ABOUT ME
Professional, reliable and passionate Writer & Translator
"It infects you one day, without warning. Restless legs, a lack of something, too long without flying, without new horizons, without jet lag. You have always loved to travel, but there is a huge difference between loving to travel and needing to travel.
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Like Julien Blanc Gras in his book "Touriste", which I highly recommend, you look at your globe (or better said, one of your ten globes) and realize that you've never been to Siberia. Moment of panic: you'll never be able to visit everything in a lifetime.
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Until the next departure, you collect objects related to travel, almost as an addiction, and your loved ones make it even worst by offering you a scratch off world map, or a world clock. A world clock! You can have breakfast at Sydney time and dinner at LA time. Yeah!
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Even better, you're given a world map shower curtain. Between the coconut bubbles, you dream of faraway places, when suddenly, you spot Ellesmere Island. You HAVE to go to Ellesmere Island, it seems inaccessible and super remote, awesome!"
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This extract of my article "Travel Bug: Virus or Passion" says it all!
Since my very first trip abroad, I caught the travel bug. As a teen, all my savings and gifts went to traveling. But I really found my passion during my Master in European Tourism Management studies. That was when I set foot in the Arctic for the first time.
After a thesis on polar tourism and more than 10 years of experience in the language travel industry, I decided to become a Freelance Writer & Translator. Though my passion is polar tourism, I love writing about any destination and a wide range of topics. I also offer voice over services (ACX compliant).
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When I'm not on the road, I stick to regular office hours. My only focus is YOU and YOUR project. I will always keep you up-to-date on my availability, and I'm highly reliable and flexible.
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Looking forward to hearing from you!
WORK EXPERIENCE
TRANSLATIONS, WRITING, VOICE OVER AND ONLINE MARKETING
September 2015 - Present
- Translations/localisation in French, English and Spanish: My areas of specialty include tourism/hospitality, travel, languages and nature but I also have experience in very different industries including marketing, technology, real estate, health & beauty, music, art & movies, finance and business, among others.
- Content writing in French, English and Spanish: Blog articles, web content, press releases, ebooks, newsletters/emails, etc.
- Voice over in French, English and Spanish: Compliance with ACX requirements (quiet studio with Audio-Technica AT2020USB+ & Audacity)
- Online marketing in French, English and Spanish: SEO/SEM, social media and counseling (strategy, lead generation and conversion, etc.)
HEAD OF MARKETING AT TIMPANY LANGUAGES (BARCELONA, SPAIN)
October 2012-July 2015
- School strategy/relations: workshop attendance, school visits, phone/email contacts, continuous evaluation of destination and school portfolio, school contract establishment, revision and negotiation.
- Marketing strategy: Oversee and coordinate all marketing projects & tasks, implementation and follow-up of repeater & referral program, offline marketing projects (brochures, flyers, fairs, etc.), web content strategy (7 languages, over 20 websites), newsletter, campaigns, workflows & global inbound marketing strategy, find/suggest new ways of getting leads (online and offline), coordination of external advisors & marketing service providers, blog & social media management, SEM & SEO.
- Products and special offers: Evaluate product portfolio for each school and decide what products to publish, evaluate special offers from schools and enter them in the system, assure product information and pricing is correctly displayed on the websites and in the system.
- Human resources: Staffing & motivation, oversee human resource systems (holiday plan, sick days, appraisals, hiring, etc.).
- KPI: Weekly and monthly report preparation, analysis and actions as required for relevant marketing metrics such as SEM (e.g. Google Adwords), SEO, SMO (social media), newsletter.
SALES MANAGER AT TIMPANY LANGUAGES (BARCELONA, SPAIN)
September 2010-October 2012
- Sales strategy: Establish sales strategy by source and destination markets in collaboration with company Marketing department and General Management, prepare sales forecast and goals for all markets.
- Sales management: Monitor sales performance for all markets, KPI preparation, analysis & actions as required, bonus & challenge management, assure effective sales and customer support processes are in place and implemented, client complaint/incident management, plan opening hours whole year assuring adequate market coverage.
- Human resources: Staffing & motivation, oversee human resource systems (holiday plan, sick days, appraisals, hiring etc.), intercultural team management (up to 10 language travel advisors from different nationalities).
LANGUAGE TRAVEL ADVISOR & SALES MANAGER ASSISTANT AT TIMPANY LANGUAGES (BARCELONA, SPAIN)
December 2007-September 2010
- Sales (Pre-Enrollment): Prioritize incoming leads, provide requested information, provide excellent knowledge of schools and products and transmit this knowledge to the client, propose and sell the right course based on the client request and needs.
- Support (Post-Enrollment): Forward enrollment to the school, check relevant documents, provide updated information, meet deadlines (payments, confirmations, required signed documents), support the student and the school throughout the course if required.
- Others: Development of the French market, in charge of different markets at the same time (French, English, Spanish), development of the junior offer, translations and marketing contributions (Google ads, etc.), sales manager assistance.
RECEPTIONIST AT SALLES HOTELS (BARCELONA, SPAIN)
September 2007-December 2007
- Dealing with bookings by phone, e-mail, letter, fax or face-to-face
- Completing check in and check out procedures
- Dealing with special requests, complains or problems
- Answering questions about what the hotel offers and the surrounding area
- Coordination with the shuttle service from and to airport
GROUP LEADER FOR LANGUAGE COURSES ABROAD (USA, SPAIN, IRELAND)
July 2003-July 2007
- Supervision
- Development and implementation of program activities
- Safety and risk management
- Communication, cooperation and collaboration with students, management, parents and host families
INTERNSHIP AT NEYZEN (BARCELONA, SPAIN)
January 2005-June 2005
Internship within the operation department of a luxury tour operator:
- Agreeing service levels, contracts and costs
- Handle requests and establish itinerary proposals based on each customer's preferences
- French translations for website
- Handling bookings in collaboration with the different providers (transport, accommodation, etc)
INTERNSHIP AT SUNSCAPE HOTEL (PUNTA CANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)
June 2004-August 2004
Internship in different departments of an all-inclusive 5* hotel:
- Reception
- Guest service & public relations
- Food & Beverage including restaurants, bars, kitchen and quality control
- Entertainment (adults & kids club - daily activities & night stage performances)
- Bookings
- Housekeeping
EDUCATION
UNIVERSIDAD REY JUAN CARLOS (MADRID, SPAIN)
February 2007-June 2007
Master of Arts in European Tourism Management obtained with merit
DALARNA UNIVERSITY (BORLÄNGE, SWEDEN)
September 2006-January 2007
Master of Arts in European Tourism Management obtained with merit
UNIVERSITÉ SAVOIE MONT BLANC (CHAMBÉRY, FRANCE)
2002-2006
Master's degree in Tourism, Hospitality, Transports and Leisure
CETT UB (BARCELONA, SPAIN)
September 2004-January 2005
Exchange program with Université Savoie Mont Blanc
LUMBERTON HIGH SCHOOL (TEXAS, UNITED STATES)
January 2002-June 2002
Exchange program in a host family
Fausto Iannuzzi, Deskero
Elinor was always a pleasure to work with. She worked effectively with all tasks given to her, and paid attention to detail. She is reliable and professional, hard working, producing a very high standard of work, moreover her positive and friendly attitude makes the collaboration very pleasant.
John Valencia, Centro Catalina
Elinor was recommended to us by a high-profile colleague of the industry for her professionalism and results.
We feel that she supports us on all the vertices of her abilities, from translations, writing, and marketing advice to social media management. Elinor shows a professional attitude found in very few people and advises timely and wisely regarding the investments and risks that you should take and how to invest smartly. She is a cornerstone of our marketing department despite working remotely.
Sunshine Urbaniak, SunDesign Studios
I hired Elinor for her French translation services. We (SunDesign Studios) are working on the redesign and development of the UNESCO Marine Spatial Planning website (...) During the timeframe she communicated clearly about her progress and questions about the job. She delivered the translated text in 2 weeks and my client approved it. I am so thrilled with her work ethics and results. I would totally hire her again!
Marcel Bila, Solver
I have appreciated working with Elinor. She is very capable and easy to work with. Excellent job in translation and voice over. Delivery always as promised. Unfortunately (for me) Elinor has other nice projects to work on. Hopefully we would be able to work with her again. I recommend working with her.
Kristy Foss, Berlitz Global
A brilliant, talented writer who requires little to no guidance to follow a brief! We enjoyed working with her so much we have switched to an hourly contract to make things even easier to continue working with Elinor.
Highly recommend!
Tony Celentano, TXT Studio
Elinor is a wonderfully skilled translator who always delivers on time and is able to return long translation files on short notice, with no mistakes. A true gem of a translator, highly recommended. We will certainly continue working with her for our French translations.