I had never really understood just how big is the world of English UK is, how many English language schools are involved or how many companies, organizations or people play a part in the world of EFL, until I got the chance to go to London for The English UK Marketing conference 2016. And I can tell you one thing, the world is really big.
 |
| Our fantastic four at the Marketing Conference 2016 |
I am a big fan of traveling and as a child I used to spend a couple of days on a bus with my parents on the way to Spain or Greece for our holiday, but to wake up at 2 am and take a bus to London at 4 am is a bit hard core, even for me. Though I managed, without any big difficulties (I don't count the three massive mugs of coffee that I had to have during the day). If you ask me if the whole thing was worth it, I can honestly say, yes it was and can add a big smile :).
 |
The PIE gave our students a great opportunity to participate
in the conference |
What's more English UK and The PIE (Professionals in Internal Education) offered a great opportunity to some of our students to go to the conference and be a part of it. At this point, we did not hesitate and helped some of our international students to sign up by completing a questionnaire. And when we found out that four of our students from different countries (Hungary, Italy, Spain and Turkey) with different study backgrounds were selected to attend the event, we were very happy, though we did not know what an important part of the conference our students were going to be.
 |
We are going to London for the English UK Marketing
Conference 2016.
|
On the day Nicky and I met at the venue, Bishopsgate near Liverpool Street Station, an impressive building in the business centre of London (very good choice I have to say) . The whole conference started with the opening plenary and a presentation called "Marketing to millennials" by Jackie Kassteen. The aim of the presentation was to show how companies and organizations can apply a new way of thinking to their brands, business or the way of offering and improving the educational courses or programmes. During this very first presentation I got the opportunity to meet Amy Baker from The PIE and found out that one of the speakers was actually from Slovakia!
 |
Jackie Kassteen started the conference with
an insightful presentation about a new way of thinking
for the EFL market |
After the very inspirational session, Nicky and I welcomed our students to the venue, who got safely to London and in a very good mood, though a bit nervous. We had had some time to take couple of pictures. For the second session I had chosen the presentation "A new way of presenting information" I was in the room with members of Inline marketing, who showed us how to boost our marketing promotion by using video as a new way of presenting information.
 |
| First, let me take a selfie! |
The following session was presented by Samuel Vetrak, the founder and CEO of Student Marketing, as Mr. Vetrak is from Slovakia, I could not miss the opportunity to see him. So after the short break, quick coffee and reassuring our students that they were going to be fine, I headed off to "Market trends". Mr Vetrak and his colleague had been working on the presentation for couple of months, and brought valuable information about where the market of language travel industry is going. We have now clearer idea about what could be laying ahead, which is very useful for language schools and agents.
If I had been surprised by the venue where the conference took the place, I was positively shocked by the lunch break. The food was just amazing and I did not hesitate a second and tried almost everything that was offered. Though I have to say by this time I could hear my stomach. The lunch break was not only about the food obviously, but it was a great time to have a little chat with other people or friends from the EFL world. Though in my case it was more about conversation with our students, taking pictures and discussing the next steps of the conference.
Highlight of the conference
The cherry on the cake for majority of the delegates was the after lunch session, lead by Amy Baker and Clare Gossage from the PIE. The PIE is a media, recruitment and consultancy platform for professionals working in international education.
 |
| Elif talking about her experience as a student studying English in foreign country at Peartree Languages |
At the beginning of the session the international students from Peartree Languages and other language schools all over the UK were divided into pairs (each student from a different school and different nationality) and sat around a big, round table. Other conference delegates took their place as well and started a discussion with the students about how they had chosen the language school or city where they have been studying. What English course they have been studying, for how long and what their target is.
 |
| Aron in the middle of the discussion about his English course at Peartree Languages and living in Cardiff |
The participants had asked for more details about their booking, the prices, the enrollment and about the whole experience. The results of the discussion were presented verbally for the rest of the session and according to verbal feedback straight after the session it was one of the most popular and useful sessions of the conference.
At this point I would like to thank the PIE for the opportunity for four our students to participate in the conference. All our students did a really good job and we are very proud of them.
 |
| Nicky participates in the discussions - improving the student experience |
I honestly have to say that by that point in the day my brain had gone just blank. But, one last coffee later, I did my best and went to the last session about "Applying innovation techniques" and had the chance to cooperate with people from other schools and think about how we can improve our brochures.
 |
| Tereza taking lots of notes (2nd from the right!) |
As Friday in London can be very hectic, I left the last session about the market report from Mexico and the drink reception to Nicky and headed back to the Victoria Station to take a bus to Cardiff.
As I have never been to any similar conferences, I should say that it was a great experience for me and I am glad to say that for our students too. They really enjoyed the whole day and some of them might decide that marketing is their future.
I hope we will see you next year!
0 comments:
Post a Comment