If you work – or want to work – on educational travel programs for your educational organization, you should know about the annual Educational Travel Conference (ETC). Now in its 24th year, the 2010 installment will take place from 3 February to 6 February in Providence, Rhode Island (USA).
The early registration fee of $595 for travel planners (such as alumni association staff members) includes "most meals," according to the organizers. That fee applies to those booking their lodging for the conference at its official hotel: the Westin in Providence. And the hotel rate is discounted too: $119 single or double, per night.
And with budget constraints in mind, ETC is offering up to $100 savings on successive registrations from one institution.
Registration will be available very soon (during September), so keep an eye on the web site:
Educational Travel Conference, 2010
And sign up early. The early registration deadline is 9 December, 2009 (savings of $30 on registration). The discounted hotel rate of $119 at the Westin in Providence will be available until the ETC block sells out (typically by November).
Mini Overview of Conference Content:
- Three session tracks: strategy, operations, and marketing.
- Agenda spanning social networking to consumer and marketing trends to innovative programming.
- New sessions (including pre- and post-conference workshops) on topics from creative marketing to strategic planning, to hands on workshops to e-mail and web marketing.
- Part I of ETC’s curriculum on the fundamentals of mitigating risk and vetting safety issues for your travel programs.
- Post-conference time to recap the best take-home ideas and develop an immediate action plan with travel planners like yourself.
If you haven't attended ETC, then you should also know that there are always interesting outings that get you away from the conference hall and hotel. For example, Providence's unique Waterfire program is on tap for ETC 2010.
A personal note: I lived in Rhode Island for 12 years, including seven years in Providence. It has a ton of history, an incredible art museum, interesting architecture, and excellent Italian food. And Pastiche, the best dessert and pastry bakery in New England (if not the country). For the curious traveler, Providence is worth the visit.
Meanwhile - for specific questions, you can email ETC's organizers at [email protected]. See you there.