On your mark! Get set…AATIA is gearing up for the September election of the 2009 Board of Directors. The six positions include: President, Director of Communications, Director of Finance, Director of Membership, Director of Professional Development, and Secretary.

Carlota Grimes will chair the Nominating Committee, which also includes Marco Hansen and Carolina Modesto. If you are interested in volunteering to serve on the Board next year or would like to nominate someone else, please contact a member of the  Nominating Committee by August 2, 2008.

The International Hospitality Council of Austin is arranging one-week home stays for English as a Second Language teachers from Mexico who will be participating in a training program at UT. Each ESL teacher will have a one-week home stay with an Austin family. The family may host one or more teachers for a week and/or may host a different teacher(s) all three weeks. The family will receive a stipend of $200 for each teacher hosted to help cover the expenses.

Dates of Home Stay Program
Week 1: July 12 to 18
Week 2: July 19 to 25
Week 3: July 26 to Aug. 1

Objectives of ESL Services Home Stay Program:

• to give each teacher a chance to meet an American and learn more about American culture
• to give each teacher a chance to practice speaking and listening to English
• to give each host family the chance to make a friend from another culture and to learn more about that culture

We are looking for families who are interested in meeting people from other countries and have time to spend with them in the evenings and on the weekend. We have a very loose definition of "family." We are looking for families of all shapes and sizes. Single people, couples, families with small children, families with older children are all most welcome.

Your responsibilities as host:

• pick up your teacher at the International Office at UT at 6 p.m. on the Saturday of your week and keep him/her until the following Friday morning.
• arrange transportation for your teacher to and from the International Office at UT on week days so that he or/she may attend classes, which run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• provide all weekend meals and weekday dinner and breakfast (If you prefer, you may return the teacher to the International Office at UT early so that he or she can have breakfast at the Castilian Dorm).
• spend time with your teacher on the weekend and evenings either doing your normal family activities or taking him/her somewhere
• speak English with your teacher

Benefits to you:

• You will make a new friend
• You will help an English teacher to learn more
• You might get out and do something interesting in Austin that you’ve been meaning to do
• You will be helping to foster intercultural awareness

If you have any questions, please contact Margie Kidd at 512-858-4443 (home) or 512-576-2018 (cell)

Citing an increased work load in his freelance translation business, Al Favela has announced that he is stepping down from his position as AATIA Director of Finance, effective immediately. The Board is grateful to Al for his years of service to the Association in this capacity.

Members interested in volunteering for the role of Director of Finance are asked to contact Secretary Julie Nordskog.

The International Partnership of Austin (IPA) held a joint conference on investment in China with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) at the Stephen F. Austin Inter-Continental Hotel in Austin on Tuesday, April 22, 2008. A group of AATIA members were invited to attend. The AATIA group included Julie Nordskog, Takao Nonaka, Shwujen Wu, and myself. Julie operated the name tag table for attendees and acted as a gracious host during the half-day conference.

The featured speaker was Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson. Stephen Wong, regional director for HKTDC, led a panel discussion on the experience of doing business in Hong Kong and China. Bob Pearson, VP Dell, gave a presentation on the influence of China on the World Wide Web and the online experience. Other parts of the conference were a panel discussion on sourcing and manufacturing in Hong Kong and China, a presentation describing the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, a talk on capital issues in China by Peter Harris, partner in Javelin Investments, and a “Nuts and Bolts” workshop given by all the experts present at the conference.

Special thanks should go to Julie for her tireless hosting at the conference. She gave us a professional image.

The AATIA Board has called for volunteers and donations to help staff and furnish its headquarters office at the International Center of Austin.

AATIA would like volunteers to staff the office Monday thru Friday. If you enjoy meeting new people and talking about the profession, this may be a good opportunity for you. Hours are very flexible. Duties include the following:

• Be in the office and meet other ICA tenants
• Answer inquiries about using qualified translators and interpreters
• Identifying opportunities to promote AATIA to international businesses and visitors
• Initial office set-up (unpacking and sorting files, organizing library materials, office decorating)
• Help plan Open House event for April 12th

Greet foreign delegations

In exchange for the use of ICA facilities, AATIA volunteers will help welcome foreign delegations visiting Austin. This usually involves attending a reception at the ICA and sometimes other social events. Announcements will be issued through the AATIA listserv.

Office wish list

Equipment

• Laptop computer with DVD/CD RW and wireless capability
• Locking cable for laptop
• Desktop computer
• Headset with mic for computer
• Printer/copier/scanner
• Wireless router
• Ethernet cables
• Speakers (to attach to desktop/laptop)
• DVD Player
• External drive or other form of backup memory

Furnishings

• Locking storage cabinet (with combination lock)
• Bookshelf
• Filing cabinet
• Wall plaque/signage for AATIA
• Wall art
• Wall planner
• Wall calendar
• Whiteboard
• Organizing trays
• Office supplies: printer paper, ink cartridges, pens, pencils, notebooks/pads, paperclips, stapler, staples, Post-it notes, phone message pads, bulletin board, push pins, letter-size file folders and labels, business envelopes, three-ring binders, etc.
• Wall hanging letter file (for brochures outside office)
• Sundries: coffee, filters, tea, mugs. etc.
• Resource library: dictionaries, language-related books, language CDs
• Non-licensed software
• Guest book

Donate or volunteer by making a comment on this post (below) or by contacting Esther Diaz.

Over a dozen AATIA volunteer interpreters and career models helped serve the 3000 people attending the Austin Independent School District’s Feria para Aprender (educational fair) on February 17th. A photo of AATIA member Marco Hanson, wearing the official AATIA t-shirt, and Univision news reporter Regina Rodriguez accompanied the Austin American Statesman’s slideshow on the event. (See photo 4. Site may require free registration.)

Project Gutenberg makes available to the public many titles in many languages. They are available to be downloaded for free since their copyright is no longer valid. AATIA members Hank Phillips and Thelma Sabim are among the many volunteers for the project, he as a reviewer and she as a Portuguese-language proofreader.

At the time of this post, more than 12,400 books have been processed by volunteers and are now available, more than 1600 are undergoing final checks before being assembled into completed e-books, and another 1000 or so are currently being proofread through the site. However, there are many more titles waiting to be proofed. The volunteer can proof just one page, or one page per day, or the whole book. Other ways to participate in this non-profit project include procuring eligible paper books, burning CDs and DVDs for people who don’t have Internet access, and making monetary donations.

Visit the website to find a book to read or to contribute your time to the project.

At Saturday’s Board Meeting, the Web Team gained a new member, Patricia Gonzáles. For the record, she joins the following:

Tony Beckwith
Michael Blumenthal
Mike Conner
Frank Dietz
Laszlo Eosze
Gisela Greenlee

Welcome, Patricia!