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Michael C. Kidd joins ProZ.com



New ProZ.com EVP to Help Connect Companies with Language Professionals


Michael C. Kidd, former TRADOS VP, recruited to create greater member and customer value

SYRACUSE, NY, October 10, 2006 — ProZ.com, the world’s leading enabling and sourcing platform for language professionals, today announced the appointment of Michael C. Kidd as its executive vice president of marketing and sales. Previously a business unit vice president for TRADOS, Kidd brings expertise in delivering high-volume online technology solutions as well as in building brands for market leaders.

In the newly-created position, Kidd will be responsible for spearheading ProZ.com’s new focus to more quickly and effectively connect the unique language needs of hiring organizations and outsourcers with the company’s vast network of more than 160,000 translators, interpreters and linguists. As part of this initiative, Kidd plans to introduce a streamlined and improved version of ProZ.com’s online portal for both members and outsourcers, as well as to elevate the company’s brand to a level commensurate with ProZ.com’s status as the globalization and localization industry’s leading networking site.

Renato Beninatto, analyst and partner for Common Sense Advisory, commented on ProZ.com’s strategy: “The weakest link in the globalization supply chain has always been in quickly finding translators who, for instance, know a specific industry or are native speakers in given languages. ProZ.com had been filling this gap with increasing competence. Now with Mike Kidd on the leadership team, ProZ.com is well positioned to meet the vendor management requirements of LSPs and end clients in the sourcing of language professionals.”

"What attracted me to ProZ.com was the opportunity to build the best sourcing site for language professionals in the world,” explained Kidd. “Traditionally, recruitment and sourcing methods used by the globalization industry – such as mass-market job sites and newspaper ads – are ineffective because they are not specialized to reach language specialists who are dispersed all over the world. Yet, finding the right person to do the translating at the right time is critical for a global company’s profitability and customer loyalty. Today, ProZ.com is uniquely positioned to meet the very specific human sourcing requirements of organizations with language needs.”

I’m extremely pleased to have Mike on the ProZ.com team, given his knowledge of the industry and previous successes at TRADOS (now SDL International) and BellSouth Wireless (now Cingular)” added Henry Dotterer, ProZ.com president and founder. “Our translators and interpreters could not have a better person leading the efforts to make their services readily available to top language companies and clients.”

About ProZ.com

With more than $60 million in translation jobs posted last year and over 160,000 registered translators, interpreters and linguists, ProZ.com is the leading enabling and sourcing platform for language professionals worldwide. Leading organizations, such as Bloomberg, IBM, Honda, eBay, Lexi-tech International and The World Bank, use ProZ.com to rapidly find, evaluate and manage their mission critical human linguistic assets. ProZ.com's unique online workplace provides language professionals with a host of valuable member resources – enabling members to more quickly and efficiently perform their demanding work. For more information, please visit http://www.proz.com/employers

About Common Sense Advisory

Common Sense Advisory, Inc. is an independent research and analysis firm specializing in the on- and offline operations driving business globalization, internationalization, translation, and localization. Its research, consulting, and training help organizations improve the quality of global business. For more information about Common Sense Advisory's research, reports, and globalization and localization consulting services visit: http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com.