[texhax] January 2006 TUG news: membership, Lucida, conferences, gatherings

[tug-news at tug.org]

Dear TeX users,

- TUG membership and renewal forms (both online and printed) are
  posted for the new year, linked from
  http://tug.org/join.html.  The basic structure
  remains the same as ever, but there are a few changes
  this year.
  
  Membership dues have increased this year.  The last
  change in dues was in 1998 (and not by much), thus
  the TUG board approved a $10 increase to offset some
  rising expenses and the slow but steady decline in
  membership we have experienced the last few years.
  With your support, and with additional publicity and
  outreach efforts, we're hoping to reverse the latter.
  
  At the request of several members, we've also
  instituted an option to automatically renew
  memberships for future years.  This saves TUG a
  little overhead and you a little time, so please
  consider selecting it.
  
  Another new option is to omit shipping of the
  physical benefits (printed TUGboats and physical
  software discs), with a consequent reduction ($20) in
  the membership fee.  Again, some members requested
  this, preferring to access everything online.
  (Recall that beginning with the 2005 volume, current
  TUGboat issues are immediately available online to
  members only; see http://tug.org/memberaccess.html.)
  
  Finally, a reminder that the TUG fax number has
  changed: it's now
  +1 206-203-3960.

- The Lucida fonts are now available through TUG, in two sets.
  The "complete set" is exactly the same 41 Lucida
  fonts which Y&Y sold.  (The pfb's are completely
  unchanged.)  There is also a "basic set" with 22
  fonts -- all the math fonts and the essential text
  fonts.  Both individual and site licenses are
  available.  There is a substantial discount for TUG
  members.  Font samples, documentation, and more are
  available on the web site:
http://tug.org/lucida

- Upcoming major TeX conferences:

  BachoTeX 2006: No Life Without TeX Live
  April 29 - May 2, 2006, in Bachotek, Poland.
  (Abstracts for presentations due January 22.)
http://www.gust.org.pl/BachoTeX/2006/en
  
  EuroTeX 2006: A Hungarian TeX Rhapsody
  July 5-8, 2006, in Debrecen, Hungary.
  (Abstracts due March 1.)
http://www.matexhu.org/eurotex2006
  
  Practical TeX 2006:
  Hands-on 4-day LaTeX workshop from July 25-28, 2006,
  then a 3-day conference from July 30 - August 1, 2006,
  at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, USA.
  (Abstracts due April 1, registration form available now.)
http://tug.org/practicaltex2006
  
  TUG 2006: Digital Typography and Electronic Publishing
  Tutorials on November 7-8, 2006,
  then the main conference from November 9-11, 2006,
  in Marrakesh, Morocco.
  (*Papers* due June 30, registration form available now.)
http://tug.org/tug2006


- In addition to the large TeX conferences, TUG would
  like to encourage smaller, more informal local area
  gatherings of TeX users in areas where these are
  uncommon.  In North America, for example, such
  meetings are almost unknown, while in Germany (where
  they are known as "Stammtische"), they are relatively
  common.  We know only a fraction of TeX users can
  attend the larger conferences, and hope to support
  more local groups and meetings, as has long been the
  case with the European TeX groups.
  
  A couple of such gatherings already exist, including
  one in the Boston area and one in New Jersey.  For
  more information, or especially if you are interested
  in starting one in your area, please see the
  information and form on this web page (and thanks):
http://tug.org/lags/

As always, please don't hesitate to contact us
(tug-news at tug.org) with questions, suggestions, or
information.

Best wishes for 2006, 
Karl Berry (President) on behalf of the TUG Board
http://www.tug.org/