Given the current state of things, Bluebird is currently and until further notice quarantined and working from home, not only to protect ourselves but also to protect people at risk. Following the government’s advice, we’ve been working from home ever since the first confirmed cases in the Netherlands were reported.

Remote work is in Bluebird’s DNA, it’s a core value of our business (that’s why we chose the name of a migrant bird as our company name, because it really resonated with us, as we love spending periods of time in Spain, our homeland, as long as we adhere to just one golden rule: making sure there is always one bluebird working from the office in Amsterdam) and now, more than ever, we are seeing how our digital corporate culture has become crucial for tackling an uncertain future.

This, which has been our way to do things since Bluebird started, is the present and will probably be the future for other “more traditional” companies, which due to this situation have had no other choice but to reinvent themselves and find a way for their employees to work remotely without this affecting they way they conduct their day-to-day activities. Our two pieces of advice for (translation) teams that suddenly find themselves obliged to work remotely are these two programs: Slack (an instant messaging platform with different channels to bring order to team communication) and Trello (a visual board that helps you to organize translation projects). We will explain how we use them in our day-to-day in a future dedicated blog entry.

The potential impact that this crisis will have on the translation industry is still unknown, but rest assured that we continue to work just as hard as always and are making the most of our quarantine, as now we have plenty of time to pursue further training in our fields of specialization thanks to the online resources available. We have already enrolled in a couple of online courses, such as this interesting management practicum on Trados Studio, and we’re also planning to expand our knowledge on medical translation, which seems a good option for post-corona times.

Should the workload become lighter, we will have precious time at home to spend it with our loved ones, chat and talk to those far from us, to reconnect with friends, to tackle those items on our to-do lists that we never have time for and to explore new (at-home) hobbies. May all humanity become more united after all this crisis is over and more conscious about the reasons we might be here on earth. We have no doubts that better and sunnier days will come.

Stay healthy and stay home!

We all know that "What happens under the mistletoe stays under the mistletoe!"

This year, Bluebird has thought about all the kisses you will give (and receive!) during the holidays. That's why we had these Bluebird lip balms made specially for you to make sure your kisses are extra soft and as sweet and spiced as Dutch speculaas cookies!

Every year around November, we start brainstorming about what kind of gift to give away to our clients, coworkers, collaborators, friends, and relatives. And this year we decided to have this cute lip balms made with a lovely image on them of our beloved street in the Jordaan.

Celebrating the birth of Christ Child in this way has become an annual Bluebird tradition. In 2018, we made these Christmas lanterns. In 2017, we sent out the  Bluebird test tubes with Belgian chocolate powder. In 2016 Marrit van Natten created a watercolour painting of our office building, while in 2015, we recorded our (hit) instrumental cover of Silent Night. In 2014 we sent jamón serrano of the highest quality all over the globe, including to Japan, the US and Singapore, and in 2013 we had handcrafted notepads made from recycled materials. Last but not least, in Christmas 2011 our clients enjoyed our Bluebird-branded Belgian Pralines.

So we at Bluebird would like to wish you a Merry Kissmas and a Happy Healthy Lip! :D

This Christmas season we have created these lanterns—based on the Amsterdam houses design used on our business cards by MO DESIGN and featuring the façade of our office—and are sending them out to our clients and collaborators in the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, UK, US, Malaysia, and Japan.

This is the 6th year that we have prepared something special for Christmas. Last year we prepared these Bluebird test tubes with Belgian chocolate powder. In 2016 Marrit van Natten created a watercolour painting of our office building, while 2015 was the year of our instrumental cover of Silent Night. In 2014 we sent jamón serrano of the highest quality all over the globe, including Japan, and in 2013 we made handcrafted notepads out of recycled materials. 2011 was the first time we used Belgian chocolate in our Bluebird-merchandised Belgian Pralines.

All the best wishes for this coming 2019!