I was just reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and ran across a wonderful quote. "The problem [with people] is they know what matters, but they don't choose it. .... The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters." As someone who just struggled with a decision whether or not to paint my son's closet in rainbow colors --- which would make him happy but might look silly to others and require repainting sooner --- I thought, how true. Why not make a little boy's heart happy instead of worrying about what someone else might think and a can of paint?

I hope we can all try to remember what really matters and make our choices, hard though they may be, with it in mind.

I'm done waxing philosophic now and promise not to do the newsletter in rainbow colors unless it would make our members' hearts happy.

Now on to NEO STC news!

March meeting. Our speaker Georgia Roeming will teach us tips and technical guidelines for preparing communications projects with foreign language in mind. Find out writing and formatting tips that affect the cost and timelines of translated projects in any medium. More information.

Upcoming events

• 3/9/2005: Webinar, "That's a Good Question!"
• 3/10/2005: Monthly meeting, Georgia Roeming on "Translation: A Writer's Guide" at the Holiday Inn in Independence (see above)
• 3/18/2005 - 3/19/2005: The Internet User Experience 2005 conference.
• 3/18/2005: Networking Luncheon, Houlihan's at 3750 Orange Place, Beachwood
• 3/19/2005: Philadelphia Metro Chapter STC will hold its annual conference.
• 3/23/2005: Webinar, "Breaking into E-learning"
• 4/6/2005: Webinar, "Building Brand into Your Product or Web site"
• 4/8/2005: The Rochester Chapter STC will hold Spectrum 2005.
• 4/8/2005 - 4/9/2005: The Carolina Chapter STC will hold Tri-Doc 2005.

National conference is coming soon! Experiencing Technical Communication, STC's 52nd Annual Conference, will be held May 8-11, 2005 in Seattle, Washington. More information.

Achieving an Award of Excellence. Trish Spayer talks about what she learned in the process of creating the web site that earned this award in last year's competition. Full story.

STC national elections coming soon. The annual STC election will have choices for both candidates for office and for changes to the ByLaws of the international Society. Full story.

A word from our director sponsor. Bob Dianetti provides some answers to questions about the STC Transformation and Bylaw changes. Full story.

February meeting wrap-up. Some highlights of Scott Butler's presentation. Full story.

Behind the scenes: Getting published in Intercom. Karla Fitch talks about her recent experience. Full story.

Complimentary STC memberships for non-member conference attendees. If you know any non-STC members who will be attending the Annual Conference, let them know that they can get free STC membership for the remainder of 2005. Full story.

Information about candidates and issues for the STC national elections now available online. Full story.

President's column. An optimistic perspective of the future of technical communication. Full story.

Hot job opportunities. Check out some of the recent postings on our jobs page. Full story.

Helpline. Saving your place while scrolling and stopping a mouse click. Full story.

Welcome our new and transferred members! Full story.