Happy Holidays from Admerix

Eight years so far!

    We usually try to make some point about the industry in these posts (as well as post them regularly so it doesn't look like every other company blog that is enthusiastically started and then forgotten), but today happens to be the 8th birthday for Admerix and we are celebrating this week.
    Back in 2005 a group of experts from some of the largest localization companies banded together to put service and personalized service first.
    Even back then the idea was going around that software workflow systems were going replace project managers and the need to communicate with clients. The dream that machine translation could soon replace human translators was being touted by some startup companies. This was all part of the idea that localization companies could charge big money to end clients while no longer having to pay project managers or linguists. And interestingly, both of these visions are still being touted today. But we still don't believe a word of it... :)
    Over the years Admerix has worked hard to become a recognized industry leader by cementing our reputation as a production house (and not one of the many industry middlemen for translation). We continue to be a company of hard-working localization professionals who continually fine tune our ability to foresee challenges on projects.
    At the end of the day all our project managers, engineers and subject specialists keep in mind what they can offer. Does the client feel confident that we can sort of the challenges of complex and technical localization projects? Are they able to leave their office on time every Friday confident Admerix is on the case with handling every new last minute edit their boss causally tosses into the mix?
    This is the strength of real people handling projects. This is the strength and the reliability of Admerix. After 8 years we are proud to improve on what have built and continue providing first class service and the confidence that makes project manager around the world choose Admerix.

People or Systems? Which is more important in translation?

We know every translation project is a unique proposition. Working in Thai or Arabic? There's going to be issues with stacked tones and right-to-left character placement. How about when the boss walks through the office and changes the text in the project to be localized? The client issues last minute changes, or the documents are found not to be created in a standardized way - complications always arise due to the very nature of the work.

One school of thought contends that clients with localization projects want online systems and strict content creation standards. Another says that ISO bureaucracy is the answer.

Systems and standards are almost always used, although not to improve quality or ensure a successful project, but to increase margins. For instance, by getting a cheap and inexperienced linguist to translate a job and then have a competent linguist willing to work for an editing fee to "fix" it all. Another way is to use ISO standards to enable a localization company to hire an intern instead of a real PM to "manage" a project by slavishly following a series of steps--and of course companies call this "quality control!"

Truth is that systems and novices cannot achieve quality – only people can produce quality and it must be the right people on the job – people with the experience needed to solve problems and thereby generate client confidence. It is about the right linguist, the right editor, the right proofreader, and the right localization project manager applying their experience and proven processes to every aspect of your project.

Having a company with real people who know what's going on and can fix any problem is vital to everyone's peace of mind.

Admerix continues to invest in quality. This means industry experience. This means project managers and specialty linguists. This means real people solving your challenges.

Why not let us quote your last translation project for a rate comparison? Admerix is ready to back you up. Admerix will make every project a success.

The demand for audio localization work

In the last few years, there has been a steep rise in demand for voiceover localization work. Primarily this has come about because of the huge cost benefits in using multimedia formats for training in educational fields.

However, conventional localization companies simply do not have the infrastructure or expertise to attempt audio projects. Just the size of some of these projects has been quite tempting though, and there have been numerous examples of "workaround" solutions being adopted in an effort to win the work.

Shortcuts involving linguistic resources recording work individually with nothing more than a PC and a microphone have been disastrous for several large vendors. To make sure budgets and schedules are adhered to, it is key to work with an experienced provider of localization audio services.

Admerix provides full studio audio services for all the Asian, Arabic, and European languages we are asked to localize. We also carry out full post-production processes including editing and compiling in various formats.

Admerix start-to-finish services include:
- Professional voice talents
- Purpose build audio studio facilities
- Language monitoring by second native linguist during the recording
- Linguistic quality assurance
- Editing of finished sound files
- File output to client required specifications and technical quality assurance

In addition to the above, what we consider to be prerequisite services for a quality result, our project managers are here to deal with all the last minute changes and challenges that are a part of almost every audio localization project these days.

Why not give us a project to quote? Admerix is here to back you up and help you meet your sales goals this year.

Deciphering the Scam Translators

Last year we examined the glut of spammed out fake translator resumes (Where are the all fake translator resumes coming from?). These resumes are cobbled together from actual linguist resumes online, but the contact details go back to Gmail addresses the scammers control.

João Roque Dias seems to have figured out what is probably going on at his Translator Scammers Directory

Admerix is Your Gateway to Myanmar and the Burmese Language

The Burmese market is opening.

Myanmar is the final important Asian market for translation and localization. Unlike Laos and Cambodia, Myanmar is a massive market on par with Thailand or Vietnam with localization potential. Like Thailand or Vietnam, Myanmar has a unique language and character set beset with peculiarities that only professional localization can manage for projects of scale.

Admerix has established relationships and training to produce large-scale Burmese translation and provide DTP as well as all the quality steps and checks you expect for every mainstream language.

Admerix is well-positioned to deliver what we always deliver--subject specialists, professional linguists, and industry standard processes--all backed up by veteran project managers.

If you need corporate-grade Burmese localization, you need to take advantage of the solution and peace of mind that Admerix offers.

Why not contact Admerix and let help you increase your capabilities in this key upcoming language?

How can we cut through all the translator spam?

How can we cut through all the translator spam and make sure genuine native-speaking linguists are working on our projects?

How can corporate clients be sold when they think the localization industry is going to be put out of business by Google Translate?

As we all know, the reality is that there is more price pressure than ever, more mid-project changes and challenges, and all when the experienced and professional project managers are being pushed out of the business by cost cutting.

The solution is industry veteran experts who put in the time to get multi-language projects right. Admerix partners with you to provide the Asian-language production expertise you need and more. We make sure you can get your project into production and go home on time for once. We are the people who are actually completing your valuable projects. We are not industry middlemen.

Why not talk to us? We would be happy to quote and show you the value and peace of mind we can provide.

Eleven things organizations can learn from airports

This is amazingly perceptive: Eleven things organizations can learn from airports. I think this is really more about the syndromes that tend to grow up around monopolies (if you don't like your grocery store you can go to a competitor, but you don't have such a choice in an airport). However, for those of us in big growing companies, we have to be on watch for the dangers of the monolithic organization where we just become a cog in a wheel.

...No one is in charge. The airport doesn’t appear to have a CEO, and if it does, you never see her, hear about her or interact with her in any way. When the person at the top doesn’t care, it filters down.
...Like colleges, airports see customers as powerless transients. Hey, you’re going to be gone tomorrow, but they’ll still be here.
By removing slack, airlines create failure. In order to increase profit, airlines work hard to get the maximum number of flights out of each plane, each day. As a result, there are no spares, no downtime and no resilience. By assuming that their customer base prefers to save money, not anxiety, they create an anxiety-filled system...

Customers Don't Want To Hear From You

Another great post from our friends at "HELLO, my name is": Customers Don't Want To Hear From You
After all the time localization companies spend chasing after the elusive big project, this post really tells the truth: The last place customers go when they have questions is to the actual company.

Instead of wading through the pages of some boring, bloated, antiquated, vain, salesy, marginally helpful corporate website, they’re clicking elsewhere...