StudyWorld  London September 2013

Is hard work supposed to be fun?  I headed for StudyWorld expecting two and a half days of non-stop networking, and I got a lot of laughs thrown in for free.  In case you didn’t know, StudyWorld is all about international student recruitment and brings together 850 industry professionals in a forum that’s perfect for making contacts and seeing what’s new out there in the business.

Anyway, I was up in town the day before the conference, meeting up with a mate, Adam.  We hopped over to the Natural History Museum to get in the educational mood, and followed that up with a few educational pints.

On checking in I straight away bumped into a couple of friends; Jenny (she’s a director of a rival agency in Bournemouth, but I don’t hold grudges) and especially glad to see Bernice, haven’t seen her since Palermo in March. The lovely face of Schools & Agents, knows her ELT, and knows how to party – my kind of lady!

What great rooms we’d be given, super kings all round  – what a waste.  Didn’t waste the open bar though – free all night for the Welcome Party.  I put on my networking hat and got chatting, to a few favourite regulars, Dave from IH Bristol, Gavin IH Cape Town, and met some new faces from Paris, Ben and Antonio.  They provide innovative online  courses, and signed me up for a free taster course.  We all caught up on the latest gossip, industry and other, and had a few laughs.  I heard a fascinating history tale, I thought it was a joke, you know, the language school equivalent of, ‘A  man walks into a bar….’ but sadly I missed the punch-line.  So with just the seven wines under the belt and thinking of the days ahead I thought it best to retire to bed early.  

 Day One - No hangover after the Welcome Party, but suffered a wardrobe malfunction.  Ripped the split in my black skirt trying to take two steps at a time.  I didn’t think the conference was quite ready for my leopard print alternative, so just turned the black one back-to-front on the basis people would definitely notice if my rump was exposed, but I’m usually able to maintain eye contact. 

A day of appointments saw me disappearing under a sheaf of brochures and business cards, but totally worth it to make some promising contacts.   I checked out some of the stands too, and made frequent trips to the coffee bar!  Glad for the water that is out on the tables.  I’m not sure I’ve ever talked so much.  After a busy day on my stilettos, what a relief to join the girls for a quieter kind of evening, bowling and a few drinks, and making arrangements to meet for breakfast at 8.40 in the morning.

Day Two - Alarm malfunction.  Is there a pattern developing?  Jenny knocked before my alarm went off.  I leapt up, threw on a dress, hair up, and headed down in under  two minutes for breakfast, debating, become invisible on a table in corner or brazen it out, in the end the coffee machine’s proximity made my decision for me.  Hopefully no-one  noticed the sheet creases on my cheeks.  Thank goodness for coffee and croissants to set me up for another day of meeting and greeting. 

When it came to the finale, I legged it.  After two days on my best behaviour – and yes, that was my best behaviour – I had a friend to meet, to eat and drink with, enjoy London for an evening before heading home.  All-in-all a fantastic event, made loads of contacts and I’m now well into my Frantastique course – I expect to be fluent in time for StudyWorld 2014!