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John Cutler Spain Local time: 04:13 Member (2007) Spanish to English + ...
Other
May 30, 2007
I answered “other” because I participate in the forums for all of the reasons listed.
If Proz was nothing more than its forum section it would still be worth visiting on a regular basis.
Where else can you ask a technical question on CAT tools and get so much free help? There’s no better way to learn about technological issues than from someone who’s already been through it. You can learn in 5 minutes what might otherwise take you hours of aggravation and stress on your own.
Where else can you talk about translation theory or business matters with people who understand you and have gone, or are going through, the same situation and have the same concerns for professional quality? When you read the forums you suddenly realize you’re not alone in this mess or the only one who’s ever gone through it.
I have to admit it too: I LOVE the off topics forums. They show us as 3D people living in a 3D world with 3D interests. They’re a sort of “Proz Pub” where you can go and let your hair down and chat amiably with like minded people about all sorts of interests.
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ICL Spain Local time: 04:13 English to Spanish + ...
Great post, John
May 30, 2007
John Cutler wrote:
I answered “other” because I participate in the forums for all of the reasons listed.
If Proz was nothing more than its forum section it would still be worth visiting on a regular basis.
Where else can you ask a technical question on CAT tools and get so much free help? There’s no better way to learn about technological issues than from someone who’s already been through it. You can learn in 5 minutes what might otherwise take you hours of aggravation and stress on your own.
Where else can you talk about translation theory or business matters with people who understand you and have gone, or are going through, the same situation and have the same concerns for professional quality? When you read the forums you suddenly realize you’re not alone in this mess or the only one who’s ever gone through it.
I have to admit it too: I LOVE the off topics forums. They show us as 3D people living in a 3D world with 3D interests. They’re a sort of “Proz Pub” where you can go and let your hair down and chat amiably with like minded people about all sorts of interests.
I think it details quite nicely all the options offered in the poll.
I have to admit myself I am a bit lazy most of the time in terms of forum participation, though I have had some sporadic active participation.
What is a bit unusual in my case is that I have been registered in Proz for a long time (almost since its beginnings) and only recently (about a year+) I became a bit more active in the forums.
The thing is, I am registered in a number of translation-related web sites, some of which offer similar things as Proz.com, but the reason I started "paying more attention" to Proz was the Kudoz glossary, which I started checking more often, so I ended up "discovering" (call me a "late bloomer") all the things you have mentioned.
But, as the saying goes in Spanish (which you speak), "más vale tarde que nunca" (better late than never).
Un abrazo,
Ivette
[Edited at 2007-05-30 16:00]
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JaneTranslates Puerto Rico Local time: 23:13 Member (2005) Spanish to English + ...
Personal/professional networking
May 30, 2007
John Cutler wrote:
When you read the forums you suddenly realize you’re not alone in this mess or the only one who’s ever gone through it.
I LOVE the off topics forums. ... They’re a sort of “Proz Pub” where you can go and let your hair down and chat amiably with like minded people about all sorts of interests.
I hesitated before choosing "networking," since to some that means only "job-seeking" and thus carries negative "mercenary" connotations. But as I sit alone in my house in the mountains and contemplate a summer of non-stop translating with few physical forays into the outer world, ProZ in general and the forums in particular are my water cooler, my party, my conference, my break, my entertainment, my shop talk, and occasionally my lifeline.
So: I participate in forums for professional networking (help with business, ethical, or technical problems that we have in common) and personal networking (for chat with, as John says, "like-minded" friends whom I may never meet but who have become a vital part of my life).
Jane
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Nesrin United Kingdom Local time: 03:13 English to Arabic + ...
"Proz Pub"
May 30, 2007
John Cutler wrote:
I have to admit it too: I LOVE the off topics forums. They show us as 3D people living in a 3D world with 3D interests. They’re a sort of “Proz Pub” where you can go and let your hair down and chat amiably with like minded people about all sorts of interests.
"Proz Pub" - isn't that the perfect name for a new "completely off-topic" forum, since some colleagues find these postings distracting and suggest moving them to a separate area of the Proz site? (www.proz.com/topic/74102 )
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ICL Spain Local time: 04:13 English to Spanish + ...
About networking...
May 30, 2007
JaneTranslates wrote:
I hesitated before choosing "networking," since to some that means only "job-seeking" and thus carries negative "mercenary" connotations.
I wasn't aware of that connotation, Jane, good point. I thought it just meant "establishing a network", but it's good to know that it has that meaning, too.
In fact, I hesitated about using instead "establishing a connection" or "communicating" with colleagues/friends, but, like I said, I thought about "networking" in the sense I mentioned, and chose it mainly because it was a shorter word (you know these polls have to be short).
On an off-topic side: your working background (the mountains) sounds really nice.
I think the background (or view) we see when we work can sometimes help us get a bit more inspiration with this at times repetitive kind of work we do (like technical manuals or software).
Although I tend to "lose sight" of the background when I'm working ("concentration"?), in my case the background can be quite often inspirational, because I now see some beautifully bloomed tall trees (they had lost all their leaves because of the winter).
(I think a question related to the background or view which we see when we work could also be a theme for a poll. Maybe in a few months...)
Gotta have dinner now...
Good night,
Ivette
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ICL Spain Local time: 04:13 English to Spanish + ...
You got my vote, too
May 30, 2007
Nesrin wrote:
"Proz Pub" - isn't that the perfect name for a new "completely off-topic" forum, since some colleagues find these postings distracting and suggest moving them to a separate area of the Proz site? (www.proz.com/topic/74102 )
We have to create some drink/beverage icons then, to imagine we're actually having them...
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Els Spin Netherlands Local time: 04:13 Member Dutch to English + ...
Sense of...
May 30, 2007
community
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Clarisa Moraña Argentina Local time: 00:13 Member (2002) English to Spanish + ...
Other
May 31, 2007
When I'm tired of working, and I have no time for going out for a coffee with a friend, it's very nice to read my colleagues and to exchange opinions. By doing so, the sense that I’m an isolated translator disappears!
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Christine Andersen Denmark Local time: 04:13 Member (2003) Danish to English + ...
Me too
May 31, 2007
I don't have office colleagues to chat to, but no problem - there is a whole world full of ProZ.com members.
And if I don't like what they say for any reason, there is that little red X at the top right corner of the screen, and it's back to work
Thanks for being there, everyone!
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So: I participate in forums for professional networking (help with business, ethical, or technical problems that we have in common) and personal networking (for chat with, as John says, "like-minded" friends whom I may never meet but who have become a vital part of my life).
Jane
Couldn't have put it better!
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Marie-Hélène Hayles Italy Local time: 04:13 Member (2004) Italian to English + ...
Other
May 31, 2007
I'm with John: I participate for a number of reasons. To take a 5 minute break between jobs, proscrastination, ask about (or give my view on someone else's) business or ethical problem, ask for technical advice...
I pop in on and off most days, but I'm usually to be found in here on a Friday evening to wind down after I've finished work for the day. It's the freelancer's version of going for a pint with colleagues after work. The idea of the Proz-com pub for off-topic subjects sounds great!
[Edited at 2007-05-31 07:41]
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ICL Spain Local time: 04:13 English to Spanish + ...
Percentage of "I don't participate"
May 31, 2007
Hi again,
I just wanted to mention that it has caught my attention that there has been a considerable percentage of people who chose the "I don't participate" option (which, btw, I had not included, but which was a good idea to include). That is, more than 20%.
Though probably obvious, I am convinced that a good number of those who chose this option are actually "passive" forum participants. That is, they probably "read" the forums, but they don't post any messages.
I mean, I find it hard to believe that you would, for example, participate in a poll like this by voting "I don't participate", which means you are visiting the Proz.com main page, and not be tempted to read at least some of the messages that appear in the forum section, or even in the corresponding poll area.
Of course, there may be those who participate only in the polls and never look at any other section, so I guess we have a bit of everything.
Just an observation about the statistics....
Ivette
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Williamson Belgium Local time: 03:13 Flemish to English + ...
For various reasons.
May 31, 2007
To ask for information/technical help, to defend my point of view with regard to low rates, the rates (no discounts) for the use of CAT-tools and fight the native-language only dogma like don Quichote de la Mancha.
I am pretty sure that potential customers read these forums too. Therefore I try to pay attention to spelling, choice of vocabulary etc... You never know who might be reading what you write. Notwithstanding that fact that my profile is empty, I got offers which came from voicing an opinion on these forums.
[Edited at 2007-05-31 12:55]
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Nesrin United Kingdom Local time: 03:13 English to Arabic + ...
Non-participants
May 31, 2007
ICL wrote:
I just wanted to mention that it has caught my attention that there has been a considerable percentage of people who chose the "I don't participate" option
It took me personally a year or two after joining Proz before I started daring to take part in the forums. I can imagine that some colleagues may be a bit intimidated, at least in the beginning, or if their English is not so good, for example.
I can't remember who said that - something I've seen on TV recently - I think it was a US senator. He said "When you first get here, you're really intimidated, and you ask yourself 'How on earth did I get here?' Then, a few months later, you start asking yourself 'How on earth did all the others get here?' "
Only kidding of course , but I do laugh at myself for initially feeling so much in awe of all those experienced translators!
[Edited at 2007-05-31 15:15]
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