News

Catholic Education, South Australian 2007 Conference, 18-19 October 2007

Dr Stephen Holmes presented at the recent Catholic Education, South Australian 2007 Conference with positive feedback from the conference organisers.

Thank you so much for contributing to the success of our conference. It was obvious to me that your session was appreciated just by the comments and questions on the day. However Friday's evaluation brought forth more positive feedback. There was strong praise for your presentation overall and in listing the key take home tips people mentioned: evidence based, values, those who love the school and authenticity.

Marie Wood, Senior Education Advisor: Marketing & Communications
Catholic Education, South Australia

Australian Tertiary Education Managers (ATEM) 30 and 31 August 2007 Brisbane Australia – Marketing Tertiary (Higher) Education Institutions, Australia, 30 and 31 August 2007

This interactive 2 day workshop took senior level university marketing participants from various universities around Australia through key aspects of education marketing. With many participants coming from corporate marketing backgrounds, particular attention as paid to the cultural sensitivities required by senior marketers in university contexts to achieve optimum success both internally (staff) and externally (publics).

Feedback from this year’s was again excellent- participants rated the two day event with Stephen at an overall average score of 4.5 on a 5 point scale.

Stephen has been commissioned by ATEM since 2001 to run this 2 day program, attracting higher education markets and managers from around Australia and New Zealand. The Association for Tertiary Education Management Inc (ATEM Inc) is the pre-eminent professional body in Australasia for tertiary education administrators and managers.

School Wide Strategy for Marketing- Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia, 21 and 22 August 2007

Due to delegate demand and outstanding feedback from the March seminars, Stephen conducted a further one day workshop in both Brisbane and Melbourne in August. This seminar focused on the practice of how to develop, implement and evaluate a school wide strategy for marketing. These events were attended by private and government schools and also some universities from across Australia.

Australian Vice Chancellors Committee (AVCC) Marketing Conference Melbourne, March 27-29 2007

Every two years this conference is held in Australia as the peak conference to bring together university marketers and senior managers from across Australia and internationally (over 400 delegates).

Stephen was invited to deliver a plenary session entitled: ‘What universities have to offer: connecting academics with marketing’ .

Perhaps not surprisingly, this difficult but vital topic attracted great interest from delegates to the point where the room had to be closed and it was standing room only! Outstanding feedback for the session was received from both the conference organizers and delegates alike.

Authentic Marketing through Reputation Management in Schools- Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia, 8 and 9 March 2007

This was a series of one day seminars delivered by Dr Stephen Holmes in both Melbourne and Adelaide. Independent and government schools traveled from every state of Australia to attend these workshops around the theme of creating a broader rationale for marketing so as to enhance build acceptance- the concept of reputation management. Both events were oversubscribed.

Sample of the outstanding delegate feedback included (unsolicited):

‘Hi Stephen, I was so impressed with your Authentic Marketing Through Reputation Management in Schools seminar last Thursday that I wanted to personally thank you for conducting such an excellent forum. The depth of your knowledge in the area of school and tertiary institution marketing is clearly prodigious and it was extremely worthwhile hearing your views on the state of the profession itself, its profile both here and internationally, and your suggestions as to how practitioners such as myself can optimize the success of our ‘reputation building’ strategies both to the wider community and within schools themselves. It was absolute music to my ears to hear you endorse the role so strongly, legitimize the importance of our contribution to a school’s success and viability, and identify the myriad of challenges which face the school marketer in this highly competitive, manic world.  The anecdotes you told, the comparisons you made, the authoritative opinions you hold and your extensive knowledge of all things of a ‘school reputation enhancing’ nature, made for an outstanding session and I thank you most sincerely for the wisdom you shared with us so freely.’

Kristen Simpson, Director of Marketing and Communications
The Knox School, Melbourne

Higher Education: International Markets - Internal Dynamics
Cambridge Spring Conference, 2-3 April 2007

Following on from last year’s successful international conference, The Knowledge Partnership 2007 spring conference was again a resounding success. Not only was feedback from our delegates exceptionally good, but we had great weather too!

Higher Education Futures: A Stategic Approach to Dynamic Markets
3 - 4 April 2006, Cambridge

HE Minister Bill Rammell was a surprise last minute addition to our HE Futures Conference in Cambridge on 3 April. The Minister spoke about the contribution of higher education to civilised society, and government’s commitment to keeping the cap in place for higher fees, for the ‘life time of this parliament’. Hearing the research presented by the Knowledge Partnership on the impact of fees on the student experience. he explained the importance of ensuring higher education fully stepped up to the economic and social challenges presented that the country faced, and that ‘conferences such as this in which diverse and considered expertise thrashes out how this may be done are key component in the over-all reform programme’ of higher education’.

Bill Rammell (centre), Minister for Higher Education, with (left to right) Dr Stephen Holmes (TKP Australia), Dave Roberts ( TKP UK), Bruce Chapman (Australia National University), and Louise Simpson (TKP UK).

Click here for further information on the published report on the impact of top up fees on the Student Experience, funded by the Higher Education Academy.

International and Domestic Students: Building and Managing Reputation in Schools
10 October 2005, Brisbane

This was a one day intensive program of information sessions and specialist breakout workshop sessions. We were delighted to have renowned international authorities on three key themes for schools: Leadership, Marketing and Internationalisation.

Standing out from the Crowd: Managing Reputation & Marketing
31 July - 2 August, 2005, Gold Coast, Queensland

In the August 2005, The Knowledge Partnership hosted a major conference on Reputation and Marketing in South-East Queensland, Australia. It proved to be an ideal forum for those in marketing, communications, development, strategy and planning in knowledge-based sectors such as universities, colleges, polytechnics, schools, museums and charities.

The conference was chaired by Professor Frank Crowther, Pro Vice-Chancellor Executive Dean of Education, University of Southern Queensland, Past President Australian Council for Educational Administration (ACEA). Director IDEAS Project Commonwealth Government of Australia. Speakers came from a variety of backgrounds including education and commerce and with in-depth expertise of reputation issues in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Click here for a copy of the programme [PDF Document]

Spring 2005

In April 2005, David Roberts from our Leeds office spent some time with Stephen Holmes (of our Brisbane office) in New Zealand, working with a variety of our clients.
They were invited to speak at a business breakfast sponsored by UCOL and organised by Vision Manawatu. Local education professions from primary schools, secondary schools, higher education organisations and business interest groups attended the presentation which covered strategy, marketing and communications techniques for the education sector.

Left to right: UCOL Director of Recruitment and Relations Paramdip Singh, Dr Stephen Holmes,Vision Manawatu Associate Director - Education Rossana Couto and Dave Roberts

Stephen Holmes (right) and Dave Roberts (left) delivering the presentation.

In May Stephen flew to London to speak at a number of workshops with leading private schools and universities to give an international persepective on the issues concerning student fees.

In June, Stephen was Guest Presenter at the CCAE (Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education) Annual Conference - "Reaching New Heights" at Banff, Alberta.

How to Build and Manage your School's Reputation Conference
May 24th 2005, London

This was a one day seminar designed specifically for senior managers in secondary schools. The seminar was chaired by Virginia Isaac, Director of Marketing and Communications for UCAS and David Roberts, renowned international expert on educational marketing. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback from delegates.

Schools Seminar at The Reform Club, London