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Complimentary TM-Town membership for ProZ.com members
Thread poster: Jared Tabor
Jared Tabor
Jared Tabor
Local time: 16:17
SITE STAFF
TOPIC STARTER
@Ivonne Apr 15, 2016

Hi Ivonne,

Ivonne Reichard-Novak wrote:

I performed a search in Nakōdo with a long legal text. It matched me to someone who has no legal expertise at all. He doesn’t even suggest he does, hasn't mentioned it in his profile, and does not represent himself as a legal translator on the web. (I googled him.) What he does, however, is having a lot of uploaded material.

I repeated the same for a medical text. Again, the top 4 translators were translators who have nothing to do with the medical field and don’t pretend to do so. They have a lot of material uploaded, though. No. 5 was the first to mention the medical field in her expertise. She had less material uploaded, hence, she was only No. 5.

At this point, I don’t think this is working. I think Nakōdo matches to the translator with the most uploaded material and while I’m happy to hear that the TMs remain private to the translators, it just makes Nakōdo a potential great MT-tool, harvesting the material from hundreds of hopefully job-hunting translators.


Kevin may be better able to answer this for you. I did a few searches, using relatively short texts, and the top results were not necessarily those who had uploaded more. There is a limit to the number of areas of expertise you can declare, and I am guessing that at this moment there are a lot of people just registering and getting their profiles set up.


I will take this as a clue to what I have already realized several years ago and let my remaining ProZ.com membership run its course. I kept it not because of potential work (as not a single one of the job offers within the last few years scratched the bottom of my regular rates which clients are actually happy to pay me and keep me in work full time) but because of it being just another source of publicity. At this point I don’t think it’s the publicity I want.


I'm sorry to hear that. Whether or not you continue to pay for membership, let me recommend strengthening your profile. Membership gives you visibility, but if your profile doesn't showcase what you have to offer as a professional, it is less likely that potential clients will come to you. There is a recent thread that talks about how this works: http://www.proz.com/topic/301009

Jared


 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:17
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
Ich habe es TM-Town gefragt Apr 15, 2016

Carmen Pralow wrote:

Es ist schade, dass dieses Angebot nur in Englisch bekannt gemacht wird. Ich denke, ich bin nicht die Einzige, die kein Englisch spricht und daher außen vor ist.


Nein bist du nicht. Angeblich gibt es mehrere Leute. Das Antwort war das TM-Town in die Zukunft auch in andere Sprachen publiziert wird.


 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:17
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
@Kevin Apr 15, 2016

Kevin Dias wrote:

Let me get this straight, the clock starts ticking the moment I upload a qualifying document and not at the moment I link my ProZ.com account on TM-Town. Right?


Your 1 year Starter membership will be granted (within 48 hours) once you have both:
a) connected your ProZ.com account
b) uploaded at least 1 qualifying document


Thank you for your answers, but I am still trying to "find my way through the TM-jungle", so I have a few more questions (sorry).

If I connect my Proz account with TM-Town, what are the consecuences (= what is happening with/in my Proz account)?

With Starter I see that I get 2 language pairs and 4 fields of expertise, which is more than with Basic Free. My question is, can I change my language pairs and/or fields of expertise in Starter, or are we playing by the rule "one (permanent) choice only"? Important information to decide my marketing strategy!

Talking about strategy, another thing I was thinking about is my target group(s). I work for both, agencies and end clients = different prices. Does TM-Town offer the possibility to address both groups seperately (different then give your min. rate etc., which for both groups is different)?

Last but not least, you forgot to tell me/us that your Proz/TM-Town offer is only valid till April 30. Small detail, but still.

Hope to hear from you.

[Edited at 2016-04-15 21:28 GMT]

[Edited at 2016-04-15 21:29 GMT]

[Edited at 2016-04-15 21:29 GMT]

[Edited at 2016-04-15 21:30 GMT]


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:17
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Optional, I hope Apr 15, 2016

I renewed my membership quite recently. When the time comes to renew it again, I presume this TM Town thing will be offered as an optional extra.

I don't know what TM Town is, don't want it, don't need it, and don't require any CAT tools for the way I work, so I assume that when I pay for my renewed membership I will not be paying for TM Town (I hate that name!) unless I opt **IN**. I do hope so because if not, I'll be gone.

And BTW I would be grateful if whoever it is
... See more
I renewed my membership quite recently. When the time comes to renew it again, I presume this TM Town thing will be offered as an optional extra.

I don't know what TM Town is, don't want it, don't need it, and don't require any CAT tools for the way I work, so I assume that when I pay for my renewed membership I will not be paying for TM Town (I hate that name!) unless I opt **IN**. I do hope so because if not, I'll be gone.

And BTW I would be grateful if whoever it is would stop sending me unsolicited emails about TM Town. TIA !

Thanks to my comprehensive and regularly updated profile, I get very frequent personal contacts from outsourcers specifically looking for *me*, so in every other way I'm very happy with what I get from Proz.com. I hope it continues.

[Edited at 2016-04-15 22:15 GMT]
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Bernhard Sulzer
Bernhard Sulzer  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:17
English to German
+ ...
Another bidding system Apr 15, 2016

Jared Tabor wrote:

Hi Bernhard,

It sounds like you are referring to me saying that the sample translations do not have to be "actual work you have done." By this I mean that the sample translation does not have to be extracted from a job you performed, but can be a short text you chose, that is in your area of expertise, to translate for the purpose of being able to show an example of the kind of work you do. Since some have stated that their work is under NDA, this is one way of still being able to "show" rather than "tell" (using the Portfolio feature of your ProZ.com profile).

Jared


Yes.
Thanks for clarifying Jared.
But I usually don't call those files samples. My samples are/were from real projects, from actual work. But I don't recommend samples anymore. I believe in feedback, human interaction/communication with prospective clients without having competed/bid with people who have uploaded a gazillion of files with claimed expert content. Instead, I advertise my services, tell about how I became a translator and state my expert fields and client feedback. I might do a test if it is paid. Non-paid tests? No thank you.

I don't like the job bidding system. This seems to be another extension, more anonymous, at least at first, and I would think it rather appeals to the same people who compete on the job boards. And to me the intellectual property issue and non-verification (add-on/edited: = who created it and non-validation (how good or bad is it really)) of content are two red flags. Just my thoughts, from my perspective.

By the way, T-Town claims to be able to find the "best" translator for your job. I wouldn't have worded it like that if you know what I mean.

[Edited at 2016-04-16 18:11 GMT]


 
..... (X)
..... (X)
Local time: 04:17
@Robert Apr 16, 2016

If I connect my Proz account with TM-Town, what are the consecuences (= what is happening with/in my Proz account)?


Nothing is happening or changed in your ProZ.com account. You will get a link to your ProZ.com account on your TM-Town profile and we query whether you are a ProZ.com member or Certified PRO.

With Starter I see that I get 2 language pairs and 4 fields of expertise, which is more than with Basic Free. My question is, can I change my language pairs and/or fields of expertise in Starter, or are we playing by the rule "one (permanent) choice only"? Important information to decide my marketing strategy!


Yes, for the Starter and Professional tiers you can change your language pairs and fields of expertise in your account settings.

Last but not least, you forgot to tell me/us that your Proz/TM-Town offer is only valid till April 30. Small detail, but still.


Jared mentions it in bold in the first post of this thread

It is also mentioned on the FAQ page.


 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 20:17
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
@Kevin Apr 16, 2016

Kevin Dias wrote:

If I connect my Proz account with TM-Town, what are the consecuences (= what is happening with/in my Proz account)?


Nothing is happening or changed in your ProZ.com account. You will get a link to your ProZ.com account on your TM-Town profile and we query whether you are a ProZ.com member or Certified PRO.

With Starter I see that I get 2 language pairs and 4 fields of expertise, which is more than with Basic Free. My question is, can I change my language pairs and/or fields of expertise in Starter, or are we playing by the rule "one (permanent) choice only"? Important information to decide my marketing strategy!


Yes, for the Starter and Professional tiers you can change your language pairs and fields of expertise in your account settings.

Last but not least, you forgot to tell me/us that your Proz/TM-Town offer is only valid till April 30. Small detail, but still.


Jared mentions it in bold in the first post of this thread

It is also mentioned on the FAQ page.


Hi Kevin,

Thank you for the info, but could you please also answer my last question (you missed that one):

"Talking about strategy, another thing I was thinking about is my target group(s). I work for both, agencies and end clients = different prices. Does TM-Town offer the possibility to address both groups seperately (different then give your min. rate etc., which for both groups is different)?"

Thank you.


 
..... (X)
..... (X)
Local time: 04:17
Rate Range Apr 16, 2016

Hi Robert,

"Talking about strategy, another thing I was thinking about is my target group(s). I work for both, agencies and end clients = different prices. Does TM-Town offer the possibility to address both groups seperately (different then give your min. rate etc., which for both groups is different)?"


On your TM-Town profile you can specify your rate range if you so choose (it is optional). You can specify a rate range either on a per word basis or hourly basis (or both).

So, in your case, you could have the range cover your prices for both groups. There is however no way to address both groups separately as TM-Town does not require visitors to log in to view your profile, so when someone visits your profile, we do not know who it is (i.e. is it an end client, agency, etc.).

Kevin


 
Jo Macdonald
Jo Macdonald  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 20:17
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
Few suggestions Apr 16, 2016

Hi Kevin,
After joining the site and uploading a few small TMs I have to say the site looks goods, works well and is pretty easy to understand and use.

About validation
I have read the post you directed Sheila to earlier in this thread but from my brief experience on your site it does actually look like it would be really easy for anyone to post any TM or other data they have on their system or got sent by a client and declare "I translated this" as really the only valid
... See more
Hi Kevin,
After joining the site and uploading a few small TMs I have to say the site looks goods, works well and is pretty easy to understand and use.

About validation
I have read the post you directed Sheila to earlier in this thread but from my brief experience on your site it does actually look like it would be really easy for anyone to post any TM or other data they have on their system or got sent by a client and declare "I translated this" as really the only validating step I came across was the drop-down menu asking me if I had translated the work, or part of it, etc.

Instead of just hoping everyone will be honest, I think it would be much better to also validate a translator's status on your site in other ways too such as linking Kudoz activity and WWA stats, or whatever else you might have come up with.

If the translator has no WWA rep, maybe ask them to prove their professional experience in another way.

If they have no Kudoz points in say the energy sector but have uploaded loads of energy data they should imo not really be getting more visibility than someone with lots of energy Kudoz but less energy data uploaded because while the top energy Kudoz contributor will almost certainly be an experienced energy sector translator, someone with loads of energy data and few or no energy Kudoz could have got those energy TMs from someone else such as an agency they did a small job for and got sent a big TM to do it.

The way I see it, Kudoz and WWA are pretty good ways of validating our experience and proficiency, whereas anyone can upload a load of data and choose whichever choice in that drop-down menu they want = no real validation.

About folks selling/buying stuff
I hope no one can buy data on the site, delete it and then upload the same data declaring it's their work thus achieving the same professional status as the person who created it because they didn't create that work, they bought it.

Worse case scenario would be a translator with no experience in say the energy sector, who gets sent a big energy TM to do a small job for a client. Client is absolutely unhappy with the terrible job translator does but translator can still upload the TM to your site claiming it's all their work and that they're a big fish in the energy pool, and maybe even sell glossaries from that TM when they have never contributed anything of worth to it.

So how are you going to make sure the person with most energy data is really a top energy translator and not just someone with a big energy TM who knows nothing about the energy sector?
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Matthias Brombach
Matthias Brombach  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 20:17
Member (2007)
Dutch to German
+ ...
Post it on your profile as one of your "unique features", that... Apr 16, 2016

Bernhard Sulzer wrote:
And to me the intellectual property issue and non-verification of content are two red flags. Just my thoughts.

... you do NOT use such tools like Google translate, LILT, TM town etc.
Some customers / end clients perhaps STILL honour that approach...

[Edited at 2016-04-16 15:42 GMT]


 
..... (X)
..... (X)
Local time: 04:17
Integration of KudoZ / WWA Apr 16, 2016

Hi Jo,

Thanks for your feedback and for giving it a try. Yes, now that we are a part of ProZ.com we plan to, in the very near term, integrate KudoZ and WWA data into TM-Town and TM-Town profiles. We have also already added the certified PRO badge to the TM-Town profiles for members with that distinction.

Kevin


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:17
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Crossed mind Apr 16, 2016

I wonder if it has crossed anyone's mind that being a good translator is more important to clients and outsourcers than any of this stuff?

 
Selcuk Akyuz
Selcuk Akyuz  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 22:17
English to Turkish
+ ...
rate ranges why in USD Apr 16, 2016

To make it easier on clients browsing TM-Town, all rates ranges will be listed in USD (U.S. dollars), so please be aware of that when you are setting your rate ranges below.


My preferred currency is Euro at TM-Town so I expect my rates to be displayed in Euro as well.

The lower bound is USD 0.03 (is it a joke) and upper bound is 0.50. Why do we have a drop-down list? What if I work in a rare pair and my rate is say 1.00 per word.


 
..... (X)
..... (X)
Local time: 04:17
Rate Ranges Apr 16, 2016

Hi Selcuk,

The rate ranges are in USD to make it easier on clients browsing TM-Town and so that on the translational directory search the client can filter by their budget if they so choose.

If you would like to display your rates in Euro in a free form fashion you can just leave the rate range information blank and you can add that to your 'About Me' section.

Kevin


 
Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 20:17
Member
English to Italian
I found myself nodding... Apr 17, 2016

Tom in London wrote:

I wonder if it has crossed anyone's mind that being a good translator is more important to clients and outsourcers than any of this stuff?


... while reading Ivonne's "Quality or quantity?" post, as I do share her concerns, but if Jared & Co. decided to take things that way, it's not like we can do much about it, even if I don't really like it... (and, based on what I have read/seen so far, I do think the TM-Town "classing system" is deeply and inherently flawed).

Sure, I could decide not to renew my membership, or even delete my account here, but in the end, the main point is advertising your services and be found, so I guess the same could be said for TM-Town, although I do have many reservations about the latter and about the fact that ProZ is going towards that direction and, obviously, about the fact that, despite having been acquired by ProZ and "integrated" with it, now you should be paying additional membership fees ($60-180/year) if you wish to have better chances of appearing on a different directory...


 
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