The Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) will hold its annual spring conference on Tuesday, April 27, in Washington, DC. This one-day conference includes sessions on marketing to Hispanic contractors, exclusive consumer research about 21 types of home maintenance services, an industry economic outlook, a how-to session regarding the use of Census retail data, and new rules for a merging marketplace where manufacturers, distributors, big-box retailers, and independents compete for an overlapping customer base. To see the agenda or register for the conference, visit www.hiri.org or call 813-627-6750.