This conference report was written by Jarek Hrstka.
GlobalSaké is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help ensure that products make sense in international markets. It was founded by Talia Baruch (Founder CEO at Yewser, formerly at Google, Linkedin, SurveyMonkey) and John Hayato (Senior Strategist at btrax and Business Developer at Intralink). They hold annual events sharing know-how and experiences on international expansion.
For the first time in 2020, GlobalSaké organized their own “larger” event, The Conference. The event took place in San Francisco on February 19th-20th. Based on our own feelings as well as discussions with attendees, this first edition definitely wasn’t the last one.
The conference focus this year was to provide tips, best practices, insights, and answers to the following questions:
The event started with an evening welcome reception on February 19th at an astonishing venue of DZINE Arts Studio. Apart from the unique venue, other memorable activities like Saké tasting, taiko drumming, and an interactive arts exhibit helped to make this first evening really memorable. Pre-conference reception attendees enjoyed a warm, informal atmosphere perfectly suited for networking.
The main program was condensed into one full day. It kicked off with an introductory keynote at 9 am and finished with panel discussions at around 5:30 pm. 25 speakers, all professionals from various areas of international business and product, took turns at the main podium during the day. The program consisted of “TED-style” presentations (up to 30 mins each) and panel discussions.
The venue for the main conference day was the HQ of Zendesk in downtown San Francisco. It provided a very nice backdrop for a day packed with interesting presentations—an informal and warm modern style, yet very professional place for such an event. On the main floor, discussions were taking place around coffee tables or at one of the booths of conference sponsors. The basement floor then offered a place where the main action took place.
The topics centered around the following subjects:
The vast majority of the talks provided valuable insights on the above topics, and the presenters showcased their hands-on experience and examples from real-world projects. A particular highlight was the lesson on neuromarketing and consumer behavioral insights given by Dr. Matt Johnson. While it was a bit more academic, it was presented in a really catchy format and provided practical points that anyone can use and implement in their daily jobs.
While this conference wasn’t without a few minor hiccups typical of brand new events just starting out (it’s an interesting social experiment to see what happens to the conference attendees if coffee is not available for a few hours), they were all forgiven in the end. Overall, every one of around 300 participants got what they came for. And as far as the Nimdzi team heard, many are already looking forward to the next GlobalSaké events.
This conference report was written by Nimdzi’s Localization Adviser, Jarek Hrstka. If you wish to find out more about the GlobalSaké Conference held in San Francisco, please reach out to Jarek at [email protected].
You were at the center of this year’s edition of LocWorldWide. Yes, you. Each and every one of you reading this. Because we are all end users of content in one way or another — source or localized. The focus this year was on global end users and how to engage them. And, of course, the role of localization in this endeavour.
4 August 2020
On the last days of spring 2019, the annual conference organized by the creators of one of the major CAT tools on the market, memoQ, was held in Budapest, Hungary. It was the 11th memoQfest, a welcoming event featuring much technology expertise, extraordinary venues (such as the Museum of Ethnography and the National Museum of […]
10 June 2019