Marian Dougan is an Italian-to-English translator and editor based near Glasgow, Scotland. Marian has been living in Italy for over 20 years and she works as a social policy analyst at the British Embassy in Rome.
Marian particularly enjoys translating complex Italian texts and concepts into English that's concise, clear, and easy for international readers to understand. Her specialist subjects are Economy and Finance, Energy Policy, and International Affairs. From 2003 to 2006 Marian taught translation skills at the Italian Department of Glasgow University and in 2010 set up her company, DNA Language.
A delighted Mac user since 1986, Marian has a keen interest in usability and good design and runs web writing and usability workshops.
Marian's blog, Words to Good Effect, was voted one of the Top 25 Language Professionals' Blogs in 2010, 2011, and again in 2012.
She is married with two teenage children, both of them bilingual, speaking in English and Italian.
Richard Koulbanis has over 25 years of international print and electronic information and publishing experience. For the last 10 years, Richard has been Group Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, as well as co-partner, of Congenital Cardiology Today and Neonatology Today, two professional, international medical publications. Richard has worked in publishing at corporate and market level in a number of fields, including the defense and aviation, computing, medical and healthcare, food and beverage, industry, and laboratory/scientific fields. He has held positions such as VP/Strategic Planning for Elsevier U.S. Holdings, VP/Group Publisher, for the Defense and Aviation Group for Phillips Business Information, Senior VP/Research Publishing for MarketResearch.com, Publisher of Computer Dealer (Reseller Management), and Associate Publisher of Microwaves and RF. In 1995, he launched the world's first virtual air show, Farnborough Online, in a joint venture with the Society of British Aerospace Companies, Ltd. (SBAC) and Farnborough, the second largest air show in the world. In the early 1990s, Richard pioneered the use of e-mail for subscription development and launched the world's first e-mail show daily at the Paris Air Show in 1993.
Richard has managed a variety of information and publishing products, including magazines, books, newsletters, special projects, conferences, award dinners, directories, research, dailies, meeting guides, websites, and other electronic content. Some of the products or groups he has managed include Defense Daily (and DefenseDaily.com), Computer Dealer, AviationToday.com, Rotor & Wing, Avionics Magazine, Air Safety Week, and Kalorama Information, to mention a few. In 1995, Richard and his team started the annual event, the Helicopter Heroism Award, and in 1996, the Avionics Conference.
Richard has been a speaker at the Newsletter Publisher Association's annual convention, as well as a featured speaker at a number of advertising associations, trade shows, and private companies. Some of his newsletters and magazines have been presented with awards for excellence, including awards from the Royal Aeronautical Society, the American Society of Business Publications Editors, and the National Press Club.
Edgar Lanting has been an IT pro for over 18 years, starting out as a System Administrator on AS/400, Windows, and Unix, after which he made the move to being a DBA. Edgar is a versatile and very skilled Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL Server DBA and in combination with his past as a System Administrator this has proven to help him see things from more than one perspective when working in the field. Edgar is also a certified Oracle specialist.
Edgar is currently working as a Database Consultant for Ciber, in the Netherlands, where he assists companies in managing their database environments. In his spare time, he likes to go out photographing birds and nature and enjoys hiking with his wife and dog.