Responding to IECA Conference Questions about Speed Meetings
by Mark H. Sklarow, Executive Director, IECA
As we move closer to autumn, we’ve seen tremendous interest in the “Speed Meetings” which were added to the IECA Fall Conference as special events. With that interest has come a number of questions, which I’d like to respond to with the hope of clarifying this exciting addition to the November Conference.
Over 100 schools and programs have applied to be part of the program, but only 60 have been accepted so far. I’ve been asked why more schools have not been allowed to attend.
The Speed Meetings are designed to be an intense series of one-on-one meetings between admission representatives and educational consultants. We have decided the best way to accomplish our goal of maximizing contacts is to have an exact number of schools and consultants at the Wednesday event, and therapeutic schools and programs and consultants at the Thursday event. This 1:1 ratio assures that schools will have someone to talk to for every short meeting, with no time wasted. If for example there were 10 more schools than consultants, ten schools would be without someone to speak to during each segment. We will continue to accept schools and programs as consultants continue to register. As of today, 25 consultants have signed up for Wednesday and 34 for Thursday.
How are schools selected?
Our goal is to provide an effective mix of schools. On Wednesday this means a number of traditional boarding schools, but to this we want to be sure there are representatives of LD-based schools, junior boarding options, a couple of gap year programs, a post-secondary LD option, and a summer boarding program. So while we do consider the date of applications, we want to be sure that consultants are exposed to a sizable number of programs, representing schools both large and small and from every region of the country. Likewise, as we accept therapeutic schools and programs for Thursday, we want to ensure that wilderness programs, RTCs, in-home programs, emotional growth boarding and other unique approaches are all represented.
Why do schools pay $175 to participate?
Because this is a pre-conference activity, there are expenses beyond the normal conference expense that are incurred. Food and beverages to be served during the event, audio-visual costs, printing, ballroom rental, and more need to be covered. What we are very pleased about is that we can give this opportunity for schools to meet one-on-one with perhaps 20 consultants for a fee that is about 10% of what schools pay to be part of larger fly-in programs with similar goals. We think this smaller amount means that many smaller schools with limited budgets can take part in the program. In terms of return-on-investment, this allows a school to meet with up to 20 consultants at a cost of about $8.75 per meeting.
Why do consultants have to pay $35 to participate?
First, we do think asking consultants to pay some of the cost of the food breaks is fair. More importantly, we have found over the years that when we offer programs at no charge, there is a large no-show rate of up to 40%. If it were a presentation in a classroom, lots of empty chairs may be a concern but the program could go on to a successful conclusion. With pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings, a 40% no-show rate would mean that many schools, that paid registration fees with the promise of back-to-back Speed Meetings, would find themselves without the promised consultant 40% of the time—an unacceptable result. So we sought to balance a fair, small fee but one that we hope guarantees that those who register will show up.
Will schools meet ALL of the consultants at their Speed Meeting?
Time will permit each school to actually meet with up to 20 of the consultants attending the Speed Meetings. We will have refreshment breaks that will allow those not scheduled to meet, get acquainted, and share thoughts less formally. In addition, all registered schools will receive contact information on all consultants registered for the speed meetings and consultants will receive a packet of information representing one page summaries of all of the schools, assuring that everyone in the room is able to learn about everyone else.
These meetings are going to be short—can anyone really learn everything they need to about a school in six minutes?
No. But our hope is that consultants can gain enough information about a school: its mission, unique aspects, location, cost, physical offerings, and faculty, to decide that they may want to follow up and learn more. We hope consultants will be exposed to schools and/or programs that they never visited, read about, or perhaps even heard of, and will discover new possibilities to add to their knowledge base.
Will this be repeated next spring in Toronto or next fall in Cincinnati?
Honestly, who knows? We will evaluate the success of the program thoroughly by asking both consultants and presenting schools to let us know what they thought: what worked, what didn’t, what should be changed and of course, should we repeat the program. If most say it was worth it, we’ll likely make some suggested changes (if there are any) and schedule it again. Those schools that applied for 2009 and did not get accepted will be given some preference for 2010.
I already registered for the conference but did not register for a Speed Meeting. Is it too late?
If you are an educational consultant, no, it’s not too late. Please join us! If you have your computer-generated conference confirmation, follow the directions for making changes to your registration and it can be done online. Or, contact conference manager Rachel Diamond at Rachel@IECAonline.com or 703-591-4850, extension 16. If you are a school or program, time is running out to apply, and as you read above we are now in a wait-and-see stance—adding schools or programs as consultants register.
If you have any additional questions, let us know!
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