The beautiful and scenic countryside just outside Prague was the backdrop for last year’s ZELENKA Event, which took place over the weekend of September 28-30, 2018.

True to form, the event offered an atmosphere created to foster discussion in groups, each focused on specific struggles in various parts of the language industry today.

ZELENKA Event is an annual meeting of experts, service providers, translators and clients from the localization industry, held in a different, unique location each year. While it is designed to tackle the most pressing struggles of the industry, the driving principle behind it is that this is best accomplished in a nonformal setting that encourages deeper interpersonal communication and relationships. Not only do closer relationships make the exchange of work experience, ideas and knowledge easier, but they also create a foundation for the more mutually beneficial collaborations that sustainably drive business forward.

The program was kept light, with a mix of socializing and discussion. The 70 attendees from 15 countries embraced the opportunity to interact with one another.

Discussion topics were chosen to cover issues that companies deal with on a daily basis, from the importance of defining your hiring processes and maintaining that human approach to how technology will influence the future of the industry. Prominent industry figures such as Anne-Marie Colliander Lind and Gabor Bessenyei led some of the discussion groups, and others like Jeff Guillem, Jesper Sandberg, Daniel Goldschmidt and many more contributed to them. Discussion leaders participated in six discussion groups covering company culture; technology; HR; marketing; working with a translation agency; and the human approach. The ideas put forward by discussion leaders served as fuel for deeper, more meaningful conversations.

The event provided insights and support for preserving and even strengthening the human element of the localization industry, which continues to react to technological developments and digitization.