. Thank you, Robin. My name is Peter Madachian. I'm with exactly interpreting. I'm the general manager there. And I'm the current president of the Canadian Language Industry Association or what we affectionately call CLIA. Yeah, it's been a rollercoaster of a year. A lot of things are happening. A lot of events, a lot of news and discussions about technology and risks. - We're talking about cooperation between CLIA and ALC. - That's right. - We've talked about it for many years now. - That's right. - And it seems like now it's coming to fruition in terms of coming together and hence ALC in Montreal. - Absolutely. - Absolutely, yeah. You know, I mean, it's so, I find enriching to be a part of another language association gathering because we, you know, and they've shown us nothing but great community and spirit to include us and engage with us. And we're very happy to share that. And, you know, I feel like we can learn from them. We can see how they do some things and how we can do some things differently. And maybe at the same time, teach them a little bit about what we do and how we do things. And I think it's a great, great opportunity to sort of exchange that information. - Absolutely. And so what do you hope to achieve? What are you hoping to achieve from ALC Summit in Montreal during the next couple of days? - Yeah, well, our first goal was to welcome them to Canada. I mean, this is in Montreal. So we wanted to make sure that, you know, we give a nice warm welcome to them. - Yeah. - And really to sort of understand more how they are, how they see the world. As we know, there's a lot of challenges with technology, risks with, you know, financial situations, with volatile world order. And, you know, it's good to have other people's input and what they're seeing at their side and how, you know, we mirror some of that and how we differ in some of that. - Yeah. - So I think it's all about exchanging information and sort of learning from them and being more active and teaching our members and informing them about what is happening and what others are seeing. - And beside your role at CLIA, I know you manage another company called Exacta. - Yes. - So would you mind telling us a little bit about it? - No problem. So Exacta is an interpreting company. We provide interpreting and translation services, but primarily interpreting. We're primarily for community-based interpreting. So we do in-person appointments across Canada for the government, for enterprises, healthcare sector. You know, so community interpreting is very important. I mean, I'm passionate about it. It's important to me. I feel like it's an area of the language services. That's not, has not be represented well in the past. And, you know, we'd like to change that. - Oh, absolutely. And, you know, I don't want to take too much of your time. It's a first thank you for joining me. - Oh, not at all. - Always nice to see you. - Take some time together and chat a little bit. And it's always good to see you as well. And I know we live in the same city, but we travel outside the city to see each other. - That's right. - That's another discussion for another day. But thanks again for being part of this conversation. Any final thoughts for those who don't know about ALC or CLIA? - Yeah. You know, I mean, if you're in the language industry, I think you should check out either ALC or CLIA. If you're in Canada, definitely check us out. I think you'll find a lot of friends, a lot of people who are on your side and a community that you can really network with and engage with. - And for the audience, I really want to emphasize the fact that CLIA is looking for board members, volunteers. If you want to get involved, if you're passionate about languages and the language industry in general, or the technology that revolves around the language industry, I highly encourage you to check out CLIA website and look us up and engage by contacting me or Peter. - Absolutely. - And we'd love to connect with you and join a community that's really passionate about the language industry. We'd love to have you on board. - Absolutely. - Thank you so much. - We appreciate it. - Thank you so much. - Hi, everybody. This is Robin Ayyub again from the localization part site chat. And I have another victim for the podcast with me, my good friend Salton. And Salton, I go back now quite a number of years. - A couple of years. - And a good friend, a good personal friend and a good business colleague. I really appreciate the relationship we've had over the years. - Thank you. - And today, Salton, we're asking people to come in to the podcast and introduce themselves, tell somebody about themselves and tell us a little bit about their companies. If you don't mind introducing yourself to the audience, it'd be great. - Absolutely. Well, my name is Salton. 'Cause now we, I am the president of hybrid links. It's a language services company based in Toronto, Canada. So like Robin, we're both Canadians. And I am also a board member for the Association of Language Companies, ALC. And the conference happening in Montreal, I am proud to be here with our fellow Canadians, while Robin being a leader in this space. And it's always good to learn. It's always good to be here and get to meet people. - Absolutely. And you've been involved with the ALC Association for a number of years now. - Yes. - And we were talking last night, you spoke very positively about the association, which is amazing from what I'm here from you, the activities and what ALC is involved in, and the contribution that the ALC is doing for the industry as well. So kudos to you as a board member, kudos to ALC. And at the same time, if you don't mind, why do you attend ALC events in general? What is the draw? And what have you seen in terms of benefits? - I think it has more to do with an approach for grassroots. So when you come to ALC, there is less structure and less fluff if you will, compared to other conferences where it's more salesy, there's a lot of content that's being discussed that doesn't have any real-world value. And in some cases, it's a strategic for a certain type of sector or segment, but ALC seems to be the actual change makers in our industry. And they have demonstrated that time and again, and in terms of the value for your membership, in terms of the value for the organizations that actually take part in it, they see tangible value as a result of that. So what they do, for example, is things such as advocacy in the U.S. And they want to make it easier for their members to do business with their government, business with each other, business with the enterprise, private sector and so forth. And the reason why I am in Montreal, obviously, I'm a board member, I have to be. (laughing) - Part of the job. - Part of the job. And secondly, there's a lot happening in the industry that I have to learn about and keep abreast of. There's a lot of innovative companies attending this organization. And they are unlike many other associations like we have globally, where things are very restricted. It's wild garden, right? Like not many people are open to share and here, it's kind of, you know, you feel that fraternity, that the brotherhood, the less structure, less formal. And as a result, you get a lot done. - Correct. - And one of the observations I've scanned through for the past few hours that I've been here since last night is that the attendees are tend to be, which it's impressive as well, not just the, what I would call, you know, I'm not saying this in any disrespectful way at all. You know, legacy companies. Companies have been around for a while. It's also innovative companies. - Absolutely. - So there's a starting. They have somebody got a brand new idea. They go to associations such as ALC to test the water, to understand the industry, to get to learn what's the opportunity to look like. And who do I talk? Which is great because otherwise, you know, it's a venue. Otherwise you've got to do a lot of work before you get here. - Yeah, absolutely. And ALC is that type of an organization that goes to members and says, what can I do for you? - Yeah. - You're a member, you have to do these things. So for example, I'm now working with ALC's sustainability efforts. So we are trying to make a difference in the world with how climate change is an impending disaster about to happen. And what we can do as an industry, how we can change the, you know, have the top leadership in place. - Yep. - And that's what makes this organization different than others where we are open and we evolve and we change with the times. - Absolutely. - I think that's a key thing to remember. - So all associations should follow example, I guess. - Absolutely. - That's what I'm understanding from this event for the past couple of days here. So I don't want to take too much of your time. First, thank you for joining me and it's meant for a short conversation. - It's always a pleasure for sure. - And just to make sure that we're, you know, amplifying the voices as, you know, I do my job, I do my contribution. Does it mean, you know, the end all be all, but it's another voice added to the industry as well. - Absolutely. - Thanks again for joining me. I really appreciate it. - Thank you so much. - Appreciate it. - Appreciate it. - Appreciate it. - Anytime, thank you, anytime. - It's me, Robin, and you began from the localization prior site chat and welcome. I have another guest with me. He was a good friend of mine, good friend of the channel. Mr. Paul Penzo, Paul and I, we go back so many years from a company called All Languages. Paul is based in Toronto. So I'm not gonna have to steal his thunder and we're here at the ALC Summit in Montreal 2024 and Paul is attending the summit. So I'm gonna ask Paul to introduce himself if you don't mind. Welcome to the channel. - Thank you for having me, Robin. My, so my name is Paul Penzo. I'm the CEO of All Languages. We are a multilingual translation and interpreting company. We're basically equally sort of balanced in terms of our expertise on both sides. We were founded in the early '70s when innovation was sort of a new thing. And now we're continually here. So it's always great to meet and grow with fellow colleagues. - Absolutely, absolutely. And one of the things that, you know, I'm asking people here at ALC Montreal is one is Paul YALC in general. Why do you think ALC is important for the industry, for Canada, for you personally? Any angle you can hit on this, you don't have to hit all of them. - Well, the biggest one for me is I think that it's an American language company association. And really it's very similar to CLIA with the exception of the US has a much larger market. So with that comes more collaboration and more learnings from your peers in a non-competitive environment. I think it's great. - Absolutely. And so does ALC Montreal, I mean ALC has conferences every year and they host them in different cities. And this year I think it's the first time that I know about, maybe my memory's fading here, that ALC came to Canada to do a conference specifically in Montreal. Is that has any significance or importance in your mind? - I think I mean, it's easy for me to decide to come. - It's closeness, it's getting together with people such as yourself that I know well and have grown over decades with. And yeah, I think the proximity and just getting me back into attending conferences, I think is big 'cause I've been primarily focused on Canada lately and on our business and growing it. So coming in and growing and learning from the world's best is great. - Anything in the agenda that you've seen that it piques your interest, you say I must see this particular item for no. - Most of the things that are interesting me right now, obviously the AI-related things and the tech because things are changing so quickly in our world and I think as an LSP, it's very, very important to know what's happening from the best in the world. - Absolutely, I guess AI is on everybody's mind. It's been on everybody's mind for the past couple of years, but exhilarating now. And I wish you the best of luck. I hope whatever you're looking for at the ALC Summit in Montreal comes to fruition, obviously, I wish you nothing but success to you and to your company. And I want to thank you for taking the time and being with me on this short conversation. I'm hoping that I can book you in for another longer, broader conversation for like 40, 45 minutes conversation. We'll do that some other time. - That's right. - Thanks again, Paul. Always a pleasure to see you. - Thank you, my friends. - You're a good friend and a brother, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, everybody. This is Robin A.U. from the localization fireside chat and we have another guest at the ALC Summit Montreal today. Michael Edmondston and Michael is joining me to introduce himself. Tell me a little bit about his company and also talk a little bit why ALC and why ALC Montreal. So Michael, welcome to the channel, welcome to the podcast. - Thank you, thank you. - I just met Michael, by the way. It's all brand new to me and him, by the way. It's just a brand new experience. So Michael, if you go to my mind, telling audience about yourself and the company we work for. - Yeah, I work for Accula Interpreting in Translation LLC. We are based out of Albany, New York. We service about 175, mostly rare and less diffuse languages. Really foremost, African-centric, but really any rare language is what we've niched in. And I actually work for my wife and CEO, Dan Buomoutite. She's originally from DR Congo. She's in a silie and now fully immigrated U.S. citizen. And I've been working for about two years. - Excellent. And Michael, you've been a member for ALC for a long time? - She just joined about a year and a half ago two years. - So why ALC, what drove you to become a member? - So, I mean, she connected with someone and was like, "Do you know about ALC?" And it was, she realized, "Okay." It was, "How do you know what you don't know?" And it's, when you're working on your own, you can only go so far before you really need some help. And there's times where just, unless you're in an industry rich group, there's no way to get the answers. And so it's been great for her. I, this is my first summit conference. And she was like, "You've gotta come "because you need to be part of this space "because you're in a place." So I was like, "Yeah, of course." But it was like, you know, to meet the people, to meet the faces that she's been telling me about for a couple of years, actually, you were one of them. And so she was like, "You've gotta meet." And I was like, "All right, let's do it." And, you know, obviously it's, what, four hour drive. - Absolutely, it's not that far. - No, it's not the corner. But the way she described this organization was really, it's like a community at the family. You know, everybody has their own companies, but there's a sense of, as long as we are, being careful about it, there's certain things we don't talk about, right? But everybody wants us as a group to succeed. And so because of that, you can ask some things that maybe another industry people would be more rigid about, and I just found it a very beautiful way. She's described people and now I'm meeting people on the, oh, yes. - Yeah, of course. - I love that. - That's right, that's right. - Yeah. - Is this your first time in Montreal? - Yes. - Because we have, my sister-in-law lives here. - Oh, okay. - And so we come up probably four or five times a year. And her mom's actually here visiting and goes back, I think, next month. - Of course. - She still lives in Congo, too, so when it starts getting cold, she's like, no, she's gonna go back cold. - She's like, ah, I don't do stuff. - Excellent, yeah. - And so I know we only been with the conference here for a few hours. - Yeah, what's your impression so far? - So much, yeah. - I really, it's-- - Would you do it again? - Oh, yeah, but people are so approachable and I am, there's a reason why I've worked remote for 20 years. Like, I'm not someone who loves large groups, but this has been more, like, it's about 180 people, but it doesn't feel like 180 people because you have so many different rooms and it has more of a-- - Sanley, almost, yeah. - Yeah, everybody knows everybody. - And they're sort of-- - Everybody's welcoming. - Yeah, and so I felt like it's, you have a chance to be like, oh yeah, I saw you on the elevator and what was your name again? - Yeah. - And what do you do and how long you've been doing this and there's so many, like, I'm an IT person by trade and so, you know, there's language teachers, there's organizations that serve language services. So there's always someone interesting to talk to and I'm just here-- - And by the way, to the audience, Michael and I have something comical, IT business, previous life. - So, and for those who probably, I keep saying it on this channel, those know me or don't know me, you know, I started as an IT person, that's my, I was a technologist, complete accident, I came across this industry, I was on a flight from Washington to Toronto, the individual sat beside me on the plane owned a company that's 21 years ago, owned a company in the industry, there was no, something called industry at the time, it was just, you do a translation, which at the time, I'm a technologist, it didn't dawn on me, it was a language translation, it was like IP address translation, we used to have like a company that manufactured, you know, network address, translation devices, not used to call them. And so, no, I said, no, no, no, we do languages, two hours later, and many gins later. - Right, right, right, right, right. - Kim vis me to come and work for him, so, you know, long story short, here we are. - Yeah, yeah. - I wanna thank you so much for being such a good sport, thanks for joining me, appreciate it. - It's so good to be here, thank you so much for having me. - All the best to you and to your wife on the endeavors. - Thank you so much so much, appreciate it. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (soft music) (gentle music)