In late February, ClientSide News held its first conference for the localization industry. The conference’s main theme was “return on investment,” addressed from various perspectives in the conference’s two days of presentations and discussions.

80-90 localization professionals participated in the event, that took place in the beautiful surroundings of the Aspen Meadows Resort, home of the Aspen Institute.

This brief article summarizes my experience at the CSN conference, to help others determine if they should or should not attend future CSN events.


Executive Summary

I have never attended a more enjoyable localization-related conference. Thanks to the smaller group size and comfortable environment, I could talk and otherwise connect with colleagues – both customers and competitors – in a notably enjoyable, relaxing and fulfilling way.

All in all, I would give the CSN folks the grade of B+ (88%) for their efforts and results, as outlined below, starting with the negatives and ending with the positives.


Negatives

Since this was the first CSN conference, a few glitches were inevitable.

The most noticeable problem was some lack of content, in terms of the quantity and repetitiveness of sessions and presentations, perhaps due to the modest number of attendees. In other words, more speakers and more variety would have been appreciated.

It was a huge pain driving the four hours to Aspen (and another six hours back, through the snow storm).

The conference was quite expensive, especially in terms of room and board.

More vendors were present than hoped – not as many as LISA (three vendors for every customer?), but perhaps one vendor per three customers.


Positives

Through the cozy surroundings and meals together, it was easy and relaxing to get to know localization colleagues. I made a few important connections that may very well provide an acceptable ROI.

The expense and location in Aspen meant also some significant benefits. For example, the food at the hotel was excellent, and Aspen is a ski village unlike any other in the U.S., reminiscent of the quaint and elegant resorts of Switzerland and Austria.

A number of presentations and speeches were excellent, most notably Rory Cowan’s keynote review of developments affecting the localization industry, and Hans Fenstermacher’s event-closing speech; both men are impressive speakers and certainly earned my respect.

The end-of-conference dinner, atop Aspen Mountain, was unique, only in good ways. In this history of our industry, I do not recall any other localization event that honored industry leaders as well as CSN did, be they individuals, customers, or vendors (SimulTrans was awarded the best-of-breed honor as the world’s #1 “mid-size localization vendor”). In addition, I never thought that the casual localization industry could pull of a black-tie event, a credit to CSN founder Shawn Daggett.


Comparison: CSN versus LISA

While the CSN folks say they do not want to compare themselves to LISA, attendees will inevitably make the comparison. My observations follow:

- Two or three times the number of attendees visit LISA events, allowing LISA to present better and more content.

- CSN attendees are more likely to be customers, creating a more wholesome environment.

- LISA costs less, and takes places in cities where other localization activities can be undertaken (such as visiting localization-related companies).

- Shawn Daggett and his team are more hands-on, giving more personal service, though Michael Anobile et al. are making excellent progress in this customer-service regard.


How would I answer the bottom-line question of “Whether I would attend another CSN conference?” I would say, “Most probably I would go again. Yet I would hope that the number of vendors remains restricted, and that the venue not be so distant from a metropolitan area.”

All in all, Shawn and other CSN leaders should be congratulated for pulling off a very fine conference, despite the exceptionally difficult challenge that we all face in spending money in our companies.

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