Archive for the ‘Internal magazine’ Category

Although the world economy has been in a fritz for more than a year now, 2009 has been the strongest year yet in my career. I don’t take this situation for granted, and I’m extremely grateful that I have clients who appreciate my work and continue to invest in marketing materials during the downturn.

In this busy year, August-October have been the busiest months. I was in Japan from the end of July to the end of August, working flat-out on English-to-Japanese translation projects for my major Japanese automaker client.

Here is what I worked on for this client August-October:

• Translated the better part of the annual environmental report and edited the work of other translators
• Translated the better part of the annual corporate social responsibility report and edited the work of other translators
• Translated several articles for a new portion of the company website dealing with design
• Translated the better part of a the press kit for the 41st Tokyo Motor Show 2009
• Translated the copy for a poster used around the world
• Translated several press releases

I also did a lot of work for this client that did not involve translation.

The end of the year will probably be a bit less busy, since Japan goes into Shogatsu mode–but it will still be busy. Thank you, clients!

May has been a very busy month for Japanese-to-English translation. For a major Japanese automaker, I have translated a press release and Q&A document concerning a new 4-stroke marine outboard engine (obviously, this company makes more than cars).

For a major Japanese movie and television production company and broadcaster, I have subtitled the pilot episode of a TV series. I’m happy to report that my work has met with approval, and I’ve been given another pilot to subtitle.

In Medical interpretation has slowed down a bit recently, but writing work has been plentiful. For a major Japanese automaker, I have done the following:

• Translated from Japanese to English a script for a short video about a major new safety technology. I had earlier translated the press release, in effect branding the technology in the English language. This technology, and hence my particular wording, has received a great deal of attention in the press.
• Translated from Japanese to English a press release for a major new automobile model. I had earlier served as a lead writer (writing straight to English) on the US press kit for the model.
• Begun translating from Japanese to English a 13-page article on this model for internal use in the company.
• Edited a 20-page internal newspaper for the company. I translated several articles from Japanese to English, wrote others in English based on materials provided by the company, and edited articles by other writers.

In local news, I helped a Japanese family secure a mortgage the other day. I translated (or, in this case, provided an overview of) some Japanese banking documents for a local mortgage company and talked with one of the borrowers on the phone to help her understand what additional documentation was required.

My coauthor and I have reached a new milestone in the business literature book we’re working on: we’ve now got a mockup of the full book together in Word and are working on filling in the blanks and polishing the content.

That’s what’s going on in Horehound Central. I have a good plate full o’ work right now but would very much like to discuss your writing projects and needs, so please drop me a line.

December, as noted in my last post, was most busy. I was actually incorrect about how much extra work that one internal manual would require; it was a slam dunk! And the reason it was a slam dunk was that I was able to see what dangers lurked from the beginning of the project and prepare accordingly with thorough research and documentation. Forgive me, readers, a tiny pat on the back for this; I am somewhat proud of and relieved at how things turned out there.

Since my last post, for a major Japanese automaker, I have done the following:

• Did further editing of the press kit of a major new model so that the kit could be reprinted.
• Translated the year-end speech of a major executive of the company.
• Translated a press release for a major automotive event held in Japan.
• Translated an internal video concerning a major new safety technology. I translated the original press release as well, in effect branding the technology in English.

Of course, all of these documents except the press kit required skill in Japanese-to-English translation, which is something I have to offer. But getting a good and accurate translation isn’t enough: good English with the right feel and cadence to it is also necessary. And I have that to offer as well, whether you require Japanese-to-English translation or just well-written English from scratch!

One other thing that made December a very busy month was that for the last two weeks of it I was spending a lot of time in the hospital interpreting for families with sick kids. This post on my personal blog talks about the situation in greater detail, should you be curious.

I will be back in the hospital tomorrow morning, too, interpreting for a family whose child is having open heart surgery. Please pray with me that things turn out well for this child and this family.

I must beg the forgiveness of my subscribers who have been asking, “Where’s my update?” December has turned out to be quite a busy month–and there are still two weeks to go. For a major Japanese automaker, I have done the following:

• Completed the internal magazine dealing with the company’s history in an Asian country.
• Translated a PowerPoint presentation of over 50 slides, which was used at an event introducing a major new model to North America.
• Translated an internal manual of 41 pages (an ongoing project that will require a good deal more work, to be sure).
• Translated a blurb that will be used in another internal publication.

In the business literature project, my author and I are making great progress, and we should be able to get a final draft together within a month or so. We would like to start looking for a publisher in January.

Things are going well at my Web developer client in Southern Indiana. I visited the firm recently, interviewed all the staff, and am writing bios that the company will put on their websites. It’s a nice project, and the client is fun to work with!

Although I did not write it in December, my new sports fiction story has been published and is being distributed at college basketball venues around the country. I will write and post a press release as soon as I receive some copies from the publisher.

I also have been called into local hospitals to interpret quite a bit in the past two weeks. I like this work because it gets me out of the house, allows me to help people on an immediate, personal level, and keeps my interpreter’s saw sharp.

My networking efforts seem to be going quite well; a lot of people are interested in the product I have to offer, and several projects are on the horizon. What makes me happy is that I don’t have to sell too hard and price doesn’t seem to be an issue; I seem to be finding natural win-wins pretty easily.

For these reasons, 2009 promises to be a very busy year. That doesn’t mean, however, that I am not interested in helping you with your project. Please give me a call!

I’ve been working through the weekend on various projects. For a major Japanese automaker, I did the following:

• Continued to work on the internal magazine dealing with company’s operations and history in an Asian country.
• Wrote a press release concerning a vehicle lease to the Japanese government.
• Wrote a press release concerning an event in which children got to ride in an advanced new vehicle.
• Translated a Q&A series concerning environmentally responsible technologies.

All of the above documents required Japanese-to-English translation. The Q&A documents I do for this automaker tend to feel more like pure translation, perhaps because there is much less of a necessity to make the document flow well from one part to the next (each question and answer set is pretty much self-contained).

In local news, I am helping a Web development company in Southern Indiana by editing content it will be adding to a new website (the company’s own blog site, in this case). Also, a friend from a local networking event invited me to help him write a book. His project sounds very interesting, and I may take him up on his offer. Of course, I’m already helping another colleague write a book, so I’ll need to manage my time carefully.

I’m piled high with work right now, but December tends to be a slow month as people in both Japan and the United States turn their attention to the holidays. I welcome any new project inquiries. Why not have your marketing materials in place for the new year?

I have not updated in a while because a lot of jobs have been in progress: changes to the Japanese originals, and so on. It definitely keeps me busy.

I have got a new job in, however. Recently I did a translation of a video script about the history of a major Japanese automaker in Thailand. Now I have been privileged with the task of translating a short magazine (not an article, but actually an entire internal magazine) on the same topic. This is quite a chunky job and will consume about a week’s worth of time.

I have continued to work on my mysterious “business literature” book with my mysterious author. We are making good progress, and I feel that this book will be of great help to many people.

I have also been getting out and networking a lot lately. Indy is a great town for networking: I am a member of Rainmakers, and there are many other organizations and events. From the attitude of people around here, you would never think there was an economic downturn in the works. Perhaps our Hoosier spunk will see us through!

Today I’m working on a translation of an article for the internal magazine of a major Japanese automaker. It concerns the efforts of this company’s employee to recreate in computer graphics one of its race cars from the 1960s. Really quite interesting stuff!