Association doubling as agency
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| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | | User | Thread poster: Hermann Association doubling as agency |
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Hermann 
United Kingdom
English to German
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| | We are discussing here an ethical issue ... | Nov 30, 2007 |
Cristiana Coblis wrote:
I would like to point out that discussing outsourcers specifically is discouraged on the forums by rules. Comments regarding specific outsourcers are invited on the Blue Board.
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... and no name is being mentioned.
Thank you!
| | | | Samuel Murray
South Africa
 Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| | You won't believe what I heard about them... | Nov 30, 2007 |
Hermann wrote:
I think most of you know the organisation I am referring to which is now also an active player offering translation services. ...I am looking forward to your comments. |
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I heard from a reliable source that they're neigher an agency nor an organisation. They are a religious group founded by aliens that landed on Area 51 in the fifties.
Unless you're talking about something else, naturally. This is stupid way to bypass forum rules, if you ask me.
| | | | Marc P
Germany
German to English
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| | Cathy's song | Nov 30, 2007 |
I hear the jangle of the keys
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm continuing
Tapping on my forum door
And from the shelter of my mind
Through the window of my eyes
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To i**.org.uk in my browser UI
My mind's distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with now my browser's crashed
Time to reboot the PC
And the text I was translating is left undone
I don't know why I spend my time
Writing posts no one believes
With words that tear and strain to rhyme
And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once read online
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is mine
And as I watch the keys being turned
The discussion stop and die
I know that I am like the keys
There but for the grace of you tube go I
[Edited at 2007-11-30 10:38]
| | | | Lawyer-Linguist
Portugal
Member (2004)
Dutch to English
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| | You've lost me ... | Nov 30, 2007 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
This is stupid way to bypass forum rules, if you ask me. |
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... which, granted, isn't difficult this time of a Friday evening.
OK, so I'm asking you, what exactly is a "stupid way to bypass forum rules"? I don't follow.
Hermann isn't bypassing anything. If anything, he's trying to act squarely within the rules by not identifying parties.
That said, anyone in the know about the translation industry - in Europe, at least - would be able to figure out with a little research which association is in the spotlight.
But the identity doesn't matter one iota. Stick to the issue.
Entity A - which is widely regarded as one of the benchmark testing authorities for translators - seemingly has an affilated entity, Entity B, which is an agency.
Hermann is merely asking is this wrong, are people comfortable with this, do they see it as a conflict of interests, etc.
Not a stupid question at all, in fact it's a very good one.
Taken to the extreme, it's one thing to be asked to do free test translations for agencies, are translators now being duped into paying hundreds of pounds/euros/dollars to write these tests, simply so the agency side of the operation can pick off the good ones?
Food for thought.
I don't know if I have such a problem with how it's been done legally, ethically though I'm still undecided.
Keep well
Debs
[Edited at 2007-11-30 20:34]
 
| | | | Madeleine MacRae Klintebo
United Kingdom
Member (Sep 2008)
Swedish to English
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| | Just cruising along trying to understand who we're talking about | Nov 30, 2007 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
I heard from a reliable source that they're neigher an agency nor an organisation. They are a religious group founded by aliens that landed on Area 51 in the fifties.
Unless you're talking about something else, naturally. This is stupid way to bypass forum rules, if you ask me. |
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I wasn't aware that the organisation Samuel's referring to (or rather, that I think he's referring to) also acts as a translation agency. I find this very interesting. Samuel, if you could privately give me the name of this translation agency, I would very much appreciate it (too tired to google tonight).
Anyway, got to run, Top Gun's on TV tonight...
[Edited at 2007-11-30 23:16]
[Edited at 2007-11-30 23:28]
| | | | Hermann
United Kingdom
English to German
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| | Thanks Debs! And here some more food for thought... | Dec 1, 2007 |
The biggest acolade offered by the association in question can be bought by future franchise holders - because that's what successful candidates effectively become – for quite a handsome fee. To continue operating under this 'brand' they have to pay annual renewal fees. Not so dissimilar to another monopoly holder who’s offer includes a certification programme which allows customers to use their brand in publicity, making it even more visible.
One of the criterias to become a franchise holder and recipient of this prestigious acolade is an annual output of xxx,xxx words over a period of several years. This must be proved by presenting the invoices for this period. Naturally, these invoices represent important commercial information and some of the details could be quite valuable to the agency side of this organisation.
As the recent blunder by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs showed, sensitive data (in the case of the HMRC personal and banking information of only 25 Million people) can easily fall into wrong hands, no matter how you safeguard against this.
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| Lawyer-Linguist
Portugal
Member (2004)
Dutch to English
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| | The plot thickens ... | Dec 1, 2007 |
Hermann wrote:
The biggest acolade offered by the association in question can be bought by future franchise holders - because that's what successful candidates effectively become – for quite a handsome fee. To continue operating under this 'brand' they have to pay annual renewal fees. Not so dissimilar to another monopoly holder who’s offer includes a certification programme which allows customers to use their brand in publicity, making it even more visible.
One of the criterias to become a franchise holder and recipient of this prestigious acolade is an annual output of xxx,xxx words over a period of several years. This must be proved by presenting the invoices for this period. Naturally, these invoices represent important commercial information and some of the details could be quite valuable to the agency side of this organisation.
As the recent blunder by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs showed, sensitive data (in the case of the HMRC personal and banking information of only 25 Million people) can easily fall into wrong hands, no matter how you safeguard against this. |
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If I'm not mistaken, you're referring to the conditions for becoming a "Chartered Linguist"
If so, that isn't limited to the association you are referring to, it is also a status that can be conferred via its competitor. So, we may need to track down who is actually conferring the status and pose the question whether they don't have (or shouldn't have) an issue that one of the associations acting as their agent possibly has a conflict of interests to answer for - nice fun ahead with that can of worms.
And yes, not so dissimilar to the CAT program guys you're referring to - except they have perhaps been more upfront about their profit-making intentions from day one 
[Edited at 2007-12-01 11:39]
| | | | OlafK
United Kingdom
German
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| | to be honest ... | Dec 10, 2007 |
... I'm not sure the people who run that organization have what it takes to run a successful business. And re becoming a "chartered linguist", I'd rather not. Their CPD forms are useless and after all who are they to evaluate my application and interview me?
| | | | Trans_Interp
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I will try to give my opinion without mentioning names, countries or anything that can identify who we are talking about (without breaking the rules).
This "Association for Translators and Interpreters" (which is supposed to support and defend translators and interpreters) has a subsidiary "Translation and Interpreting Agency" (which by the way pays low rates), and they also own the "List of Official Interpreters" of the country (which by the way some years ago sold their database to private agencies in that country who pay low rates, without asking the interpreters for their permission first!).
To add to this the Association also provides exams for you to become an “official” translator/interpreter (which by the way are extremely expensive).
You pay to be a member of this Association and to be a member of their subsidiary list of official interpreters.
In my opinion, they don’t really care about interpreters or translators, they only care about money.
| | | | | Pages in topic: < [1 2] | |
The translation workplace 
