The 10th annual conference of the American Translators Association Translation Company Division (ATA-TCD) was held this past weekend in Quebec City, Canada. At first glance, the titles of the presentations seemed to cover familiar topics, but in the actual discussions, both the speakers and participants evoked a sense of urgency and a need for “something different.” So, exactly what kind of changes are we talking about, both for the industry at large, and for language services providers (LSPs)?

The conference covered a wide range of topics, and the cries of “away with the old, bring on the new” rang out clearly in several categories:

• Adopt a new marketing mentality. Bryan Montpetit of LinguaCounsel discussed the “new media” — using electronic channels, social networks, web-based strategies, and search engine optimization to reach vast audiences. Wendy Greenwald of The Solution PR stressed the importance of using public relations tactics to raise the media profile of even the smallest LSPs, raising the age-old question of branding importance for the sector.
• Revisit recruitment and contracting strategies. Barbara and Bruce AmEnde of Amende Human Resource Consulting discussed recruiting, interviewing, hiring and retention, and the need for background checks depending on the industry in question. Noel P. Tripp of law firm Jackson Lewis laid out the legal risks of hiring employees and contractors.
• Recognize standards for what they really are. Jiri Stejskal, ATA President and CEO of Cetra Language Solutions, reviewed the European (CEN) and US (ASTM) translation quality standards, while Ann Rutlege, President of Megalexis, joined Gonzalo Peralta, President of the Canadian Language Industry Association (AILIA) to outline the Canadian translation services standard and certification. For the majority of LSPs, standards provide guidelines for process design. In places where they are mandatory, they reduce competition by closing the market to just the few players that fully comply.

However, the most important take-away that requires change from most LSPs in the marketplace was this: Embrace technology, or else. Here’s why:

• Project management requires technology. Every LSP owner and executive wants to save money and increase efficiency and revenue. In a panel about project management software, moderated by Duncan Shaw, President of DTS Language Services, participants discussed interoperability of different systems and the pros and cons of home-grown applications. Currently, no single off-the-shelf tool meets all needs, so LSPs are doing their best to marry one system with another.
• Old dogmas are gathering dust. Renato Beninatto, CEO of milengo, discussed the need for an industry-wide paradigm shift and a reevaluation of outdated notions, such as “translation memories are assets” and “fewer translators produce more consistent output.” Attendees engaged in a spirited discussion of the possibilities offered for improving quality and increasing volumes through collaborative translation models.
• Virtual teams are already a reality. Farah Arjang Vezvaee, of Arjang Language Center, highlighted the benefits of remote work environments to reduce costs and improve productivity — especially in the global industry that is translation — through a host of tools that enable better communication and more effective collaboration.

Along with Don Shin, President and CEO of 1-Stop Translation, Common Sense Advisory spoke about emerging technologies and the use of new media in the language services industry. Our talk stressed two critical pieces of advice for LSPs:

• Acknowledge that the very nature of content is changing. Machine translation makes it easier for internet users to engage with content from around the world in unprecedented ways. Solutions like Google Translator Toolkit enable anyone to obtain a faster language transfer of web-based information, collaborate with other open-source enthusiasts, and customize to infinity. Social networking and crowdsourcing have made it possible to achieve critical mass for innumerable purposes.
• Befriend technology before it becomes your enemy. Technology is inextricably linked to the translation industry, yet most LSPs are still doing business the way it was done more than a decade ago. Fear prevails, as translation companies wonder how technological advances will affect the way their services are procured and provided. The translation business has changed as a result of technology and will continue to evolve at a very swift pace.

In short, translation businesses that want to remain competitive will need to make significant changes in core areas — from marketing to virtual team environments, from quality assurance to production models, and everything in between. Those LSPs that do so will shorten the production cycle, boost quality, and watch their businesses grow as they evolve along with society’s fast-changing relationship with content. Those that do not will simply fade away.