The New England Regional Section has two, not-to-be-missed events planned in January and February.

Sylvia Hillyard Pannell, USITT President, will be at the Region I Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) in Fitchburg/Leominster, Massachusetts. There will be a free reception for all USITT members and those interested in joining from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, February 1 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Leominster. Free food will be provided, compliments of Ed Hyatt and the Boston Illumination Group, along with lots of great networking opportunities. There is no need to register for the festival to attend this meeting. Stay tuned to the NE Section's listserve for more details. Those not part of the listserve may go to www.usittne.org to sign up.

Students should bring their portfolios to take advantage of the dedicated reviewers there to respond and help students create professional portfolios. It is great preparation for URTAs, graduate applications, job interviews, and the REPA Job Expo '08.

Those who wish to register for KCACTF and take part in the many other opportunities available at the festival, log on to www.kcactf1.org for information and registration forms.

The Regional Entertainment, Production and Administration Job Expo (REPA '08) will be held Saturday, March 1 at 88 Tremont Street in Boston. Thirty to 40 employers from across the region will gather to interview applicants for full- and part-time positions, internships, and other opportunities. There is no fee for applicants.

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The annual membership meeting and mini-conference of the Desert State Section will be held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday January 26. Hosting this year is the Chandler-Gilbert Community College Communication and Fine Arts Dept. The campus is located at 2626 E. Pecos Rd., Chandler, Arizona. The meeting and workshops will be held in the theatre. The mini-conference will include approximately a dozen workshops from round table discussions to "how-to-do it workshops" to "ask an expert" type presentations.

On site registration is $10 which includes a continental breakfast and box lunch. For purposes of planning for catering, anyone planning to attend is asked to notify jimmiebyrd@msn.com by January 15. Registration may be paid in advance by PayPal through the link on the sections website usitt.org/sections/desertstate. Keep checking the website for updates on the list of workshops.

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The Southern California Regional Section will host a Job Fair/Student Design Competition on January 12 at the Cal State University Long Beach Theater Department. It is free.

A highlight of the this event will be the first Southern California USITT Richard Thompson Student Design and Production Exhibit and Competition. More information on the competition is here. Other activities of the day will include a workshop on Design and Production Careers in Theater, portfolio reviews and a Stage Expo. Portfolio review sign-ups begin at 9 a.m. Design contest installation will be 8 to 10 a.m. The workshop will be held 10 to 11:30 a.m. Stage Expo load-in will be 8 to 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to noon with the Stage Expo running noon to 2:45 p.m. The portfolio review will be noon to 2:45 p.m. Design Competition winners will be announced at 3 p.m.

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Upstate New York Regional Section will hold its fourth annual Job Fair and day of Technical Workshops hosted by SUNY College at Oswego on Saturday, January 26. The unofficial start of the day is coffee and a meet-and-greet at 9 a.m. Workshops will begin at 9:30 a.m.

As in the past, in addition to technology-focused workshops, there will be time devoted to résumé and portfolio review. Lunch and a brief regional meeting will occur from noon to 1 p.m., followed by job interviews and workshops.

Johan Godwaldt, technical director at SUNY Oswego Department of Theatre (godwaldt@oswego.edu), is co-organizer for the event with Glimmerglass Opera Technical Director Abby Rodd (abbyrodd@glimmerglass.org).

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The Northern California Regional Section is looking forward to two early 2008 activities.

On January 26 the section will hold a KCACTF design preliminary at University of the Pacific in Stockton. This Design Expo will include lunch and offer travel scholarships for students to attend a future USITT Annual Conference and Stage Expo. Check the Section website for contact information, now at norcal.usitt.org.

Section Chair Tom Hird also is promoting a section-wide high school Tech Olympics. Any college may organize a local trial meet between January and March in order to nominate winning students for a Nor Cal meet in April. Once three trials are organized, the section meet will be scheduled at a central location. For a more details and a manual, send a message to thomas.hird@csueastbay.edu.

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