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ProZ.com Powwows

Powwow Report for الولايات المتحدة - Seattle, WA (Aug 15 2002)

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Hi! Allow me to tell you about my first ProZ.com PowWow, held at Cucina! Cucina! Italian restaurant in Bellevue, Washington on Thursday, August 15th. 
This was the second PowWow held in the greater Seattle area, and 6 people managed to make it (one more than last time, I think). The following language pros were in attendance: 

Suzanne Blangstead (Danish<>English), 
Username: BLANGSTEAD 
Jason Gettys (Japanese<>English), 
Username: "jgettys" 
Eden Brandeis (Japanese<>English), 
Username: "ebrandeis" 
Troy Fowler (Japanese<>English), 
Username: "fuzzybunny" 
Alex Mosalsky (Russian<>English), 
Username: "Almosky" 
Dorian Jepsen (Monolingual English), 
(Troy's buddy) 

The PowWow was set to begin at 6:00pm. I (Troy) was the first to arrive on scene with my friend Dorian, and Suzanne arrived shortly thereafter. There were only two ProZ.com users present when 6 o'clock rolled around, and we started to wonder if we had the location right. But sure enough, the remaining 4 attendees trickled in one at a time, and the group was completed with the arrival of Eden at 6:20. And before I forget, the weather was great too! With a cool breeze at the end of a sunny day, the outside patio made for the perfect location. 

Once drinks were ordered, everyone was seated, and introductions made, a few interesting connections were discovered among the attendees. For example, Jason, Dorian and myself went to High School together; Jason and Eden attended the same university Japanese class a while back; and Alex knew a business associate of Dorian's father. Small world. 

A lot was covered on our PowWow...in no particular order, here were some of the topics discussed:
1) On CAT tools: Trados is a good tool, but too expensive, and customer service is lacking. Suzanne mentioned the Yahoo Group <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TW_users/">TW_users</a> is a life safer. 
2) On insurance: Alex mentioned he holds a steady part time job that provides good benefits to satisfy his insurance needs. Eden suggested any true freelancer to look into P.A.C.E. Pros, an insurance/employment record holding company for independent contractors.
 
3) On translating poorly written documents: Seems this debate will always go on...A newcomer to the translation field, I mention that I alter poorly written material into clear English. Alex countered that this is risky, and he likes to keep his translations with the same feel and style as the author, even if its poorly written. 
4) On ProZ.com: The Blue Board is a fantastic idea, as is KudoZ. All in attendance think the site is great!
 

Good conversation made the time go fast, and we decided to exchange cards and head home when the sun went down. Despite coming from different language groups, and having different amounts of experience, all of us share similar problems and sentiments about the translation field. The PowWow was a fun, casual way to meet other language pros, and I definitely plan on attending the next PowWow in my area. Thanks to all for coming, and thanks to ProZ.com! 

Troy