Published on 10.10.2020
Professional Background
Katherine (Kit) Brown-Hoekstra is an award-winning writer and consultant with a background in the life sciences and 25+ years of experience in the technical communication field. She is currently the Principal for Comgenesis, LLC, which provides consulting services and training to clients on internationalizing and improving the usability of their documentation, developing a coherent content strategy and content model, as well as more traditional technical writing and editing services.
During her career, Kit has worked with technical experts worldwide to successfully develop strategies and processes for creating content for a variety of global audiences, ranging from government agencies to technicians, physicians, and software end-users. Her work includes content strategy, process improvement, content audits and other analysis, usability testing and other research, as well as content creation for multichannel publishing and more traditional writing and editing. Kit holds a Master of Science degree in Technical Communication and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, both from Colorado State University.
Kit is a certified trainer for STC’s Certified Professional Technical Communicator (CPTC) program, a 2017 Winner of the Communication and Leadership Award for Toastmasters (District 26), a 2016 MindTouch Top 25 Content Strategist and 2017 Content Experience Influencer, a 2016 inductee of the Colorado State Media Hall of Fame, a Fellow and a former Society president (2014-15) for the Society for Technical Communication (STC).
She speaks at many conferences worldwide. In 2017, she edited The Language of Localization. In 2006, she coauthored (with Brenda Huettner and Char James-Tanny) Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools. In addition, she is a former editor of IEEE-PCS News, and a contributor to Multilingual, TC World, and Intercom, among other publications. Her blog is www.pangaeapapers.com.
Interview
We are very excited about your presentations at the ATA conference. Will you tell us more about your experience in the translation and localization industry?
Dick Crum (now deceased) was my first exposure to localization when he came and spoke at a chapter meeting for the Society for Technical Communication in 1991 or 1992. He was an entertaining speaker and great at explaining what we needed to be aware of. Later, my former employer (medical device co) had to develop a localization program to meet some new regulatory requirements. I was tasked with figuring out how to make it work, and Dick was our advisor in that process. When I went to a software company, they were working on an internationalization project, and I helped with the strategy for the user documentation. I was hooked!
In 2000, ILE advertised for a position in Boise, ID that seemed tailor-made for my background. By the time I started, they had merged with Lionbridge. I worked as a solutions development consultant and trainer for a couple of years, and then went out on my own in 2003. Since then, I’ve worked in the space between technical communication and localization helping LSPs work more effectively with their clients and with global companies to help them create better global-ready content and processes, so that my clients can serve their customers wherever they live and work.
It’s been an interesting and fun journey.
Will you give us a summary of your sessions “Measuring Value: Helping Clients Turn Content into Business Assets” and “Pulling Localization Upstream: Integrating Content and Localization Processes”?
Measuring Value: Helping Clients Turn Content into Business Assets
This concept of content as an asset rather than a cost center has been percolating for years. More and more companies have started to recognize this, which is why we are seeing some convergence in technical communication and marketing content. Think about all the things we measure during the localization process, such as turnaround time, word count, linguistic quality, reuse, terminology consistency, etc. Even more qualitatively, what are the things that your clients do with their content that is costing them money? That makes your job harder? That drives you crazy? These data could help our clients 1) make their content more global-ready, 2) improve localization quality by improving source quality, 3) save clients money 4) builds more of a partnership with the LSP and so on. (Many things that cause major problems in localization are relatively easy to fix on the source side if the client only knows about it). We will talk about all of these things and some strategies that you can use to work more effectively with your clients.
Pulling Localization Upstream: Integrating Content and Localization Processes
Technology in the past 10 years has matured to the point where we can now do things we only dreamed of at the beginning of my career. With content management systems, structured content, automation, we can provide higher quality content in the local language, in the right format, at the right time, for the right audience than ever before. We can personalize that content as well based on preferences, device, role, etc. In addition, customers expect local versions of products at the same time as the source versions are available. In this environment, localization teams can’t afford to be the caboose on the product release train. To accommodate these needs, we need to pull localization upstream in the development process and make it more Agile. This means that both localization teams and technical communication teams needs to understand what the other side does and where their pain points are. We will talk about where tech comm and localization are similar and different and where you have opportunity for being a better partner with your clients.
Pulling Localization Upstream: Integrating Content and Localization Processes
Technology in the past 10 years has matured to the point where we can now do things we only dreamed of at the beginning of my career. With content management systems, structured content, automation, we can provide higher quality content in the local language, in the right format, at the right time, for the right audience than ever before. We can personalize that content as well based on preferences, device, role, etc. In addition, customers expect local versions of products at the same time as the source versions are available. In this environment, localization teams can’t afford to be the caboose on the product release train. To accommodate these needs, we need to pull localization upstream in the development process and make it more Agile. This means that both localization teams and technical communication teams needs to understand what the other side does and where their pain points are. We will talk about where tech comm and localization are similar and different and where you have opportunity for being a better partner with your clients.
What inspired you to present at the ATA conference?
I have always wanted to speak at this conference because there is so much synergy and similarity between ATA and STC, which are sister organizations in many ways. We could learn so much from each other by working more closely together, publishing articles in each other’s journals/magazines, and taking the time to understand the constraints and limitations each team is under.
You currently work providing consulting on localization and content strategy. What do you like most about this type of work?
The tagline for my company is “Communication for a connected world.” I firmly believe that we change the world by doing our jobs well. When we teach people how to communicate across cultures more effectively, we make the world a better and safer place for all of us. Our work is part of the infrastructure and is often invisible until it’s broken. By connecting the dots between what we do and the impact it has on the world, we build bridges and friendships. So, I love helping teams solve problems. I love it when teams connect what they are doing with how it affects other teams downstream from them. I love it when teams recognize the impact of their work on the larger world and how important what we do is. I love it when the cultural light bulb goes on and teams start looking at their content through new eyes.
What is the most important take-away that you will want from attendees of your presentations?
I hope each attendee finds at least one practical thing that they can take back and implement with their clients. I want everyone to come away with a renewed sense of the value and importance of their work.
What inspired you to present at the ATA conference?
I have always wanted to speak at this conference because there is so much synergy and similarity between ATA and STC, which are sister organizations in many ways. We could learn so much from each other by working more closely together, publishing articles in each other’s journals/magazines, and taking the time to understand the constraints and limitations each team is under.
You currently work providing consulting on localization and content strategy. What do you like most about this type of work?
The tagline for my company is “Communication for a connected world.” I firmly believe that we change the world by doing our jobs well. When we teach people how to communicate across cultures more effectively, we make the world a better and safer place for all of us. Our work is part of the infrastructure and is often invisible until it’s broken. By connecting the dots between what we do and the impact it has on the world, we build bridges and friendships. So, I love helping teams solve problems. I love it when teams connect what they are doing with how it affects other teams downstream from them. I love it when teams recognize the impact of their work on the larger world and how important what we do is. I love it when the cultural light bulb goes on and teams start looking at their content through new eyes.
What is the most important take-away that you will want from attendees of your presentations?
I hope each attendee finds at least one practical thing that they can take back and implement with their clients. I want everyone to come away with a renewed sense of the value and importance of their work.