Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
I want to welcome you to Think Latin America. I can't believe this is happening!
I'm Maria Maldonado, or Maria Cecilia, or Ceci, whatever you prefer... People know me by different names.
Ah, that's Renato. Ceci... I am the managing director of IMTT, the organizing company.
We are a training and translation company based in Argentina.
And we have been organizing training events for the localization industry for the past 10 years.
When Fabiano here and I... [laughs] Oi Fabiano!
When we met 4 years ago, in Rosario, we started jokingthat we needed an extreme makeover event for the localization industry
down here to spice things up. Right?
And then we put together a concept of doing an open forum for executives and we kind of figured this was a good idea.
Then IMTT teamed up with Ccaps to help organize this event in Brazil, which was a venue that was high up in our agenda.
Obviously, we didn't do this by ourselves. We had a great advisory board
And this advisory board was made up of Katia [applauses], Renato [applauses], Nilze O'Brien, from McDonald's, she's not here...
Fabiano, of course [applauses], Wagner, who's not here, Cecilia IrĂ³s, my business partner [applauses]
Eva [applauses], Clio [applauses] and Marco, who's not here either.
But he's arriving tomorrow... OK. What an advisory board, eh?
When we started talking to the advisory board, we put together a great program
And that's how we could bring people from different industries, ranging from telecommunications, media, sports, life sciences
and consumer market to bring a stellar program that you're gonna be able to see here today.
Many people asked how was it that we planned to do it here, in Brazil, and what was the idea behind Think Latin America.
Well, the idea of Think Latin America is that the localization industry has a history of ignoring Latin America
as a place to invest and do business there.
But thank God the leading brands have already realized the potential of the region and have been investing heavily in the Latin American countries.
And hopefully will happen more often.
So the meaning behind the name of Think Latin America is twofold:
On the one hand, it is a reminder for the localization industry to start thinking about Latin America
and on the other hand it is actually a wake-up call to the very region to stop and... "Think, Latin America!"
To realize what their potential is.
This is one the reasons why we invited you, VPs, managers and directors from different companies to share your insights with this region.
As Latin American entrepreneurs, of course, we couldn't ignore this, what was happening in the region
and we had to be prepared for the change and learn from the buyers what their insight is and what it is that we need to know in order to serve you better.
In an intimate environment like this, the objective of Think Latin America is that everyone can interact with everyone.
That's why we aimed at a smaller group and we hope that you really take advantage of this.
Of course the event would not be possible without the help of all the sponsors and collaborators.
And these are Ccaps, of course, and Ushuaia, who is sponsoring the cocktail tonight, Logoscript, Milengo, Translated in Argentina (your bags)
LocHouse, Ushuaia, I've already mentioned twice... You owe me so money now [laughs]
More money! GALA, MultiLingual magazine, we did some advertising, Intervevent, our organizer
Inttranews, the Institute of Localization Professionals, Win and Winnow for your pens, Trusted Translations and Chico State
And we also had collaboration from Wordfast. This is why you have flip-flops in your bags
There are some housekeeping issues that I want to mention before we start.
If you want to tweet the event, that's thinklatam, so you can use that.
Go to your bags, you have a program there, a sheet like this. That's your program.
Get your program and your pen from Win and Winnow. Now. Because you'll have to write.
Unfortunately, we had a last minute cancellation for tomorrow
So, we'll start the program later. So you'll have time to go to the pool, to stay up tonight, drink more and not worry about anything.
The today is the way it is, OK? No changes there, except for the time that we're starting.
So obviously, we were supposed to start at three, we'll finish one hour later.
For tomorrow, April 8, we're starting at 11 for the opening session. The first presentation will be fro11:15 to 12:15
Coffee break you can cross it out, "Brazil as Global Provider of IT Services", you can cross it out.
That's the session we are not going to have tomorrow, unfortunately. As I said, this is a last minute thing and there's nothing we can do about it.
So the next presentation, Robson, from Nokia, he's going to be speaking from 12:15 to 1:15
So lunch is going to be earlier, from 1:15 to 3 o'clock.
And all the rest of the presentations, "From a Niche Market to a Multibillion Dollar Business", that's gonna happen from 3 to 4
Coffee break from 4 to 4:30 and the last presentation from 4:30 to 5:30. Dinner is at the same time.
For the dinner tomorrow, there a bus to pick us up? OK, we have to be at the lobby tomorrow night for a bus to pick us up and they will drive us to the restaurant, OK?.
We have a... my computer is not plugged right?
The event was recognized by the mayor in Buzios, OK? So we wanted to show you the recognition.
In the meantime, also there was an article published in ClientSide News this week about Think Latin America
So if you go to www.clientsidenews.com you can download the issue and read the article.
OK, there it is, the letter by the mayor! [laughs] We can't see anything...
Can you read it? You can read it!
In Portuguese, it's really badly written [laughs]
It says "Prezados senhores..." You can translate it!
No, I'm gonna separate Spanish and English
I have the translation here somewhere...
Yeah, he's just thanking the participants. "is with great pleasure that we give a warm welcome to the participants of Think Latin America
the first event of its kind in Brazil, and to the representatives from leading translation companies worldwide
the Brazilian Olympic Committee and other major multinational corporations, who are all gathered here to discuss translation and localization practices,
as well as explore and enjoy the beauty of this little paradise of ours.
On this occasion we would like to express how proud we are to be hosting an event of such magnitude and make ourselves available to assist you whenever necessary.
So if you have any problems, go talk to the mayor, OK? [laughs] Go to the mayor!
I would like to thank all of you for being here. I know it has been quite an adventure to get here for many of you, like people stuck in boats, you know sailing...
Like Julieta for example. Or some other people, taking hours to get here...
Thank you for being here! Obviously, we really appreciate your effort and your time, and we really hope that you enjoy this event. Have a good time!
Now, Fabiano, are you going to introduce our first speakers?
Yes!
Celso and Alex.
down here to spice things up. Right?