Pam Ballard. I'm Chief Operations Officer with the CTS LanguageLink Executive Management group. I oversee company-wide operations for the Translation Division, Interpretation Division, Information Technology, Sales & Marketing, Accounting and Human Resources.
I've worked in the industry for 8 years and have 20+ years in the telecommunications industry. My last job, prior to coming to work for CTS LanguageLink was as Vice President - Provisioning for a small regional telecom company.
Growing up, I was always fascinated by languages and, during my first two years in college, I actually majored in Spanish before deciding to switch to something a little more "practical," such as business administration. It's interesting how life brings one back full circle. My husband and I have three grown children and one granddaughter, Katarina, who happens to be the cutest and smartest 3-year old around.
When I'm not at work, I spend my time running (I try to complete 3-4 half marathons per year), biking, skiing, snowshoeing, cooking, and gardening. My husband and I also enjoy traveling as much as possible (or as often as work allows). My "bucket list" is to visit every continent at least once (with the possible exception of Antarctica).
Sarah Gamble. I'm the Interpretation Division Manager responsible for working with the call center, interpreter and client relations departments to ensure that our customers receive quality on-site and over-the-phone interpretation services. I spend a good portion of my time working with management staff in coming up with new, innovative ways to improve our services as we continue to grow.
I've been with CTS since 1999, so I've been working in the industry for over 10 years. I'm very passionate about exceeding customer expectations. I am focused (obsessed some say) on customer service and making sure that every area of my division is servicing our customers in the best possible way.
When I'm not at work, I spend time with my family - my husband, and my kids: 6 year old daughter in first grade and 14 year old high-school freshman step-son.
Scrapbooking is my biggest hobby outside of work. No pets, but my mom (grandma) own a horse boarding facility, so naturally my daughter and I are into horses! In the summertime we enjoy doing just about any activity outdoors. Our family loves to camp, fish, and hike.
Dan Nelson. I'm with the IT group here at CTS LanguageLink. As Director of IT, I'm responsible for any and all software engineering, web development, database design, business analysis and IT/IS systems engineering.
I've been with CTS since 2006, with over 10 years IT experience. At my prior company, I performed (and thoroughly enjoyed) the process of defining customer needs, developing requirements and implementing solutions. I spent 4 years in the US Air Force, where I worked as an electrical and environmental systems specialist on bomber and transport aircraft.
When I'm not at work, my favorite activity is spending time with my family and friends. I enjoy working on computers, cars, airplanes, hiking, biking and camping.
Kara Tsuruta-Alvarez. I'm the Marketing Director for CTS LanguageLink, handling all marketing initiatives for the company. I also keep involved on the sales/client side, working with some key clients, as I was previously in a sales role before moving into marketing full-time. I've been working in the industry for over four years now. There's still so much to learn! I love this industry as it combines both technology and language/culture. Prior to discovering the language industry, I spent over 15 years of my career in the online advertising and apparel industries.
I've always had a love of marketing, as it combines innovative ideas, design, and finding creative solutions for my clients. I'm very excited for our blog, as I've learned to embrace social media as a new platform to connect directly and more frequently with our clients and peers.
My time outside of work is spent with my husband (of 11 years) and my two active little girls (6 and 4). I enjoy downhill skiing (when I can get up to the mountains), and am passionate about wine, food/cooking, travel, and design.
Vanny Kong. I work in the Sales & Marketing department as the Quote Manager where I am responsible for managing the preparation of translation quotes for new and existing clients. My job involves educating clients on translation, production and prepress processes...I love this part of my job because it allows me the opportunity to build a relationship with our clients and give them some resourceful information!
I've worked in the industry for a year and a half. Although I am a bilingual speaker (Cambodian/Khmer and English), I learn something new everyday about language and grammar! Prior to working at CTS, I worked in the non-profit field working with Southeast Asian youth and in the staffing industry.
I love learning and connecting with people from other cultures. I am always open to a good conversation over a good meal. I've found people love sharing their culture through food - and I am a huge fan of that!
My areas of interest are architecture, music, art, books, social media, blogs, food, sports and fashion. I believe these are great forums for people to express themselves and connect with others.
Keri Crittenden. I work in the DTP/production department at CTS LanguageLink. I'm one of a small but highly productive group of people responsible for the production side of things. We inventory and prep files, format translations, and produce the final bright and shiny files we deliver to our clients. This has been my job here at CTS for 3 years now, and I still hardly ever dread coming in to work.
I am fascinated by languages and cultures and communication-particularly, how we English-only speakers tend to try to fit all communication into a very small, very American mold. But communication is so much bigger than that! And if we want to communicate with the world, we need to broaden our thinking and get to the heart of how other cultures listen. Anyway, that's just a little lesson I've learned in my short time here so far.
But this is my bio not my blog, so...more tangents to come.
In other news, I have two of the cutest tiny dogs in the world-a papillon named Burton and a long-haired chihuahua named Two. And, I am highly interested in chocolate, coffee, and snowboarding. Sometimes I like to combine my interests. For instance, as I write this, I am drinking an espresso truffle from Starbucks. This was one of their seasonal drinks last year and it's not on the menu yet this year. But if you order it like you know what you're talking about, they'll make it for you and you'll feel like a real insider. If there were snow on the mountain right now, I would be contemplating taking my espresso truffle with me and hitting the slopes.
Guest Blogger:
Dr. Andrea Edmundson, CPLP and an elearning specialist, is the CEO of eWorldLearning, Inc., (http://www.eworldlearning.com/), a company that helps organizations design and implement elearning curricula or to transform existing courses into elearnng formats. Andrea specializes in adapting elearning courses for use in other cultures. She also shows offshore companies how to design elearning for American corporations. She published the book, Globalized e-Learning Cultural Challenges [2007] and founded the Globalized eLearning Community, an online professional association for international educators. Dr. Edmundson is Past President of ASTD (Greater Tucson Chapter). She serves as graduate faculty for several online universities. As the former Professional Development Manager of multinational software companies, she has created and coordinated distance learning curricula in multi-country environments using an extensive variety of educational technologies. She has provided more than 60 training programs, in the classroom and online, in 30+ countries.