Santa Clara, CA (7 September 2011).

Edinburgh, UK (7 September 2011)—Rubric , a provider of localization services to the technology and publishing industry for the past 15 years, will hold its 9th Birds of a Feather event on Thursday, October 6th, 2011, at David’s Banquet Facility in Santa Clara, CA. Rubric always strives to put together a stellar panel for its free breakfast series, and this time will be no exception with two distinguished guests coming from South Africa and another with extensive experience in 2nd and 3rd tier localization. They will discuss a timely theme: Reaching Africa and Beyond: How to localize successfully to second and third-tier language markets Lessons learned, methods that work The panelists include:

• Anthea Oosthuizen, Publishing Manager for Oxford University Press Southern Africa (based in South Africa).
• Sonette Hill, President of Rubric South Africa (based in South Africa).
• Scott Fisher, Engineering Program Manager of SuccessFactors, the leader in business execution software.

Many ‘Western’ language service providers have tried to crack the third-tier market in Africa in an attempt to serve technology and mobile device companies that need to reach those audiences. However, more times than not, they throw in the towel, frustrated with the lack of trained translators, intermittent Internet access and differences in work style.

But localization in Africa—and other markets such Southeast Asia and India—can be successful with minimal financial duress. Oxford University Press Southern Africa has recently completed a major localization project, translating 15 million words into the 10 South African languages in 90 days. Sonette Hill was instrumental in completing the Oxford University Press project in record time, training translators on technology and assisting as they struggled with Internet access. Their story is quite interesting and useful for anyone considering entering the African market. Scott Fisher of SuccessFactors will provide yet another perspective. He has spearheaded major projects into Russian, Thai, Malay and Vietnamese. He’ll discuss overcoming cultural differences and technology limitations and even which languages and/or countries are not pursued because of low return on investment.

The panel will give practical steps for creating a successful 2nd or 3rd tier translation program. They will draw from their own experiences to provide tangible and relevant solutions for creating the infrastructure, working with the translators, and using the translated content effectively. The audience will consist of localization peers who will have the chance to tell their own war stories, interacting with the panel and other audience members.

Rubric’s Birds of a Feather events have gained a strong following as relevant, accessible and interactive gatherings of localization practitioners in Silicon Valley. The event will begin at 8:30 and will include a light breakfast and time for networking and socializing. The panelists will debate for about an hour and then answer questions; the event will end at 10:30, with time to mingle with peers. The event is free, and space is very limited. Details can be found here. To register, contact bof-rsvp@rubric.com or simply register here. 

About Rubric

Rubric creates a better localization experience. Specializing in globalization services for the high-technology industry, Rubric provides flexibility, on-demand scalability, and integrity to guarantee localization success. Rubric's refined processes adapt to the high-tech sector's need for proactive localization planning, with its anticipation of dynamically changing requirements, and its agile response capabilities. For more information, visit www.rubric.com.