A few years ago, I used to have to join tedious conference calls. They were regular and, in my opinion, a waste of time. But being a good corporate citizen, I had the required information prepared and waited my turn to talk about what was happening in my part of the business.

A colleague, who I shall call “Eric” to protect his identity, and I would try to make these calls more interesting by challenging each other to say particular words during the call. So, for example, he would ask me to say the word “cauliflower” in the context of my topic, which admittedly was a little childish, but it at least kept us awake. This is unlike another call where someone fell asleep and all we could hear was his snoring.

We realised that it was possible to fulfil all the challenges set. I took this to mean that any topic could relate to any other topic; rather than wishing to believe that our understanding of the world was sufficiently narrow and therefore potential links were relatively easy to discover.

So, on this presumption that anything can link to anything else, what do the Brazilian Team, the World Cup in South Africa and eTeamsCONNECT have in common? To help you, let us say a few words about each.  If you know the answer, you can jump to the end of this article and check!

eTeamsCONNECT, our technology environment, provides our clients with zero cost access to Translation Memory, Terminology and Business and Workflow software. It enables your in-house translation team and our linguists to have exactly the same access to advanced translation technology.

Although they are the only team to have won the World Cup on every continent the tournament has taken place, the Brazilian Team has the toughest group, Group G, ‘the Group of Death’ in which to play.  The Côte d’Ivoire and Portugal are strong adversaries and are able to upset the Brazilian game.  

In South Africa there is a frenzy of excitement. The TV newsreels and newspapers describe the marvel of this event, the prestige of building first-class stadiums, the role of Nelson Mandela and the wonderful plans for the opening ceremony to involve South African children.

So, what is the connection?  Of course there are many, but, I had one in mind, “Opportunity”.

eTeamsCONNECT gives our clients the opportunity to reduce costs from day-1.

For Brazil, there is the opportunity to win the title a sixth time and to show that although the English invented the game, the Brazilians have perfected it.

For the World Cup in South Africa, there is the opportunity for improved tourism and real national pride.

eTeams has direct control over one of these.  If you want to make better use of your translation expenditure and reduce costs, contact us.  If you also enjoy football, you can then watch the games knowing you have made a positive financial decision.

“eTeams – translations you can trust”