On Round Tables

Round table artwork in modern art gallery at Beaubourg

A wall of neon signs flash "open" in numerous languages as you enter the main modern art gallery at the Centre Georges Pompidou. There is a large, round wooden table just inside the entrance. Round tables hold an important place in open negotiations and in international peace.

Neon "open" signs in different languages at gallery entrance

Furniture as artwork

The unusual table drew this carpenter's daughter in for a closer look. Furniture presented as artwork is perhaps more unexpected to others. The round table concept is also very familiar to me. I grew up near Glastonbury in Somerset. Glastonbury is reputed to be King Arthur's legendary Avalon. The idea of a round table is that it can have no head. There is a no preferential seating order, because there is no head of the table to sit near. Everyone seated at a round table is considered an equal.

Round table trend

I have attended a number of events using the round table format during the past year. The Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) used it at the London Language Show in late 2014. The same format was used successfully by UKTI at their recent Big Data event in Paris. It was also used at the FinTech Assembly in London in late February 2015.

Advantages

The advantage of the round table approach is that everyone gets an opportunity to speak. Less confident participants can feel more comfortable to speak in the more informal setting. You are also more likely to identify the right potential partners for your business. The approach lends itself to better networking and after event follow-ups.

Round table artwork

The table in the modern art gallery is elevated from the floor. Maybe this signifies that it is intended for those in elevated positions? There are words carved into table's centre. With my feet firmly on the floor as an ordinary citizen, I couldn't get the necessary height to read them. It seemed odd that the chairs were embedded in the table. I couldn't find any explanation of the piece. Nor could I find details on its maker. I noticed that the chairs at the table were not all the same. Not equal. Some were larger and stronger than others. Some seemed slightly crooked. One looked as if it might crack under any weight.

Equal?

Even if seated at a round table, all parties in a negotiation are rarely equal. In international negotiations, the more dominant personalities and stronger nations should allow alternative views to be heard.

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is
an entrepreneurial
French to English
translator, editor,
content writer and
marketing consultant. 

Contact: karen@anglicity.com 
for further information 
on Anglicity's services.

 

At the Centre Georges Pompidou

Inside the Centre Georges Pompidou

"Where on earth?" That was my thought when I visited the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris for the first time. I had never seen anything like such architecture before. I still remember how the external pipework and escalators fascinated me as a young teenager.

When I revisited on 21st March, the enormous building still looked very innovative. Its visitor numbers and the very long ticket queues suggest that Beaubourg has retained its power of innovation and popularity.  The contents on the inside took me by surprise this time. 

Jeff Koons' Magenta Balloon Dog

Jeff Koons

I visited the modern art collection of the American Jeff Koons. Although much of it was pleasing to the eye, I am afraid that I found the majority somewhat shallow. I didn't really know what to make of the brightly-coloured and overgrown balloon sculptures. The Incredible Hulk, Popeye, a huge red lobster, etc all left me cold. 

Jeff Koons' exhibition at Centre Georges Pompidou

It all seemed too superficial to me. The explanatory blurbs generally seemed too contrived for my taste. Maybe they was some criticism of the modern commercial world and its fascination with how things look? The gold figures of Michael Jackson and his pet monkey might confirm this.

Hervé Télémaque

I much preferred the artworks in other galleries. For example, the ones that offered some historical comment or reflection on the current state of the world - e.g. racism depicted in the work of French Haitian-born artist Hervé Télémaque. 

Artist as archivist

There was a simple mound of white square blocks in one room. Some bore Arabic script. Some in Latin Script bore simple historical date information. I understood this to be a pile of grievances built up over centuries in the Middle East. The blocks could topple over at any time.

In the corridor outside were the two large works that had the greatest effect upon me. One was a painting. The faces seemed Far Eastern in origin. All were crying out looking at the sky. The colours were very bold - yellow, orange and red. What imminent disaster could they see in the sky? Global warming? A nuclear explosion? Armageddon of some sort? 

On the opposite side, there were shelves full of world globes. Each globe looked very swollen as if nursing large wounds. The wounds were taped over. Over and over again. Pinned to the shelves were pictures of major incidents. They looked Middle Eastern in origin - the scars and after-effects of fires and bombed-out buses. 

The American artist's balloons seem all the more superficial and detached from real life.

 

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is a

marketing consultant

with project management, 

technical writing and

translation skills.

Please do not hesitate to contact Karen for further information on Anglicity's services karen@anglicity.com

Spring Air in Paris

Spring colour in the Marché aux Fleurs, Place Louis Lépine

The third day of my recent Paris trip was officially the first day of Spring. The Marché aux Fleurs (Flower Market) in Place Louis Lépine was filled with spring colour and greenery. Paris will be hosting COP21 in the battle against climate change in 2015. Air quality was poor during my stay. French TV claimed it was worse than Shanghai.

On my first morning, the Eiffel Tower was obscured by mist and murk. At the weekend, travelling by Metro was free to encourage Parisians to use public transport instead of their cars.

Paris owes much to Baron Haussmann for its wide, "airy" streets. British cities simply cannot replicate his urban planning . Today, such an autocratic approach will not be tolerated. British cities also have much heritage to preserve and cannot emulate Paris despite inner-city congestion problems.

Boulevard Haussmann in Paris

The Recession seems to have left Paris with a backlog of maintenance repairs, but the solid infrastructure must leave many cities envious. Wherever I went, traffic seemed to move without too much difficulty - even during the rush hour. Accustomed to London congestion, I kept allowing too much time to get from A to B.  I couldn't help wondering if the wide streets were such a blessing if they made Parisians more inclined to drive into the capital.

I was very surprised by reports on French TV. Despite regulation, the French still smoke heavily in public places - and, French women are more likely to continue smoking in pregnancy. I have always understood the French to be very health-conscious.

I saw evidence of eco-friendly initiatives. Paris has its equivalent of London's "Boris bikes". I saw row upon row of them - all largely unused. Maybe because of the high pollution rates during my stay? I also saw electric cars being charged in the streets. Again, I was disappointed not to see one in use. 

Autolib' electric car sharing scheme in Paris

At the Centre Georges Pompidou, I saw an artwork by the British-born and New Zealand-based David Trubridge. It was an orange sphere representing the sun with white wings to either side. Trubridge used natural, sustainable and recyclable materials.

The work hangs above visitors' heads as a poetic reminder of the dangers of climate change. David Trubridge was inspired by both Maori legend and Greek myth. Like Icarus, Man is flying too close to the Sun. It seems an appropriate warning in the host city for COP21 - especially just after the solar eclipse.

If you would appreciate help with your technical marketing communications, email karen@anglicity.com or call Karen on +44 (0)20 8581 9369.

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is a

technical writer and 

translator with over

15 years' marketing

experience. Anglicity offers

marketing consultancy and

content marketing with a 

particular focus on innovation

and the environment.

Sales at the French CNET Conference

Eiffel Tower stands tall in March sunshine

Following UKTI's embassy event on Big Data, I remained in Paris for the French association of translation companies' annual conference. CNET (Chambre Nationale des Entreprises de Traduction) held the event in a five-star hotel near the Eiffel Tower. The conference title was Vendre Plus, Vendre Mieux (Sell More, Sell Better).

 
CNET's President, Pierre Bastos, opened the conference. Some faces were familiar from previous ATC and EUATC conferences. Participants had travelled from as far as Israel, Greece, Estonia and Finland. Most were French, with a fair number from Lyon as well as Paris.

EUATC

Pierre then handed over to Catherine Granell, CNET's General Secretary. She gave a presentation on the EUATC's forthcoming conference in Lisbon on 23-24 April. She stressed the value of networking with other European translation companies. She expressed her concern at how poorly France is represented at such international events each year. In 2014, just 4 French companies attended the EUATC conference, despite the fact that it took place in Juan-les-Pins, France. Over lunch later, a number of French participants said that they were considering attending the ELIA (European Language Association) conference from 16-18 April in Lyon.

Sales

There followed an excellent presentation on sales by Dominique Zouzou. Dominique is an experienced Sales and Marketing Director for major international companies. His presentation was well-supported with data and graphics. He demonstrated the change in sales approach required by today's clients. I was fascinated to hear confirmation that the marketer's task has increased, while the sales role is now confined to the very end of the cycle. 


Dominique supplied some interesting figures: 

• Sales is a thankless task with a 99% failure rate from prospects.
• 90% of sales prospects never reply to cold calls.
• 93% of clients today use internet research before contacting you.
• The sales process is 57% complete before you even know about it.
• 65% of the top sales performers use social media.

Dominique took us through the changing demographics. He explained the changing contact preferences of the different generations - from the Baby Boomers to the future's Generation Z. The data came from the US. I wondered if social networking was advancing at the same rate in France. (Networking over lunch in France seems as important as ever).

E-business

The next presentation Selling Translation on the Internet followed on neatly. Welshman Nigel T Packer of Pelatis Online presented in English. He advised participants that their translation teams would need new e-business and transcreation skills - or, (Nigel teased) UK e-businesses might cross the Channel and "steal" their work. He spoke of a new 10-week course at Swansea University, hopes for a Masters course and his planned masterclass at April's EUATC conference.

CNET Survey

Next up was Hugues Mantoux, CNET's administrator. He presented the CNET membership survey that first began in 2002. No official survey of the French translation market exists. Concerns about the number of active participants in CNET's 2015 survey casts some doubt on the validity of the findings and figures.

The French market appeared much smaller than I would have expected. There are relatively few new entrants to the market with most companies being mature and well-established. The average French translation business was experiencing a decline in its turnover, especially in Paris. Any industry growth seemed to be outside Paris. Concerns over payment delays and pricing are shared with the rest of Europe. There was a worrying 11% drop in internships.

Hungarian Agreement

After a very enjoyable lunch, Miklós Bán presented on how Proford, the Hungarian Translation Companies' Association negotiated an agreement with its freelance translator associations. There is much food for thought here for other European associations. With 15 years' experience in the industry, Miklós shared a perception that it is not always easy to work with French freelance translators. In Hungary, two agreements (one for translation and the other for interpreting) resulted in a 16-page document that transformed the business climate.

A lack of trust and understanding existed between Hungarian translators and translation companies. There was also a generational gap between the older and younger translators. Hungarians often still look to the state to resolve professional issues and conflict. Democracy and self-regulation are newer to Hungarians than the French. (I will return to this interesting agreement in a separate blog with greater detail and my own thoughts).

Translation Buyer's Perspective

Arnaud Kauer then gave a translation buyer's perception of a multinational's translation requirements. As I gave a presentation at ELIA Budapest in 2012 from my then translation buyer's viewpoint, I was very interested to hear his views. I noted some cultural differences in his approach to the subject. I also observed how his comments were received in the room.

Social Media

Juliette Eskenazi gave the final presentation of the day on social media, thus building on its demonstrated importance to sales today. She discussed Facebook and LinkedIn primarily. Facebook is the main French social network with 28 million users. There seemed to be some reticence in the room about social media, particularly from Brittany. Our speaker and her audience demonstrated the same difference in attitude between the generations as found in other countries.

Two very full days in Paris came to an end. It was good to meet new contacts at the CNET conference and exchange contact details. I hope that some will become good future business partners and prospects. We said our farewells in the hotel's garden. We had missed the solar eclipse earlier in the day. The morning's mist had cleared. The Eiffel Tower now stood tall in a sunny, blue sky.

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is
a technical marketing

consultant. She offers

content writing,

editing and French to

English transcreation 

services.

Contact: karen@anglicity.com 
for further information.

Big Data with UKTI in France

UKTI event at the Residence of the British Ambassador in Paris

On 19^th March, I attended a very informative event at the Residence of the British Ambassador in Paris entitled:

 "How Big Data and Analytics are Energising Economic Growth - Accelerating Innovation, Building Trust, Powering Performance".

UKTI's Lyon-based team planned the programme to explore the business, social and technical challenges created by Big Data and analytics.

Sir Peter Ricketts, the British Ambassador to France, opened the day's proceedings and underlined how both Britain and France are at the forefront in the field.

The day comprised of 4 panel discussions in the morning and a series of roundtables in the afternoon. The event was very successfully chaired by David Reed of DataIQ and involved a well-selected blend of knowledgeable UK and French panel speakers and roundtable hosts.

The 4V's

In his introduction, David Reed referred to the 4V's of Big Data:

·      Velocity

·      Volume

·      Variety

·      Veracity

He stressed the pace of change and the importance of unlocking the value in data. Unstructured data is of no value whatsoever. We need to work out how to structure it. A new skillset will be required.

Female caution

There were many knowledgeable female panellists. It was generally the women who raised the main notes of caution and ethics in this new Big Data "gold rush".

The event covered so much ground that it is impossible to do the subject justice in a single blog. My main takeaways are summarised below:

1. Infrastructure will be key

Structuring huge amounts of data will be power-hungry. 

2. Doubts over ability of mature cities to expand

Global Switch datacenters commented that most mature cities are struggling with ageing infrastructures. No additional capacity in London; tough situation in Paris. You need a window of 3-5 years to get a reliable new electricity supply. (Major financial centres cannot afford to lose even a day's trading or want to risk resorting to back-up systems).

3. Structuring data

Data needs to be structured and segmented to unlock value for different demographics, locations and requirements.

4. Right "TechCity" location

Four key factors:

(i) TechCities need to be sited near universities producing graduates with the right skills from data science courses with very current industry relevance.

(ii) Access to local staff with technical know-how (examples of Barcelona, Toulouse and Montpellier given).

(iii) A supportive local Government

(iv) Must meet demanding bandwidth requirements (rural areas should not be excluded. Reverse of UK trend to live in countryside in France).

4. Verifiable identity and privacy

The ability currently exists to identify more than 50% of the world's population. It was suggested that identifying the remaining 50% could be achieved within 5 years. Accessed via worldwide agreements, but dangers and concerns exist over privacy.

5. Consumer at the heart of regulation 

Concern for the consumer needs to be at the heart of regulation. Only the right people should have access to given data. Access rights need careful segmentation.

6. Standards and good governance

Standards are important - ISO/IEC 27001: Information security management.

Significant numbers of organisations are simply not doing enough on security protocols.

7. Data security breaches

US requires that data security breaches are reported within 72 hours. Most companies do not realise that they have been attacked for 200 days. The average cybercriminal only needs one day to succeed. In 69% of cases, a cyberattack is detected by third parties - usually the customer with a fraud on his account.

8. Hacking of health and medical data

Major and powerful pharmaceutical companies are very keen to access data relating to medicines. There is a major concern about the security of medical data. Credit card details can be changed. Medical data cannot be changed if hacked. French example given of hacked blood tests with extortion demands. 

9. Potential role of innovation centres

Example of TUBA in Lyon to capture local ideas. Aim for a bottom-up rather than top-down approach. Success of the Lyon scheme should be unveiled in October 2015.

10. SMEs for innovation

There is concern over private sector involvement in research. Often findings do not make it into the public domain. Innovation needs to happen with SMEs. Is FrenchTech competitive approach one to be copied? Tech clusters already exist around the UK.

What next?

UKTI hopes to build a UK/French collaborative business campaign around the Information Economy. Plans are already afoot in Big Data and IoT. The new Eurostars scheme may offer French and British SMEs opportunities to collaborate.

If you would appreciate help with your technical communications, email karen@anglicity.com or call Karen on +44 (0)20 8581 9369.

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is a

technical writer and 

translator with over

15 years' marketing

experience. Anglicity offers

marketing consultancy and

content marketing with a 

particular focus on innovation.

The Education of Girls

Malala won the Nobel Peace Prize at an amazing 17. There are many unsung heroines in the world. It seems to be a very appropriate time between International Women's Day and Mother's Day to recognise such heroines. Many mothers appreciate the value of education for their daughters because it was absent from their own lives. This blog is a thank you to a very special mother.

Unsung heroine

My mother is an unsung heroine. At 15, she left school barely able to read. An endless succession of childhood illnesses and hospital stays meant that she was hardly in school to learn. She lost her first job because she couldn't spell.  At secretarial college, a kindly lady helped her to read, spell and do shorthand. It seems ironic that in her later working life, many better-educated colleagues relied on her excellent spelling and grammar. The ability must always have been there. Confidence knocked in early life can remain elusive.

Three girls

Carole Andrews (my mother) married at 17. She had three daughters while still in her twenties. She worked hard to spare us her bad school experiences. She ensured that I could read fluently at 4, before even starting school.

Achievement

My mother continued to support my education as best she could even after divorce. She recognises that education opens doors. As a single parent on a secretary's salary, she ensured that all three of her daughters benefited from a higher education. We followed the career path of our choice. So it was that I, the great-granddaughter of a Welsh coal miner, was the first member of our family ever to go to university. At one stage my mother had 3 jobs to make this possible. What she couldn't achieve for herself, she helped us to achieve. Three daughters: two scientists and one linguist. Quite an achievement.

Do your best

No "thank you" could ever be enough for some of the sacrifices she had to make. My level of success often does not appear enough by comparison. Probably becoming Britain's Prime Minister, achieving a double doctorate or winning the Nobel Peace Prize wouldn't have come near either. But then, she never expected any of that. She only ever asked that we tried our best within our abilities.

Literacy to pay forward

I cannot hope to repay her. Neither of us is particularly demonstrative. The words always seem to come out backwards, sideways or not at all.  But I can write. I use those very literacy skills that she helped me to develop. I can write using the education that she made possible to pay it forward.

My family's story illustrates what can be achieved by educating girls in just a generation.

Thank you, Mum, today and always.

As a mother of two sons, I will save my views on the education of boys for a future blog. Please check back soon.

Coding weekend at the Guardian

Last weekend, the Guardian ran a 2-day masterclass entitled: Build a website: Introduction to HTML5 and CSS3.* Carlo Rossi, our teacher, was brilliant. He assumed no previous knowledge. I had previously found website coding a difficult and frustrating skill to acquire. Carlo succeeded in taking the whole class from zero to a fully functional website by the end of the second day.

Carlo Rossi (half Italian/half British) comes from a traditional print background. He now works on ads at The Guardian. He taught himself website design from books. Endless experimenting. A lot of frustration. A lot of tears. An awful lot of tears apparently - but now he can teach coding to the previously "unteachable". People who have struggled to learn something themselves often make the best teachers. If only the British Education System could appreciate that.

Carlo described how nervous he had been teaching his first class of 16 eager students. Now after 15 such masterclasses, he can relax and be himself. He has perfected the timing and lesson plan. There was even time for questions - and a few bad jokes along the way.

Our class was a friendly group of 4 women to 3 men - so appropriate for women to be coding on International Women's Day.  It seemed like no time at all before we were able to tweet our first effort. Hello World!

Before long, I had understood elements, declarations, selectors, pseudo-elements, attributes and parent-child relationships. Having learnt the hard way himself, Carlo assumed nothing. He explained clearly and kept repeating it all. He encouraged neat coding habits. If one of our class got into difficulties, he knew instantly that we had spelt "color" the English way, or used : instead of ; etc.

The garish colours of our first efforts would not win any design prizes. There were no underachievers  in Carlo's class.

Day 1: following projected instructions

The class was conducted on modern Mac equipment. We were able to follow Carlo's instructions easily from his screen projected onto two whiteboards at the front. He fostered a friendly class environment that meant that we helped each other along too. At the end of the second day, we all felt the huge satisfaction of a job well done.

Fully functional website on my screen at the end

Lunch and coffee breaks were in the Guardian's canteen. I enjoyed the tasty vegetarian option on Saturday and roast chicken on Sunday. I loved the Guardian's location overlooking the canal. It can be reached easily from Kings Cross and St Pancras International stations. I liked the light and airy, modern glass building with its brightly coloured seating areas. The perfect place to inspire a writer.

At one point, Carlo showed us how to ensure that our own website tab remains open, despite linking to an external website.* I asked how I could ensure that my visitors were forced back to my website. Carlo frowned. He said that was "censorship". As we all know, the Guardian does not approve of censorship.

The introductory website course has my approval. It doesn't end there. There is also a more advanced web-responsive course. Carlo doesn't abandon his students, as he offers to remain in touch via email. Not all attendees go on to build their own websites. Even busy marketing managers can benefit from understanding their web designers' code.

You don't need to take my word for how good this course is. Word has already got out. One of our number flew in from Singapore - and apparently that it is not unusual for this excellent class at all.

Karen Andrews runs
Anglicity Ltd. She is an
entrepreneurial French
to English translator,
content writer and 

marketing consultant.

For further information,

email karen@anglicity.com