The Great Agency vs. Direct Client Debate
What are the pros and cons of working with agencies versus with direct clients? What is the best mix for your situation, talents, and preferred work style?
This seminar is an opportunity to pick the brains of the four panelists below as well as to learn from the audience’s questions and comments.
Dan Castellano – independent translator working primarily with direct clients
Matt Heaton – translation company founder and CEO, who never did any of the translation himself
Kiyoko Sagane – legal translator increasingly working with agencies
Phil Robertson – translation company co-owner, who initially did much of the translation together with his business partner
The seminar will open with a poll of audience opinions about which is better – agency or direct client? Moderator Helen Iwata will then invite the panelists to introduce themselves and answer some initial questions before opening up to the floor. If you can’t attend, but would like to pose a question, please post it on the JAT Facebook page. Before closing, we will poll the audience again to find out whether opinions have shifted and, if so, why.
By the end of the seminar, you can expect to have a clearer sense of your target clients and how to approach them for more successful business. (The panel will mainly present in English, with questions welcome in either English or Japanese.)
Dan Castellano arrived in Japan in 1991, and began translating in 1994, in the International Department of a machinery trading company in the Ginza. He has worked as an in-house translator at two translation companies in Tokyo, and in 2003, he decided to go independent, establishing “Blue-J” as a small business. Blue-J was incorporated in 2007, but still operates on a small scale out of a home office. More of a “craftsman” than an entrepreneur, Dan does almost all of the translating himself.
Matt Heaton is founder and CEO of TBSJ, a language service provider established in 2010 and now servicing some of the world’s largest banks and law firms. Before TBSJ, Matt worked for a major US translation company, where he managed almost half of global revenue. He set up on-going services for key clients and managed numerous major translation projects, including one of the biggest M&A support projects in Japan (200 translators) and due diligence translation for one of the largest leveraged buy-outs in Asia.
Kiyoko Sagane is a self-employed translator specializing in legal and patent-related fields. She particularly has a wealth of experience in translating briefs for patent infringement cases, search reports, license agreements, NDAs, and internal rules including those relating to compliance and anti-corruption. The majority of Kiyoko’s assignments comes through agencies rather than direct clients. Until recently, she herself was on the agency side, employed by Okabe and Yampolsky Translations, LLC. as translator, editor, and proofreader for over 10 years.
Phil Robertson is originally from London, UK, but has lived and worked in Japan for the past 25 years. After five-year stints at Yamaha Motors in Shizuoka Prefecture and Toshiba Semiconductor in Kawasaki City, he co-founded Honyaku Plus with his partner, Paul Flint, in 2003. Honyaku Plus is located in Jimbocho, Tokyo, and specializes in high-quality translation in the fields of IT, science and technology, financial analysis, market reporting, international relations and sport. The firm continues to expand slowly but surely, with a growing client list, increasingly large projects, a widening range of services, and an ever greater need for high-quality freelance contractors.
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2015
Time: 14:00-17:00
Doors open: 13.30
Place: Forum 8, Shibuya (http://www.forum-8.co.jp/access/index.html)
Address: Dogenzaka 2-10-7, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0043; Phone: 03-3780-0008
Cost: JAT members 1,000 yen; non-members 3,000 yen (advance registration is NOT necessary)
Koryukai: We’re trialling a new networking event format!
Drinks from 17:00-18:30 (cash bar, NO booking or registration necessary)
Dinner from 18:30-20:30 (3,800 yen for 5 dishes and nomihodai; book and pay through Peatix by 11:00 a.m. on April 18)
Venue: Harumari (http://www.sld-inc.com/harumari_cafebar.html)
Address: Dogenzaka 2-10-3, Shibuya (a few doors up from Forum 8 heading away from Shibuya station)
Tel: 03-6809-0525
Inquiries: [email protected]