Women in Localization

Charter Guidelines and Code of Ethics for Chapters

Last Update: August 30th, 2013

Section Title

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Background

3.0 Mission and Objectives

4.0 Board Composition and Roles

5.0 Key issues concerning chapter formations

6.0 Petitioning for a chapter

7.0 Appendices

1.0 Introduction
A key objective of the Women in Localization (WL) is to foster the chartering of WL chapters. We recognize that developing a chapter structure is essential to the growth of WL, as a chapter offers our membership the following significant benefits:

· Networking focus with other women in the localization industry

· An available forum for presentation of industry-related issues for continued learning

· Help each other in the workplace or otherwise

2.0 Background

WL is a professional group founded in 2008 by 3 globalization professionals in the Bay Area (Northern California, United States of America): Anna N Schlegel, Silvia Avary-Silveira and Eva Klaudinyova. At first, the organization was called Northern California Women in Localization (NCWL), but after a while, it was clear the interest was worldwide. NCWL became WL at the end of 2010 and is open to all women localization professionals all over the world.

WL organizes events in which women in the localization field are invited to attend. In 2013, Women in Localization voted to allow men to attend gatherings. However, it is crucial that the women will be the organizers, members of panels, and experts on topics. Events could be a presentation on localization or globalization trends from an industry expert, a discussion on how to advance one’s career, or topics related to the field but not necessarily part of one’s job such as social media. It could also be a social gathering with no presentations, just networking.

The setting is as follows: On quarterly basis, the WL Board chooses a sponsor for a particular event to provide refreshments and potentially a physical space for the event – it most cases these events are held at one of the sponsors’ facilities. Also, in most cases there is more than one sponsor: one for the refreshments and one for the physical facility. The sponsor is always recognized at the beginning of the event. Networking happens before and after the actual presentation, panel or discussion. Every new participant attending is greeted and introduced to a few people by the Board Members.

3.0 Mission and Objectives

Mission statement: To empower women localization professionals by providing a safe environment and forums for networking, presentations, and open discussions on relevant industry-related topics.

Objective: To continue to grow our network worldwide and provide localization women with opportunities to meet other women in the industry as well as access to interesting topics and feedback from others for own professional and personal development.

4.0 Team Composition and Roles

· Anna N Schlegel – Co-Founder and Executive Board – Chair

§ Eva Klaudinyova – Co-Founder and Executive Board – Continuing Education

§ Silvia Avary- Silveira – Co-Founder and Executive Board – Membership

§ Luciana Vecchi - Executive Board Member – Mentorship & Digital Presence

§ Allison McDougall - Board Member – Public Relations

§ Stephanie Gabriel - Board Member – Social Media

§ Liesl Leary - Board Member – Social Media

§ Katell Jentreau - Board Member – Events

5.0 Board Job Description

Chairwoman: Overall group management. Organizes Board Calls, Keeps Minutes, Oversees and leads formation of new chapters, Approves New Roles into the Board with the vote of the Board Members, decides on events calendar.

Continuing Education: Educate our members on current industry information and partner with existing education outfits. Post classes onto website and share interesting and innovative reads.

Events: Organize all aspects of the events for Women in Localization 3 or 4 times a year in the Bay Area, usually with a specific forum to share an industry relevant topic. Provide a professional networking forum for W.L. through those gatherings.

Membership: Responsible for membership growth. Approve new members and welcome them to the group. Help members starting new chatters in other locations.

Mentoring: Pair Sr. experts Program to juniors and create and lead a possible mentorship subgroup. This is the only exception when we might have Sr. Men participation as a mentor.

Treasurer: Manage W.L. budget. Research non-profit organization rules and regulations. Open a bank account for W.L. and generate receipts to sponsors. – What is the status on this? Do we have any money at all?

PR: Look for opportunities to have W.L. featured in Industry blogs, magazines or any other localization publication. Ensure that information publicized is true and accurate.

Social Media: Create a buzz on various social media feeds; keep discussions going on our LinkedIn group and content current.

Board members are reviewed yearly in January.

5.0 Key topics concerning WL chapter formation are:

A.1. Affiliation: WL membership is done by via the LinkedIn group, Women in Localization. Any woman in the localization field anywhere in the world can request association via LinkedIn; however, she must be part of the localization community to join. There is no cost to join. If the member has disclosed her email address she will be invited to all local events. The executive Board approves each request carefully.

Once the person has become a member she is encouraged to participate in healthy localization debate, news, questions, and dialogue. Below is a description of what is and what is not acceptable to post.

What is acceptable to post on LinkedIn:

ü Globalization Industry News

ü Questions on Localization

ü Job openings (on its job section)

ü Articles around professional growth and development

What is not acceptable to post on LinkedIn:

ü Random industry news or facts that are not localization related

ü Posts promoting a particular company’s or individual’s services

ü Inappropriate stories containing offending topics related to religion, sex, and political views

ü Sensitive information for international members

Right to refuse membership:

A.1.a. Chapter Affiliation: Any member can petition for a chapter in a different part of the world. Upon successfully petitioning for a charter (see section 6 below), the board will support the new chapter in any way possible. Since we do not make money, there is no travel budget, but if one of our board members is in the area at the time of the chapter creation, we will be happy to join in the initial meeting. Tip: you might also want to check with the Board members when they will be next in your town and maybe schedule an event for that time.

A.1.b. WL is not a profit making entity, nor will any chartered WL chapter endeavor to make a profit from its activities. If there are any funds accrued by the chapter, they will be applied to current and future chapter functions to the benefit of the members affiliated with the chapter. Some examples are: fund refreshments, purchase small thank you cards/gifts for the presenters/panel or indulge during the Holiday Party.

A.1.c. The chapters may not charge membership dues. They may charge a fee for meetings, workshops, and other chapter activities to defray the costs of these activities, and/or to provide earnest funds for future activities. We encourage a company to sponsor an event, as opposed to charging for admission, but in special cases, charging for an event might be necessary to cover costs.

A.2. WL requires that prior to actual chapter charter application, that the potential chapter establish and hold pre-charter meetings to determine level of interest, willingness of candidate board members to volunteer, ability to attract and retain members, event sponsors, review lessons learned, and other success criteria.

A.3 Use of WL Logo: At this moment, WL does not have a registered trademark and as such there are no specifics governing its use. The WL chapter in Northern California choses an Evite logo that depicts women holding hands. Future WL organizations must use the same logo.

Section 6.0: Petitioning for a chapter

Any woman in the localization field outside of Northern California can petition the WL Board to open a new chapter in her location. Petitioner should contact a WL Board Member for information. The charter guidelines will be sent to petitioner for review. If petitioner feels she can follow chapter guidelines, agreement between the Board and the petitioner can be signed off via e-mail. The WL Board in Northern CA will support and supply any information new chapter requires to get started.

Each new chapter’s name must follow this template: Women in Localization xxx (city or country name), e.g. Women in Localization France or Women in Localization Paris

Each chapter has to have one official administrator who will act as the leader of the group. Administrator role changes every year based on a vote by local members.

Administrators of local chapters will become extended Board members and can participate in Extended Board meetings twice a year.

Local chapter must have a minimum of 15 members before it can be officially established.

Administrator can request for a local chapter to be officially recognized. The request has to be sent to the Membership Manager for approval and it must contain a list of names and contact information of all local members.

After approval, a subgroup can be created on LinkedIn for the local chapter, using its official name (e.g. Women in Localization Germany). – See above

The WL Board reserves the right to monitor activity on the LinkedIn subgroups and check in with local members.

If WL becomes an official non-profit organization, there might be additional requirements on management of the local chapters.

7.0 Appendices

This section is comprised of previous WL Northern CA events and membership count throughout its existence. This should give each chapter an idea of what has been discussed and the evolution of our membership.

2009 – 20 members

1. Founders Meeting in Sunnyvale to design group (5 members)

2. First open group meeting in Sunnyvale - dinner networking (20 members)

2010 – 350 Members

1. SDL MultiTerm demo and presentation by Eva Klaudinyova at VMware campus in Palo Alto (50 Members)

2. Localization trends, discussion lead by Don DePalma of Common Sense Advisory, hosted at NetApp in Sunnyvale (100 members)

3. Career focus: Developing a career in localization. Panel of 3 women localization directors answered questions, hosted at NetApp in Sunnyvale (150 members)

4. Christmas party with announcement of Board Members, hosted at NetApp in Sunnyvale (180)

2011 – 650

1. Crowdsourcing– two different perspectives. Panel of 2 women localization crowdsourcing experts presented slides and answered questions, hosted at Acclaro in San Francisco (300 members) - April

2. THINK LATINAMERICA – May

3. Social Media Best Practices

4. Common Sense Advisory – Trends

2012 – 890 Members

1. TechWomen from around the world speak up! @ Adobe San Francisco

2. Christmas Networking Gathering @ NetApp - December

2013 – 1, 050+ Members

1. Machine Translation Panel @ Box.com – April

2. Winning Strategies: Successfully Combining Crowdsourcing and LSP solutions – October

3. Christmas Networking Gathering – December