How many Blue Board entries can an individual make for one outsourcer?
Thread poster: Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 14:44
Italian to English
May 25, 2017

I was browsing a certain outsourcer on the Blue Board today, and saw that one particular translator had made three separate entries for this same outsourcer. The entries had been made at intervals of one or two years.

I am just wondering what the rules are regarding this practice. Is it normal? Is it allowed? If someone made an entry, then changed their opinion over time, shouldn't the original entry be modified? I was under the impression that the number of entries referred to s
... See more
I was browsing a certain outsourcer on the Blue Board today, and saw that one particular translator had made three separate entries for this same outsourcer. The entries had been made at intervals of one or two years.

I am just wondering what the rules are regarding this practice. Is it normal? Is it allowed? If someone made an entry, then changed their opinion over time, shouldn't the original entry be modified? I was under the impression that the number of entries referred to separate individuals or companies who have worked for that outsourcer; surely any other approach gives an untrue picture of the number of actual entries made?

To give an extreme example, if one outsourcer has ten entries, but they're all by the same translator, doesn't it defeat the purpose somewhat?
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Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:44
Spanish to English
+ ...
Not really May 25, 2017

I have in at least 2 or 3 instances made more than one entry, although in each case the entries were (I think) at least 3 years apart.

So (for example) an entry that I made in 2007 reflected my opinion and experience of the outsourcer in question at that time. By 2014, my opinion and experience was perhaps different, so I made a different entry.

There is an argument for requiring modifying of the original entry. What would be lost with that system, however, is being ab
... See more
I have in at least 2 or 3 instances made more than one entry, although in each case the entries were (I think) at least 3 years apart.

So (for example) an entry that I made in 2007 reflected my opinion and experience of the outsourcer in question at that time. By 2014, my opinion and experience was perhaps different, so I made a different entry.

There is an argument for requiring modifying of the original entry. What would be lost with that system, however, is being able to clearly see a translator's change of opinion over time (which may say something about the outsourcer's change in operations over time).

I do think that it only makes sense to make multiple entries when one's opinion has dramatically shifted. I don't see much point in simply repeating the same entry.
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Mirko Mainardi
Mirko Mainardi  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 14:44
Member
English to Italian
Rules. Outsourcers vs. Translators May 25, 2017

Fiona Grace Peterson wrote:

I was browsing a certain outsourcer on the Blue Board today, and saw that one particular translator had made three separate entries for this same outsourcer. The entries had been made at intervals of one or two years.

I am just wondering what the rules are regarding this practice. Is it normal? Is it allowed? If someone made an entry, then changed their opinion over time, shouldn't the original entry be modified? I was under the impression that the number of entries referred to separate individuals or companies who have worked for that outsourcer; surely any other approach gives an untrue picture of the number of actual entries made?

To give an extreme example, if one outsourcer has ten entries, but they're all by the same translator, doesn't it defeat the purpose somewhat?


For LWAs: "2.14 - Can I make more than one entry per outsourcer?

Yes, you may make one entry per outsourcer per year--provided that you have worked for the outsourcer again before adding an additional entry. You may not make multiple entries on the basis of a single experience." - http://www.proz.com/faq/blue_board_outsourcer_database_/for_service_providers.html#can_i_make_more_than_one_entry_per_outsourcer_

For WWAs: "12.4 - What are the conditions under which translator feedback can be (requested from / made by) an outsourcer?
...
An outsourcer may provide only one WWA entry to each service provider who has worked for them. However, different project managers from a same company can provide feedback on a service provider who has worked on their projects." - http://www.proz.com/faq/profiles/translator_feedback_a_k_a_wwa_willingness_to_work_again_.html#what_are_the_conditions_under_which_translator_feedback_can_be_requested_from_made_by_an_outsourcer_

Right, wrong? Can of worms.


 
Andrea Halbritter
Andrea Halbritter  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 14:44
French to German
+ ...
One per year May 28, 2017

You can make one entry per year.

I think that's a good thing because sometimes agencies can change...


 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 14:44
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Agencies can change in both directions May 29, 2017

Andrea Halbritter wrote:

You can make one entry per year.

I think that's a good thing because sometimes agencies can change...


Quite agree. One outsourcer improved a lot, and I don't remember whether I had actually given it a 3 or simply not rated it in the earlier years, but I felt it was fair to acknowledge that they really had made an effort to be more translator friendly.

Others, unfortunately, went the other way, and they did not deserve a long, unbroken line of 5-ratings! In a couple of cases I felt colleagues should be warned not to review or do QA for agencies who paid peanuts, even if their rates for translation were OK.

The new rating system should be useful, giving a more all-round idea of what outsourcers are like.


 
Sheila Wilson
Sheila Wilson  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 13:44
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Also May 29, 2017

Users here can make a "call for entries". I receive a daily list of these. If there's a client on that list that I've worked for recently, I'll consider leaving a review to help the person requesting it.

I don't systematically leave feedback on my clients; only when I have something I feel like saying. For example, I usually wait until I've been paid two or three times, as a few do unfortunately make an exceptional effort for first-time suppliers. And if there are some problems but
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Users here can make a "call for entries". I receive a daily list of these. If there's a client on that list that I've worked for recently, I'll consider leaving a review to help the person requesting it.

I don't systematically leave feedback on my clients; only when I have something I feel like saying. For example, I usually wait until I've been paid two or three times, as a few do unfortunately make an exceptional effort for first-time suppliers. And if there are some problems but I'm still prepared to work with them, I like to see if we can get things sorted before I leave feedback. I might feel like leaving feedback again after a year or so - worse, better, or very similar.
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Robert Forstag
Robert Forstag  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 09:44
Spanish to English
+ ...
Duty to warn and correction of positive reporting bias May 29, 2017

Christine Andersen wrote:

Andrea Halbritter wrote:

You can make one entry per year.

I think that's a good thing because sometimes agencies can change...


Quite agree. One outsourcer improved a lot, and I don't remember whether I had actually given it a 3 or simply not rated it in the earlier years, but I felt it was fair to acknowledge that they really had made an effort to be more translator friendly.

Others, unfortunately, went the other way, and they did not deserve a long, unbroken line of 5-ratings! In a couple of cases I felt colleagues should be warned not to review or do QA for agencies who paid peanuts, even if their rates for translation were OK.

The new rating system should be useful, giving a more all-round idea of what outsourcers are like.


I also feel spurred to make entries by this "duty to warn" colleagues of agencies' misbehavior, and I see this obligation as especially important in light of the generally positive reporting bias that exists on the Blueboard (and alluded to by Christine).

I don't know if the new rating system will give a more well-rounded idea of what outsourcers are like or not. I instead suspect that, at its best, the Blueboard will continue to function as it has under the old rating system, namely as a means of alerting translators to nonpaying and slow paying agencies (and, secondarily, to sound an alarm regarding agencies paying really low rates). The other dimensions rated strike me as either too subject to individual and regional criteria or typically display too little variation among outsourcers to be of much use.

[Edited at 2017-05-30 00:11 GMT]


 


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How many Blue Board entries can an individual make for one outsourcer?






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