A recent thread on ProZ asked the question
"What would your dream translators' website provide?" That's a question with which quite a few have struggled in recent years. And it's one which I suspect is difficult to answer with a single platform or format.
What is a "translators' website" in the sense discussed in the
thread? Many things potentially. I think the definition could be applied fairly
to online discussions such as mailserve lists or Yahoogroups forums, various
Facebook pages with ongoing professional discussions, private forums for
professional associations such as the ATA or BDÜ, refuges out of the reach of
search engines for private discussions and terminology advice between
colleagues and the whole lot of marketplace portals with their often
frustrating mix of useful features and slave auction or red light district
character.
The simple fact that this discussion began on the world's largest translation-related
portal, a virtual workhouse known not only for the repressive policies of its
management but also for its residual usefulness as a repository of contact
information for translators with obscure language combinations and the breadth
of its offerings to an estimated 20,000 paying members indicates clearly that
what is lacking is not definable in a set of specifications for development.
Is a jobs board critical to the theoretical dream site? I think not. Some of
the most useful and successful sites I know have none such, and the
professionals who spend their time there are familiar enough with how to market
themselves. Even those new to the profession would benefit more in the long run
from interacting with experienced colleagues in the forums of professional
associations and engaging in mentorship programs such as that of the ITI in the
UK than they would from years turning tricks in the linguistic alleys of
Argentina, New York and Ukraine. Mind you, there is a lot of interesting
experience to be gained in those alleys, but the good life and sunny meadows of
the profession are elsewhere. The noise level of frustrated newbies - crying
over a broken Crados project or asking what information is needed on an invoice
and how to set a rate for a job (often after the translation has been
delivered!) - is deafening.
So what
is the ideal translators' website? I can only answer that
question for myself. Your answer may be very different and is just as valid if
you are speaking of your own needs. But one principle does seem to apply: the
best sites will likely not be free (good programming isn't cheap), and the
hidden costs of the ones that
are
might be considerable. Technical maintenance of a good web-based platform is
not trivial; as a former software developer with experience in web development,
I would not dare to "diss" the skills required to develop and
maintain a site like ProZ or even a much simpler one. No matter how good the
team, there will always be glitches to cope with as browser technology evolves
or hackers develop new strategies to steal our data and identities.
A recent advertisement I received from a commercial portal struck me by how
very much it and other commercial portals are aimed at people with a
consumer
mentality. The advert even
offered “prizes” for becoming a paid member. Reminded
me too much of virtual bread and circuses. But as with most aspects of life, the
greatest satisfaction is not to be found in
consumption, but rather in
contribution
to a community.
If you want to find your perfect site, you must contribute to
its creation and evolution. Add value to your translators’ site as you are
able, and you will likely find much more in return,
The very public character of the professional lives some of us lead can be a
real problem. I've had my identity hijacked twice that I know of off the ProZ
site (though the problems were handled quite satisfactorily by the management
once the scope of things became clear), and until I began using a pseudonym
there, the amount of search index spam created by the site's language instance
strategy (indexing every page in every language one can think of regardless of
what language the content is actually written in) was drowning out more
important information I tried to make available on the web. I've seen stolen
resumés re-used with other names and other mis-use of data.
Public discussions can also be good... or rather bad... for business. Some
of those who vent about a particular client might not be aware that said client
monitors their posts on ProZ or Twitter. I say some rather tactless things in
public, but I do so with a full awareness of where those words might be read.
Not everyone thinks about this. Or they think about it a lot and fear to ask
for help when they need it or offer a suggestion, because they don't want to
look "stupid". So really, privacy would seem to be important.
Privacy is one of the features of my professional association's member site
(mein.bdue.de). And of many others. But in a large organization like the BDÜ
(about 7000 members I think), the volume of traffic can be overwhelming. I'm
not a guy for big parties and noisy events - my hearing difficulties usually
cause me to seek a quiet place where I can have an enriching discussion with a
limited circle of very good people. I do the same for the translators' sites
that get most of my attention.
It's important for me to keep an overview and not feel like I'm lost in a
crowd at the circus. Important to know whom I communicate with and that this
person is worthy of respect for his or her character and professional
competence. Important to know that the discussions I have with these people
stay private or in a limited circle of our choosing. While this can probably be
done ad hoc in some way with Google+ (if you feel you can trust Google Not To
Be Evil), I like the structure of a programmed site. I need discussion forums
with a decent structure and usable search function, and I need a means of
seeking and offering help on critical terminology issues completely out of the
reach of Google and Bing
or other indexing services.
This is not completely achievable using the social
network sites with which I am familiar.
As professionals engaged in an activity which often requires a great breadth
of knowledge, research skills and access, we will never find everything we need
in one place. But if we have one place, one good place, where we can share our
questions and ideas securely and respectfully, it may be easier to find those
many other places when we need them.
Some of what we seek in online platforms may really be better found in the
physical world. I have found that all the webinars and podcasts I have heard
seldom reach me as well as personal attendance at a conference lecture or local
workshop. Discussions at my monthly
Stammtisch
are usually more enriching than threads on a discussion board, and the food
shared at the table beats an apple and coffee at my desk. Of course I can’t be
everywhere with all those with whom I would like to share my professional life,
but I probably could be in more places and be better for it.
Nonetheless,
the online world has become a critical element in the lives of a great many
translators, and this dependency will most likely increase in the years ahead.
So some thought – and action – regarding the kinds of translators’ sites we need is worth the investment in our
futures.
