Note: this is the first instalment of my report from Bonn. I'm working on some more "content-focused" reports about teaching-related material and developments, which will appear probably on the Riverstone blog and in the Milan Business English Network. This is basically an informal snapshot of my immediate impressions of the event and the experience of being in Bonn itself. RD
The 27th IATEFL BESIG Annual Conference took
place in Bonn, Germany on the 14-16th November 2014. It was a great
opportunity for business English teachers and other professionals working in
the sector to meet, exchange ideas and get up to speed on all the latest
developments and technology fuelling our industry.
The event was held at the Sankt Augustin Campus of the
Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, just a short tram ride away from the centre of Bonn
itself. The vast majority of BESIG events have been in Germany, mainly due to
the fact that the most active members of the organisation are nearly all based in
German-speaking countries. It may also be due to the fact that English
teachers, like all expats, tend to adapt to their adopted locations and take on
the characteristics of the people where they live. So, although there was a
BESIG Annual Conference in Milan in 2006, the Italian presence at BESIG has
been less noticeable than that of our more dynamic colleagues in the European
economic powerhouse of Germany.
Having said that, though, I did meet Richard Nicholas, who teaches English at Bocconi University in Milan, and took part in his workshop on training students to "hit the ground running" with immediately-useful spoken English skills. Richard drew extensively from his publication "Heads Up", which he co-authored with Mark Tulip and Louise Green.
Since I spend an increasing amount of time online it was interesting to make
direct contact with so many people that I have come to know or know of through
the proliferation of websites, blogs, Facebook pages and tweets, etc that taken
together form the ecosystem or cloud of knowledge that we all inhabit these
days.
I was also very impressed by the team of helpers from the
university itself, who shepherded lost souls from room to room and provided the
all-important information about where to find food, drink and other essential
amenities.
Paul Emmerson gave a great talk on his new business English
venture, BEhereBEthere, which features high quality resources for learners that
the best-selling author has made available to students via a site which is 100%
under his control. One of the key benefits of BEhereBEthere is the videos of
Paul’s own students that he has posted along with exhaustive supporting
materials, including detailed language notes and exercises. During his
presentation, Paul explained aspects of his developing strategy, which is to
build a unique and uniquely useful free resource for business English learners
on the web and to gradually introduce premium features. This freemium model is
now an established feature of many online English sites, services and apps and
the whole question of business models was a recurring theme throughout the talks
and chats taking place in and around the conference itself.
Paul also shared
some invaluable insights into how he uses Google Analytics to learn more about
where visitors to BEhereBEthere are located. Given Paul Emmerson’s undisputed
status as a major star in the business EFL publishing firmament, it was
interesting to see how he is making the transition from published author to
self-publishing web entrepreneur (webpreneur?). I think the key thing that was
clear from Paul’s talk is the passion and commitment he brings to business
English – and his genuine interest and engagement with students. Technology and
social media in this context become incredibly powerful channels for content
producers to connect directly with students (and fellow teachers) – much more
directly than is possible through passive media, such as print or CD-ROM.
However, as one audience member put it, once the content genie is out of the
bottle the question of how content producers can monetize their creations (or,
indeed, whether they can at all) becomes critical.
As perhaps the “most
photocopied man in the world”, Paul Emmerson knows more than most people about
the problem of piracy and loss of revenue through vast armies of well-meaning
teachers whacking his books under the copier. (During one of the dinners at
BESIG, I suggested to Paul that he should perhaps consider some sort of deal
with Canon, Xerox or any of the other companies that have helped to spread the
Emmerson brand around the globe. In fact, he could even produce his own Paul
Emmerson-branded photocopier, bundled with exclusive content for any language
school that buys one. Another idea we kicked around was having some PE
advertising on the underside of the copier’s flap – since there must be at
least a million “flap views” a year in various schools around the globe. Why
not have some inspirational Paul Emmerson quotes and a link to BEhereBEthere
for people to read while they snag pages from Email English?)
Other highlights of the conference included a talk about the importance of lexical chunks by Jeanne McCarten in the plenary session. Paula Mulanovic's session was entitled "Teach like TED" and offered tips for teachers of business English. Cleve Miller of English 360 spoke about blended learning for business English: how to design it, deliver it and sell it. It was also nice to meet Valentina Dodge from English 360 too. I also ran into Bob Dignen of York Associates, who spoke about virtual teams and virtual meetings as well as presenting "Ten top tips for successful communication" with Ian McMaster. There were so many talks that it would have been impossible to do more than scrape the surface, but that's BESIG, I suppose. The overwhelming impression you get from attending a conference like this is just how diverse and constantly evolving the business English ecosystem actually is.
Bonn is a truly lovely city, with many historical and
cultural associations. As the former capital of the Federal
Republic of Germany (or West Germany as it was known before reunification) the city retains a certain gravitas as
well as a legacy of imposing administrative buildings and headquarters,
including almost twenty UN institutions. My hotel room had a commanding view of
the Rhine and the Kennedy Bridge and the occasion also allowed me to explore
the historic centre of Bonn. The classical architecture of the University
buildings and the Hofgarten (Court Garden) are very impressive and the
city is also a place of pilgrimage for music lovers visiting the house where
Beethoven was born. The Marktplatz (market place) is dominated by the Alte Rathaus, or old town hall - simply stunning:
It was also great to spend some time chatting to other
delegates in the canteen of the Hochschule as well as in some of the city
locations. I had a memorable dinner with Alex Taylor of TJ Taylor, the language
school based in Milan with centres in the UK and Ireland, at the First Flush Tea Room, which is also – despite the name – a restaurant serving exotic
delights such as pumpkin curry (excellent). We also had tea – everyone gets a
teapot of a different design – and sampled the local Kölsch beer, which was
equally outstanding. We continued our conversation in Brauhaus Bönnsch, a
traditional Rhineland pub serving Kölsch in strangely curved glasses, complete
with finger-grips to make imbibing just that much easier. I also managed to
squeeze in a visit to Cologne to see its massive and overpowering Cathedral,
whose twin spires loom above the station and somewhat cramped squares below.
Unfortunately, it was raining quite heavily, which just seemed to add to the
sense of oppressive weight towering
overhead – and it was actually something of a relief (architecturally speaking)
to be standing in front of Milan’s far more forgiving, though equally
impressive, Duomo (cathedral) later the same day.
I flew back to Milan with most of the Italian contingent including freelance business English teachers Louise Goodman and Andy Townsend and our BESIG chat continued well after we had touched down.
Based on my first experience of BESIG I can honestly say that this was a great experience and for any business English teachers - freelance or otherwise - I would strongly recommend signing up to BESIG and checking out all their events, including regular webinars with experts from the field of business English.
I'll post an update soon when I have sifted through all the notes and stacks of material I accumulated during the conference. Stay tuned!
