Find your Passion, and then Live it

Medellín, Colombia

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Not Lost in Translation Pt 2.

So the day after I helped my coworkers and a client with the translating a powerpoint presentation into English for a big meeting with American investors, I had the chance to actually attend that presetention. However, there was one big hiccup prior to that presentation. We were scheduled to leave CICE (the office where I work) at 330, but at 3pm, the client came racing into the office and specfically to my desk because all the changes I made yesterday to the ppt somehow did not save. So I had less than 30 minutes to retranslate everything and make the ppt look professional... it was an intense 25 minutes. During the taxi ride over, our one client was very nervous about speaking in English to the American investors, since English is not his first language. So he was reading his speech in the taxi to me, and I would help correct him along the way.

Our clients were presenting at Proantioquia, which is a business connected with the government of Antioquia (the region where I am living), to help promote business within the area. We were having two clients present to American investors that day, one within the Nanotechnology field and the other within the Implants and Prosthetics industry. Something that was thrown at me right before our clients were about to present, was that I was asked to sit at the front with our clients while they presented, to act as a translator incase our client forgot a word, or was asked a question in English they didnt understand. It was definitely intense sitting in the hot seat, and a little intimidating, however it was amazing experience. There I was in South America, with real businesses, seeing presentations being made infront of international investors. Crazy, but so awesome.

Unfortunately, I personally wasnt too impressed with how the American investors acted during both of our clients´ presentations. I found them to be rude, ignorant, and disrespectful. First they would frequently interrupt our clients during their presentations, which I think disturbed the flow of their speech. Secondly the investors would talk (loudly) to one another and make inappropriate comments while the presentations were going on... which was 1. unprofessional and 2. disrespectful to the person presenting. Next the investors really just didnt having understanding for our clients, as English was not their first language. So they didnt ask questions slowly, or give them any time to think about a question and its answer before responding. I wasn't too impressed, but I bit my tongue, kept my cool and remained professional.

At the end of the presentations we had a brief moment to speak with the American investors, and thank them for their time. When they spoke to me they asked why my accent was different than my coworkers. I explained that I am Canadian and am working in Colombia for a year... they seemed to be pretty impressed by that. They also asked me where I attended university in Canada... I (proudly) answered, Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. The one American had heard of it, and was familiar with their business program. :)

The next day I attended a conference about Innovation with my coworkers in Plaza Mayor in Medellín. The conference had over 3,000 people attend, and we were able to hear from 3 speakers about open innovation, how to encourage innovation within business models, and corporate venturing. 2 of the 3 speakers happened to be 2 of the American investors we dealt with the day before. The presentations were pretty good, and also interesting. I couldn't over how many people were there! Luckily, the conference was in English, which was a nice break. So I was one of the only people not to have translation headphones on.

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