What Makes the IECA Conference Unique? “No Where Else…”
by Mark Sklarow, Executive Director, Independent Educational Consultants Association
Sixteen years ago, my first day with IECA was at the start of the spring conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. I believe there were fewer than 250 attendees, including some 80 IECA members. There was no NATSAP back then, Small Boarding School Conferences were intimate events, and The Association of Boarding Schools, just separating from NAIS, was years away from hosting its own conference. Today with more school conferences, therapeutic conferences, college conferences, plus LDA, CHADD, and more, I contemplated the role of IECA gatherings. I wondered if we are we simply duplicating efforts, and more importantly, whether IECA makes a significant contribution to the welfare of students.
To be sure the IECA conferences have grown. Upwards of 1,200 people have attended our conferences, including as many as 300 consultants. There has been a surge in college participation, while attendance from schools and special purpose programs grew rapidly in the first half of the decade and has stabilized. Even as the economy turned sour and where other associations reported 25 to 30 to even 35% percent drops in attendance, IECA has exceeded expectations with only minor declines. As a friend of mine, the director of another educational association, said to me recently, “The rest of us feel lucky to be hanging on…IECA is doing great and YOU’RE the one wondering how to change, improve, and redesign conferences? People come because there’s value to attending.” But again I wonder, with so many other choices out there, what IS the value? What makes IECA conferences unique and valued?
I recently asked a representative of Wintergreen Orchard House, a veteran of trade shows from coast-to-coast, about our conference. “The IECA Conference is a must-attend,” she told me. “It goes on my calendar first.” When I asked why, I was told “No where else can I meet people across disciplines: those in college placements, boarding school administrators, LD experts…it allows me to connect with all of the communities we want to reach.”
I asked an IECA member who has been around for years, someone who I’ll see at NACAC or other regional gathering from time to time. Her view was that IECA conferences provide something no one else does: a holistic view of adolescents. “We see teens as far more than a commodity to be placed or a potential student at a small private college. We know that to understand placement you need to understand the entire child: hopes, fears, learning style, anxieties, traits, and flaws. No where else do I get workshops on so wide a range of topics.”
While attending NATSAP last month I sat down and spoke with the head of a small emotional growth boarding school. He indicated that a few events each year are “musts.” This includes the two IECA conferences, because “…no where else can I speak to educational consultants who directly deal with students and families who are desperate and emotionally spent, and need a real professional to help them through a crisis; and then, turn around and talk to wilderness programs that could feed into my school, then traditional schools that we may feed into, and even colleges who want to understand better who we serve. Where else could I find that?”
And one more: a dean of admission from a college who jokingly told me many years ago that he would “never” tell his admission colleagues about IECA because it was one of the best kept secrets: “The last thing I want is more colleges to come. No where else do I get this wonderful opportunity to talk about my school with professionals who are MUCH more likely to work with students considering private colleges and MUCH more likely to explore colleges out of state. Why would I want my competitors to know about IECA?”
What then does IECA offer? First of all, the unique crowd that assembles: colleges, traditional boarding schools, gap year programs, emotional growth schools, therapeutic programs, and summer opportunities—all who believe in a holistic view of the student. Also, a schedule of workshops that range from NCAA rules to Asperger’s, and from learning communities to parent advocates. And we have worked in recent years to strengthen the academic offerings, even while expanding opportunities for networking in both formal and informal settings. As I look toward Toronto, I can say with confidence that “No Where Else” will such a gathering be possible.
Related posts:
- Early Bird Registration Points to a Unique Networking Opportunity with IECs in Philadelphia
- As We Conference Next Week, the World Looks a Little Different
- At IECA Conferences, Education Shares Spotlight with Networking: 5 Rules for Success
- With IECA Conference Approaching, Focus on ROI
- Nearly 100 Presenters will Examine Hot Topics in College Admission, Boarding Schools, Special Purpose Programs & Independent Educational Consulting
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Tagged: admissions, admissions representatives, boarding schools, Canada, college consulting, conference, IECA Conference, learning disabilities consulting, NACAC, NATSAP, school consulting, special needs consulting, Therapeutic Consulting
I agree! The 2010 IECA Conference dates for Toronto as well as Cincinnati are in ink on my calendar. I find both the professional networking and educational opportunities invaluable on many levels.
Mark, Another reason many of us attend IECA conferences are the friendships we develope through the years. The respect and intellectual exchange we share among colleagues is invaluble. Many, many things change but not the friendships that develope over meeting at conferences twice a year. Lynn Luckenbach
The opportunity to network and learn in one place from other professionals who work in all the various aspects of our field make the conferences worth my time and money, even in this economic climate. Attending an IECA conference is an opportunity to meet with many others in related fields and bring back new information that makes me a more knowledgeable consultant and that I can incorporate into my own practice, thus benefiting me AND the students and families I work with.