Sparkling Lengua

The challenge: organizing the translation of the content of a 24-page bilingual “newspaper”, every day of the show, with very tight deadlines

The solution: working with a reliable team of highly professional translators, always remaining in close contact with the editor on the client’s side

My job is to manage the translation flow for the drupa daily.

We’re talking about a 24-page ‘newspaper’ which is an absolute staple of the industry, with every exhibitor wanting to be in it. It is published every day during the show, with articles written in English and German by native journalists and usually very technical in nature, since they cover pretty much all aspects and technologies of the graphic arts. Each of these articles has to be translated into the other language, so both versions can appear on each page. My job is to get the articles to the translators, and then return the translated files to the editors of the Daily. Straightforward enough, you might say … but the time constraint makes it somewhat more challenging. drupa

Let me explain: a couple of weeks before the show, I receive the background articles, the longer ones that can be written in advance, and these need to be translated as well but at this stage, time is not so much of the essence.

By then, I’ve known for a while that the project is a go and I’ve had time to book my wonderful translators – I’ve been working with most of them since the 2012 drupa, I know they’re highly experienced in this field, I trust their work and we make a great team. At the beginning of the project, each of them also receives an updated translation memory including any previously translated content. We will, of course, never get identical sentences, but the specific terminology in the graphic arts sector keeps accumulating with the ongoing technological advances and can be used for reference.

N person reading the drupa daily ow, things get really serious during the actual show, when they write the articles ‘on the spot’, after visiting an exhibitor or attending a press conference or any other event. I’m constantly in contact with the editor of the daily. Several times a day, seven days a week, I get between 1 and 6 articles (ranging from 30 words to 600), which need to be translated within maximum two hours and returned to the editor who then forwards them to the team in charge of the layout. Every issue goes to press in the evening to be distributed the following day to thousands of people wishing to keep up with the latest news and trends.

It’s up to me to decide which article to send to which translator, based on their availability, any previous similar content we might have had (if they’ve already translated an article for a specific manufacturer, for example, I figure it’s best to send them any related article, for consistency). I also try to balance the workload to be fair when it comes to the word count each translator receives. Finally, while juggling with the incoming and outgoing articles, I also have to write down every single thing: who translates what, the exact word count and the deadline, marking what I’ve already delivered and what is still pending, etc. drupa daily

This project is pretty intense, as you can imagine, but the interactions with the editor and my team of translators make it worth it and there is no greater satisfaction for me than to hold the finished product in my hands, knowing the client trusts us and is happy with our work, as evidenced by this wrap-up message sent to Fabien: ‘Thanks for the team’s help again, Stephanie was Sparkling as ever – so I knew we were in safe hands!’

- Stephanie PARIZEL, Language Specialist at Sparkling Lengua