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Team
Introducing some of the members of the TechText team:
Henk Keuning
A degree in psychology, years spent working for service companies, speaking in English daily from 1969, emigration to New Zealand, happily married and the father of three beautiful daughters, six years in education as a mathematics and IT teacher with a computer science degree in between, return to the Netherlands in 1984, a number of years of experience writing and translating manuals and training material, strong demand from the market for technical writers and an advertisement offering my services in these disciplines on a freelance basis. Those were the ingredients for the establishment of TechText in 1986.
As founder and managing director of TechText, I can look back fondly on 25 years of pleasant collaboration with our staff and clients - in the areas of management, marketing and sales, but also due to a strong involvement in the operational activities through my own activities as a writer and trainer, in both Dutch and English. After a quarter of a century, my enthusiasm for our business and my quality consciousness are still the same as they were on day one.
Suzanne Robertson
I was born and raised in the beautiful country of New Zealand, where I lived until I was 30. As a native-speaker editor of English-language texts, this background, combined with a degree in English language and literature, provides me with an excellent foundation.
We left for the Netherlands in 1984. Two years later, I literally and figuratively found myself cradling two babies: our youngest daughter and the activities of TechText. During our first few months of business, at night you could even hear the rattling matrix printers in the bedrooms.
As co-founder, I have been part of TechText since the beginning, in an operational capacity as a senior editor of texts translated into, or written in, English.
Ida Siemons
If you have ever called us, the chances are that it was me who picked up the phone. For the past nineteen years, I have been responsible for ensuring that all of our external and internal contact runs smoothly. Thanks to my knowledge of a number of database suites, I have also developed a brand new project management system especially for TechText. Using this system, I handle all of the project administration and part of the financial administration, including the invoicing. In addition, I am responsible for the administration for the courses TechText gives at clients such as the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment [Rijkswaterstaat].
Arnout Schalker
I have been at TechText since the very beginning. In those 25 years, I have specialised in documentation for large-scale financial systems and architecture specifications. More recently, I have been closely involved in the development of documentation and course material on crucial Dynamic Traffic Management systems for the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment [Rijkswaterstaat]. These are just a few examples of the broad range of subject matter for which I feel a strong affinity. Furthermore, at TechText I am the point of contact for our own single-source method and important tools such as MS Word en Adobe Acrobat.
Anna Keuning
I began working at TechText in July 2007. As coordinator of the translation department, I am responsible for accepting and scheduling translation assignments, and organising the translation and revision of the texts. Before we deliver a text to a client, I always perform a final check, all within the agreed deadlines. In May 2011, I obtained a Bachelor's degree in English Translation from ITV in Utrecht. When my coordinating schedule allows it, I also perform translation work. Thanks to my bilingual background, I am able to translate into both Dutch and English and edit texts in each of these languages.
Paul Dreckmeier
I originally studied translation at the VU University of Amsterdam, but since joining TechText in 1998 my role has primarily been that of project leader and account manager of the translation department. In practice, this means that I have final responsibility for the successful completion of all our translation projects. Further responsibilities include contact with our clients and translators, and staff working on projects. I am also a senior reviser and translator and, on an ad hoc basis, ensure the smooth running of certain technical aspects of our organisation. In short, I have a broad and varied range of duties, so it's not surprising that I've been working at TechText for over thirteen years!
Rob Zeilinga
Since starting at TechText in 2002, I have specialised in writing marketing and PR material. Whether I'm writing an advertising brochure or a strong client case study, I draw great satisfaction from turning the requirements of my clients into texts that genuinely enthuse the reader. As a former co-owner of a training agency, training is an area of particular interest for me. Consequently, the process of preparing training plans, selecting the right mix of learning methods, and developing the accompanying training material, is something I truly enjoy.
Ton Frenks
Since I began working at TechText, my role has been to compile and produce documentation. In this context, my specialism is advising on the user-friendliness of software and websites. My most fulfilling activity is the rewriting of impermeable material to create readable and comprehensible text. Setting up training projects is an activity from which I largely gain valuable experience. Meanwhile, I consider giving training courses the ultimate opportunity to fine-tune the transfer of information in a direct manner.
Kees Harrison
II have been with TechText since September 2006. As a native speaker of English, my principal activity is translating a wide variety of texts from Dutch into my mother tongue. Copywriting, editing and revision also form an important part of my duties.
As a child of British and Dutch parents, I grew up in England in a bilingual environment, and visited the Netherlands on a regular basis. In 1997, I decided to study Dutch (and German), first at the University of Sheffield and later the University of Hull, England. For my third year, I was based abroad at the University of Münster, Germany, and subsequently the VU University in Amsterdam.
In 2001, I graduated with a distinction and emigrated to the Netherlands. Shortly afterwards, I began my career in the translation industry, where I have acquired a wide range of experience in a variety of disciplines.
John Friedrichs
My educational background is in English and literature, and after completing my degree, I worked for a time as an English teacher. Subsequently, I took up a position as a technical translator and software tester at a translation agency, where the latter part of my role consisted of testing the functional reliability of the translation in the working product. Furthermore, I was seconded to a large international IT company, for which I worked abroad on a regular basis in a variety of locations including the Far East and the US.
I started at TechText in October 2005, initially on location at a client. For the last several years, I have been based at our offices in Amsterdam. Thanks to my broad interests and more than two decades of experience, I am knowledgeable in a wide range of disciplines.
In addition to my work as a translator, I have co-authored a number of books on travel, literature and typography. |
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