20 (or so) questions on how Maxim Lobanov works

This series of posts was inspired by Lifehacker’s How I Work series, which I’ve been reading for quite some time and thoroughly enjoy. It’s about time we discover how our colleagues work and get to know them a little better.

If you want to participate in this fun series, email us at info@linguagreca.com for the Word template where you can fill in your answers & bio (incl. site/blog/social media) and then send it back to us as an attachment along with your photo (optional but preferred). If you don’t like any of the questions, just delete them and add your own. Check out the previous interviews here.

Location: Moscow, Russia.
Desired location: St. Petersburg (Russian), London (UK), or Mountain View (USA).
Current work title: Localization Quality Manager at Google for Czech, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, and Ukrainian.
Desired work title: Localization quality evangelizer for all languages of the world.
Languages you have studied or currently speak: Russian, English, German, Ukrainian.
The project you’re most proud of: All the launches of localized Google products and features in the Russian market since 2008, including Search, Android, Chrome, Play, Now, Adwords, and hundreds others. That’s really impossible to say who of your kids is the best.
Your current computer setup: Lenovo laptop with Windows 7.
Do you own a smartphone? My brave Nexus 5 is always with me.
Favorite time of the day: Late evening.
Favorite gadget (apart from computer & smartphone): Jawbone UP.
Next conference/event you’re planning to attend: Localization World in Vancouver.
How many hours per day do you usually work: about 10 hours on average.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Extroverted introvert.
Are you an early-riser or a night-owl? Definitely owl.
What do you listen to while you work? Silence.

Bonus question for localizers
Tell us a bit about your localization values: Always provide the best of the breed quality of localization. Independently of the circumstances.

And a few non-work related questions to get more personal.
Your babies or pets: I enjoy the society of a 6 year old sun, and there is no misprint here.
Next city/country you want to visit: China.
Favorite vacation place: Bulgaria.
Favorite book: Agood question with no answer. There are many books I really enjoyed reading. In general I like books which disrupt my previous knowledge.
Favorite song: “Spread your wings” by Queen.
What are you currently reading? “From third world to first” by Lee Kuan Yew.

Author bio

Maxim Lobanov is a localization expert and consultant with over 13 years of experience in localization quality management, translator training and process development. For the past five years, as Google’s quality manager first for Russian and then later Ukrainian, Greek, Slovak, Czech, Romanian and Hungarian, Maxim has led and driven efforts across localization vendors, marketing, public relations, engineering and sales teams to ensure that Google’s voice sounds natural and authentic for users in these markets. He is also part of the Google quality evaluation (QE) taskforce, leading development of the linguistic-side of QE. Additionally, he authored Google’s Style Training process for translators and reviewers. Prior to joining Google, Maxim spent nearly seven years with CBOSS, a leading telecommunications software development company. He holds degrees in philology and Russian civil law. More details can be found at ru.linkedin.com/in/maxlobanov/.