NZEALS CONFERENCE 2022: Four years’ planning, three days’ experience, worth every minute

The special part of NZEALS 2022 for me was bringing people together. From the start of building the (Covid-cancelled) 2020 programme, through to standing at the welcome desk in September 2022, I knew there were some amazing people out there. There was the person who replied to the 2022 call for papers with ‘Gosh yes! I was coming to NZEALS 2020 and I was so excited. Of course, I’ll come’. There was the ever-growing group of international delegates who were keen to share their research findings and their cultures and to immerse themselves in Tūrangawaewae. There were the first-time presenters who said ‘Just put me in if you need to fill a space: it’s not a very important message I have here’ (but of course it was…).

Then, as the delegates started to register: ‘Can I bring my whole Kāhui Ako as a group?’ ‘Can I bring a team from across our ECE provision / across our RTLB?’ (Of course: we wanted groups to experience the conference together so they could continue their conversations into the workplace) ‘Do we have to pay extra for Hobbiton?’ (No, our conference dinner is always included in the full fee, so people don’t have to miss out).