Upcoming Chapter Events

Al Daigen

Al Daigen boasts an impressive track record -- over 20 years providing French-to-English translations and writing English-language marketing communications for industry and government in Quebec, Ontario, and the United States.

Several of Al's publications have received awards from the Society for Technical Communication (STC), including the society's Award for Excellence.

Al holds an M.A. in Intercultural Communication and a Certificate in French Translation from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Monterey, California. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts with Joint Honours in French and Italian Language and Literature from McGill University in Montreal.

Before establishing Daigen Communications, Al served for eight years as a staff translator with the Government of Canada. Al is Past President of the Southwestern Ontario chapter of STC and recipient of its prestigious Distinguished Chapter Service Award. He is a Certified Member of the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario.

When Al isn't working, he's probably out latin dancing or cross-country skiing. But definitely not both at the same time.

Steve Desmeules

Steve Desmeules is co-owner and vice president of DNS Translations Inc . and ACCU Translation Services Ltd. He has a B.A. in business from the University of Western Ontario in London. Steve has more than 10 years of business experience, from customer relations to project management. He is native French speaking from Quebec City and also has knowledge of the Spanish language.

Steve is in charge of marketing and special projects at DNS/ACCU. He is also managing the integration of a new company wide software that has changed its way of doing business. Steve always looks forward to a new challenge and to offering the best service to his customers. His off-work passtime is to actually work on some kind of new project on the house...very relaxing!

Rudi Vanvaerenbergh

Rudi Vanvaerenbergh is co-owner and President & CEO of DNS Translations Inc. of Waterloo and ACCU-Translation Services Ltd. of Burlington. He has an M.A. in Translation (major in Dutch/French/Spanish) from Lessius Hogeschool in Antwerp, Belgium. He is an active member and accredited/certified translator of the American Translators Association and the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario.

Rudi has more than 17 years of experience in Dutch and French technical translations and in managing translation projects. He is also very involved with the Flemish and Dutch communities in Southwestern Ontario and is an official cultural representative in the area for the Flemish regional government. In that role, he helps new immigrants from his native country Belgium when they arrive in Canada and organizes events allowing children of first generation Belgian immigrants to stay in touch with their parents' culture.

Margie Yundt

Margie Yundt was sucked into the world of technical communication in the neighbourhood of 1992 and was never seen again -- ok, just kidding. She spent a couple of years producing a newsletter describing the technology initiatives going on in our provincial government (no really), then moved on to the private world of delving into software and telling people how to use it.

In her current position at Virtek in Waterloo, which produces laser projection, inspection, and engraving systems, Margie is the Team Lead for Product Information Services. In this position, she and her team are responsible for creating user, customer support, and assembly documentation for customers all over the world -- in all sorts of languages. Margie and her team contract out these translations using a variety of translators and translation companies. These translation contracts range from short legal documents to full multi-lingual localization projects, which include coordinating the creation of dictionary files for a product’s software interface, translating licence agreements, and so on.

Though scared witless at first, over the years, Margie has learned how to deal with the sometimes-daunting task of translating manuals and software, and still keep your sanity. She will share what she has learned, from one technical writer’s perspective, with you.

When she is not working, Margie is chasing around her year-old son who is usually wielding the remote for the television.