The first product of this program is a special Globalization Seminar geared to educating government, the Press and the US export market to the requirements for globalization and localization in their international business dealings. Although this first event is a pilot for the “licensed” company in process, the initial response has indicated that we are on target in addressing an untouched marketing niche! This activity is in direct response to a request from the December, 1997 Executive Roundtable meeting in Geneva, Switzerland that a primary focus of the Association should be to promote localization to the worldwide business community. Finally, LISA will be able to drive access to the business Press and the government policymakers whose support is required to move the industry forward on a highly visible path.

This pace-setting event is being sponsored by LISA, the US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration, Berlitz GlobalNET, TRADOS, Sun Microsystems, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Southerland Asbill & Brennan LLP, and Global Business Magazine. Local support in attracting Washington D.C. area businesses is being provided by the Greater Washington Board of Trade International Business Council, the North Virginia Technical Council and the Washington International Trade Administration, among others.

The estimated 200-250 participants (invitation only) will include trade, business, and “new economy” journalists, business and industry leaders, policymakers, as well as service professionals who want an overall picture of the reality of globalization and its impact on the new “multilingual millennium”.

As those of us in this industry are aware, localization is an essential part of the growing global economy and the explosion of e-business. Taken together, these eliminate borders but not the need to produce goods and services geared to many languages and cultures. Producers increasingly need to globalize their product lines and services, making this a demand-driven industry. Localization still is not well understood by many businesses. The Seminar has been positioned as an opportunity to learn more about the details of localization from leading industry executives and analysts. Attendees will have the chance to gain more insight into the challenges and opportunities for the localization industry, as well as to network with business owners and other executives.

Pending the results of this event, others will be scheduled in different countries over the next 18 months, until a critical mass of educated professionals and major business periodicals is reached. LISA members will be asked to sponsor, depending upon the location of their companies and the focus of the program. In seeking sponsors for this first event, a shortlist was drawn up that resulted in representation from each relevant business segment. LISA members were contacted to provide client, service vendor and tools manufacturer sponsorship. External sponsorship support was solicited from the financial and legal consulting sectors, as well as from the US government and export industry journals. Industry speakers have been and will be invited based on their areas of expertise. As with the LISA Executive Roundtables, participation is based on invitation and acceptance is on a first-come, first-served basis.

The agenda for the Globalization Seminar is focused on the economic outlook for the New Global Economy—and what that means to the executive who must globalize his or her business and localize products. As discussed at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the New Economy “is digital, knowledge-based and driven by innovation and new technologies”. Questions asked in WEF seminars and symposiums included “How do you manage strategic outsourcing?” and “How do you compete with companies that you cooperate with?” Since the Internet has shifted global economic power from the supplier to the customer, the agenda for Davos also addressed “How do you e-engineer your company?” and “How do you create customer loyalty on the Internet?”

It seems that many of the answers can be found in the policies and practices that have long been a part of the localization business. It is this message of global focus and local practice that will be addressed in Washington, D.C. on March 8 with the following program:

THINK LOCAL, ACT GLOBAL: LISA’s Globalization Seminar for Policymakers, Business Leaders, Professionals and the Press

Agenda Details: The agenda will kick off with a welcome address by Tim Hauser, Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration and an Introduction by Jim Lewis, COO, Berlitz GlobalNET.

The First Panel will be headed by David Ignatius, Washington Post columnist, and will focus on the importance of global business, the size of the opportunity and what it means to go global. Panelists will include Mark Son-Bell from Sun Microsystems, John Menes, Senior Analyst from the U.S. Department of Commerce, and a leading economist.

The Second Panel, moderated by Steve McClure, Research Vice President at IDC, will address how a company can globalize and the requirements for successful localization, including tool options and outsourcing strategies. Experts contributing to this discussion will be Susan Mills, Director of Globalization at IBM, Rory Cowan, CEO Lionbridge Technologies, Inc., and Henri Broekmate, COO at TRADOS Corporation.

The Luncheon Keynote will be given by Jo Lernout, Lernout and Hauspie’s Co-Chairman of the Board, who will talk about the future of global business and the technology that will drive it.

The Third Panel addresses “Challenges to Local Market Entry Abroad”, including cultural, legal and regulatory issues, intellectual property concerns and barriers to market entry. Robert H. Rosen, Author of “Global Literacies” and CEO of The Healthy Companies Group, will drive this discussion, with expertise provided by Jorden Woods, CEO of GlobalSight Corporation, Ned Maguire, principal and e-commerce tax specialist from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, and Elizabeth Langworthy of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP.

The Fourth Panel will focus on the investment opportunities in this growing segment—i.e., who is investing and why. David Scanlan, Principal Director of First Union Bank, Alex Pressman, CEO of Uniscape, and Henry D. Barratt, Jr. Managing Director of Blue Water Capital will review issues with moderator Sharon McLoone, Acting Editor, National Journal’s Technology Daily.

The day will close with an address by Jim Lewis of Berlitz GlobelNET and Mark Son-Bell of Sun Microsystems, Inc., who will reinforce the panel discussions and request that the audience take the message forward to their own companies. Questions from the Press and media representatives in attendance will also be taken at this time.

Why are companies like Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu and Southerland Asbill & Brennan LLP sponsoring this event?

The answer lies in a review of LISA’s past several Forums, where representatives from McKinsey and Company, KPMG and Price Waterhouse Coopers have participated regionally along with various representatives from venture capital groups and institutional investment organizations. These consulting and legal entities have not found value in joining LISA in its form as a not-for-profit association. However, with a broader audience appeal and a focused program, they can exhibit their commitment to the growth of this industry. They gain both knowledge and exposure to business segments that have value in their own organizations’ growth strategies.

In addition to sponsorship from corporations and consultancy groups, LISA has signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement with Global Business Magazine to promote the Seminar and the LISA Forum. Global Business is developing a special 42-page supplement in their March issue to focus on the localization industry, as well as offering special advertising rates to LISA members (see www.globalbusinessads.com/lisaspecial). Global Business is an export trade magazine with a readership of 250,000 US-based export companies who may not yet have heard the “Think Local, Act Global” message.

By partnering with companies, government institutions and business journals outside the LISA membership base, we can open additional doors to potential LISA members. These are companies which are not aware of the inroads made through combining language and business on a worldwide scale, but which will ultimately have a vested interest in language issues as their organizations become more aggressive in the global and Internet economies.

In addition to the supplement in Global Business, Deborah Fry of Fry and Bonthrone is working with Alison Rowles in a consulting capacity to publish a LISA Localization Primer. The initial release of this “must read” reference guide for newcomers to the industry will parallel the Globalization Seminar program and take a more in-depth look at the issues discussed in the four panel sessions.

Content will include the business imperative for globalization and localization in the New Economy, an introduction to these and other key terms, and a brief history of the localization industry as well as its growth and current size and status. This will be coupled with a review of industry structures and of the evolving technologies that are making localization tasks easier and less complex on a worldwide scale. Cost issues and localization workflows will also be addressed, providing readers with the information they need to implement programs within their own corporate environments.

This Primer will be an invaluable tool for LISA members to use in educating their own company employees as well as clients. It will be sold at special LISA membership rates and will be available for purchase by non-LISA members following the Globalization Seminar. Further publications are also planned. LISA members with articles, published material and case studies that could be used to illustrate salient industry issues are asked to forward information to Alison Rowles at LISA .

Additional information on this first LISA Marketing event will be published on the LISA Website along with plans for future such programs. Details of the LISA Localization Primer will be published on the LISA Website and in forthcoming Newsletters. In addition, Global Business Magazine will be making a certain number of Localization Insert reprints available to LISA from their March magazine production run; these will be forwarded to LISA GA members for their files and will additionally be used as the basis for future publicity and marketing programs.

If you have interest in further information on any of these programs, please contact Alison directly.