How Big?  Trust us, it will be bigger than Ben Hur!  Here’s how big:

• a full three day programme;
• all catering included (and a choice of loud music/quiet networking/both on the Thursday night);
• 38 individual sessions to choose from;
• 12 international speakers from Australia, Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Vietnam;
• 6 new research presentations;
• 12 marketing focused PD type workshops from regions to e-tools; and
• sector specific sessions.

In short, there is a full programme for delegates from every sector or interest niche.  Be sure that you are in Christchurch for....

Market Research - China and Viet Nam: Get the latest commissioned market intel for these two critical markets.

Product and Pricing Research - Cost Comparisons:  Does NZ offer the best value for money compared to Australia, Canada, USA and the UK?  The results will surprise you.  Deloitte will present a comprehensive global analysis of just how much education costs international students, by institution type and subject, in comparison with other countries.  A few sacred cows are on the line here!

Offshore Ventures - Panacea or Pandemonium?  Diversification offshore is a concept that gets a lot of traction, and rightly so.  There are huge opportunities offered by taking your service directly into offshore markets.  However, it’s not all plain sailing!  Professor Greenaway and Dr Van Rooijen, two of the UK's leading experts on offshore activity will share a free and frank view on their experiences.

Schools Networking - you asked for it, and you have got it!  A group of highly respected schools international experts having been beavering away to put some broad structure around the Schools Wednesday Workshops.  There will be plenty of scope for information sharing and robust discussion – this will strictly be a 'by the schools, for the schools' session’.

Internet savvy? - Rod Hearps from ICEF/Ed Media will run a workshop on how to integrate your agents into online marketing, and e-guru Dan Guhr will expand your understanding of the world wide web 2.0. Also, there will be the chance to get up to speed with how to manage your institutions presence on the revamped 'newzealandeducated.com' site....

Rankings! - institutional rankings are a hot topic, and Australian Professor Simon Marginson knows more about this hairy topic than most...and just in case we will also have the results of the major i-graduate international comparative survey that benchmarks our universities against those of other countries

The political dimension! - Minister Cullen will unveil the Government’s finalised International Education Agenda, along with updates from the Ministry of Education on the Code revamp, what the Education Counsellors have been up to, and other forthcoming initiatives.

Country specific experts?  We have them - Samir Zaveri on South America, our NZTE TDEs from Thailand, Viet Nam and Europe, not to mention China, Viet Nam and European market research.  The Ministry of Education are sponsoring a senior education official from the International Department of the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training to wrap up the conference. This will be an insightful viewpoint from the Vietnamese market about how New Zealand compares with our competitors, how we can improve and what the opportunities in the market are. 

Announcements of annual industry award winners - Nominations close on 23 July at 5pm so if your institution or an institution in your area is raising the bar for good practice in the areas of Internationalisation, Marketing, Student Support or Innovation, make sure you fill in the nomination form HERE.  The winners of each of the four categories will be announced at the conference dinner on 9 August.

Conference Gala Dinner will be held on Thursday 9 August from 7pm.  The Beat Girls, one of New Zealand’s best known entertainment acts, will provide the entertainment for the evening.  Additionally, we will have a completely separate lounge bar for those delegates who prefer to talk instead of dance the night away. 

So how much does all of this cost?
With such a full programme, there is bound to be times when you'll want to be in more than one place at a time.  To make it easier for you to send multiple delegates from your institutions, without breaking the budgets, we've put together some great conference rate packages.  Up until the 31st July (just two weeks away now!) you can receive our special extended earlybird rates:

And if you send multiple delegates, we have the following discounts available:

Second delegate: 33% discount (this means three days of conference will only cost $502.50 + GST!)
Third and subsequent delegate: 50% discount (three days will cost you less than $400!). 

For more about special rates, including any exclusions, please check the conference website.

Additionally, Education New Zealand would like to thank our sponsors.  Without their support, this conference would not be possible.  Our sponsors will have booths situated in the foyers at the conference and have a range of services that will be of interest to you.  Please stop by their stand to have a chat about how they can help.  In this e-news we'd like to highlight one of our major sponsors, DHL Express

DHL can help with delivery of everything from single packages and documents to heavy weight consignments door to door, with expertise in Customs brokerage, air freight, sea freight, warehousing and distribution. In addition, we provide a fast and economical alternative for international bulk mail. DHL Express is the perfect partner for all your worldwide express and parcel needs. DHL's Network covers over 4,000 offices and more than 120,000 destinations worldwide. What better way to get your prospectus and brochures delivered to the PACE fairs?
DHL have kindly come on board to sponsor the annual conference dinner on the Thursday night. The night will include good food, drink and a chance to let down your hair with entertainment by The Beat Girls.  For those who prefer a quieter approach or would get some serious networking done, we'll also have a separate lounge bar.

All conference information, including programme, registration and awards nomination forms are online HERE

If you have any questions about the conference, please give our conference team a call on 04 472 0788.  Otherwise, we're looking forward to receiving your registration soon!