After 12 years and 48 issues as editor of Technical Communication, George Hayhoe has announced his retirement. For more information and a job description, please visit http://www.stc.org/announce/EIC.asp

The Consulting and Independent Contracting (CIC) SIG will present a Web seminar on setting up and optimizing your small business from 1:00 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time (GMT-4) on April 2. Attorney Christopher Juillet, who has worked in the high-tech industry since 1979 as a writer, publisher, and consultant, will discuss topics pertaining to what small business owners should know about copyright and trademark, protecting intellectual property on the Internet, the differences between the types of small businesses, and more. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit http://www.stcsig.org/cic/pages/webinarreg.htm.

The TransAlpine Chapter STC-representing Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, and Switzerland-will hold its 2008 conference at Hermes Softlab in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The event begins with a one-day workshop on April 16, followed by the two-day conference on April 17-18. For more information, please contact Dan Jones, chapter president, at Daniel Jones, or visit, stc-on.org/transalpine

The Manitoba Chapter STC and Red River College will hold their 5th annual technical communication conference at the Red River College Princess Street campus from April 14-15, 2008. STC Past President and Manager of Conferences Saul Carliner will serve as keynote speaker. For more information, please contact Brad Friesen, chapter president, or visit the Manitoba Chapter STC Web site.

The Related Events page on the STC Web site is updated regularly with information about upcoming events and ongoing opportunities for technical communicators. These include conferences, seminars, calls for papers and grant proposals, publishing opportunities, and other items of professional interest.

The Boston Chapter STC will host a series of workshops from 9 AM to 5 PM at The MathWorks, Inc., on April 5 in Natick, Massachusetts. Karen Giventer will discuss skills and techniques that participants can incorporate into their job searches. Jonathan Kranz will present a session titled "Moving into Marketing: How to Expand Your Technical Writing Skills into Sales, Marketing, and PR," and Neil Perlin will discuss structured authoring's pros and cons and provide a set of exercises that can serve as the basis for a real structured authoring implementation. For more information or to register for the workshops, please contact Pam Sarantos, Program Coordinator, at 1stvp@stcboston.org, or visit www.stcboston.org.

STC members have been invited to join President Linda Oestreich on a two-week professional and cultural program in China from October 19-31. People to People Citizen Ambassador Programs, a nonpolitical, private-sector organization founded by President Eisenhower in 1956, is developing the trip for technical communicators to meet with their colleagues in several cities in China. The costs of roundtrip airfare from Los Angeles, hotel, group transportation, meetings, most meals, and cultural activities are estimated to be $5,295; interested participants are responsible for paying their own way.

Your interview went well, but you haven't heard back. Should you wait or move on to the next opportunity? Doug Davis offers a tongue-in-cheek formula for determining the likelihood that an employer will respond to your application.

Which chapter will do it best? STC is excited to announce the 2008 membership renewal challenge designed to support chapters' renewal efforts with a variety of incentives.

The Alberta Chapter STC will host an information design workshop from 9 AM to 4 PM on Friday, April 11 at the Hotel Arts in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. STC Past President and Manager of Conferences Saul Carliner will introduce participants to the principles, processes, and practices of information design, provide a methodology for ensuring that the right users receive the right information at the right time, and demonstrate how to prepare a blueprint for a communication product. For more information, please visit www.stc-alberta.org/newheights/newheights.php.

The Instructional Design & Learning (IDL) SIG will host a live Web seminar relating to advanced applications for Captivate and other movie-related tools from 11 AM to 12:15 PM ET (15:00 to 16:15 GMT) on April 7. Neil Perlin from Hyper/Word Services will be the seminar's speaker. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit www.stcidlsig.org/jmla.

The deadline to apply for the Instructional Design and Learning (IDL) SIG's $500 scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students is March 21. Applicants must be enrolled in a graduate degree, undergraduate degree, or certification program in the instructional design field. To learn more about the requirements and download the application form, please visit www.stcidlsig.org.

The U.K. Chapter STC will present a workshop titled "Introduction to Content Management Systems" from 9:30 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, March 1 at the Keyworth Centre at London South Bank University in London, England. Paul Ballard and David Farbey will lead sessions that will benefit those new to content management or those looking to refine their approach. For more information or to register for the workshop, please contact Tina Hoffman, the event's organizer, at tinahoffman@planit.com or visit www.stcuk.org/content/view/35/1.

The May issue of Intercom, focusing on intercultural technical communication, has been posted to the STC Web site.

The France Chapter STC will host its annual conference at Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris in Paris, France from March 13-14, 2008. The theme is "Communicating Europe." The conference will celebrate the diversity of technical communication in Europe, and Hans Fenstermacher, an internationally renowned expert in globalization and localization, will deliver the keynote address. Two half-day workshops will be held on Thursday, March 13 for interactive learning experiences. For more information or to register, please e-mail conference@stcfrance.org, or visit www.stcfrance.org.

As STC's 2008 Technical Communication Summit, to be held June 1–4 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, approaches, visit the conference Web site for information about education sessions, lodging and travel details, the schedule of events, and more. More details will be posted as the conference draws closer.

The Central Iowa Chapter STC will host a Software Saturday program, "Producing Printed Documents with InDesign CS3", from 8 AM to 12 PM on February 16, 2008 at Ross Hall at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Participants will learn about creating and printing newsletters, flyers, catalogs, letterhead, and more in Adobe InDesign CS3. For more information or to register for the workshop, please contact Linda Foltz, Webmaster, at lfoltz@shazam.net, or visit www.stc-centraliowa.org/news-items/soft-sat.ics.

STC President Linda Oestreich joined member Tom Johnson's podcast series on Tech Writer Voices to talk about the direction of the Society and the strategic objectives the Board of Directors has set. 35 minutes in length.

The Atlanta Chapter STC will host its annual conference, "Currents 2008", at the Southern Polytechnic State University campus in Marietta, Georgia from March 14 - 15, 2008. Jean-luc Doumont is scheduled to conduct his "Visual Structure" workshop on Friday and will also present his "Road Signs" session on Saturday. Additionally, STC First Vice President Mark Clifford will provide a keynote speech. For more information, please contact Dirk Bender, Conference Manager, at dirkbender@gmail.com, or visit www.stcatlanta.org/currents.htm.