Review of Localization networking event, Atlanta

More detailed Q&A with each of the speakers coming as soon as they are transcribed.

I was lucky enough to sit on the panel alongside Scott DeFusco of Deltek and Michael Buckham-White of Premiere Global yesterday. I have met Scott a number of times in the past but not Michael.

Michael is a 15-year veteran of human communications profession.  He held positions with a number of telecommunications companies, including AT&T, and was instrumental in launching the current UPS brand to the internet.  He is currently the Vice President of Interactive Marketing and CIA (Customer Insight & Analytics) for Premiere Global Services. Michael did an excellent job of chairing a Q&A on whether business (revenue)should drive globalization strategy or whether strategy should come first in order to drive revenue. The right path for most companies, of course, is a balance – but striking the correct balance makes the difference between success and failure.

Scott DeFusco, Vice President of Product Management forVirginia based Deltek, is responsible for driving the product strategy and innovation for Deltek’s Vision and GCS product lines. Scott has been instrumental in driving Deltek’s global strategy from product design through global go-to-market strategy. His Q&A was centered around the significance of educating business executives before executing a strategic sourcing solution for localization. Over the past eighteen months Scott has completely revamped Deltek’s approach to global markets – no mean feat for a fast growing software company – and to do that he had to build an education strategy for each major executive SVP and above. He also needed to craft a procurement and comprehensive vendor assessment strategy to select a localization partner.

Thanks to both Scott and Michael – and to everyone else that attended and participated.