Regional Collaboration: Victoria A City-Wide Approach to International Recruitment
Presenters Jeff Davis, Director International Student Programs Greater Victoria School District Christiaan Bernard, Director Camosun International Victoria, BC, Canada Camosun College
Presenters Carolyn L Russel l, Director Department of Student Recruitment and Global Engagement Division of Student Affairs University of Victoria Soojin Kim , International Liaison Coordinator International Collaboration & Development Royal Roads University
Victoria Collaboration Overview 1. Why collaborate? 2. Market selection 3. Event development and promotion 4. Event overview and results 5. Lessons learned
Why Collaborate? o Desire to work together o K-PhD offerings, something for everyone o Strength in numbers o Learn together to explore untapped markets
Market Selection o Embassy and BC Trade feedback o Fair overload o New and emerging market with little coordinated Canadian presence o Overlapping recruitment activities and interests amongst Victoria institutions o Decision: events that would promote Victoria as a study destination for any student from K to PhD
Exploring the Market o Can we do this alone? o How do we choose an agent? o Why AIT & Honest Education: what did they bring to the table? o Do we sacrifice anything by committing the event to one agent?
Building Collaboration • Presentation development o General introduction to Canada and BC education systems o Focus on Victoria, BC o Minimal but balanced institution information • Municipal involvement (Tourism Victoria, GVDA, City Hall)
Overview of Event - Vietnam o Twice a year o Two major cities o Online advance registration o One hour presentation followed by mini-fair o Quizzes with prizes
Promotions by AIT o Online ads in magazines and local newspapers o Social media outreach o Banners in main streets of HCMC o Posts on educational forums and high school websites o E-newsletters and mobile messages to AIT databases o Posters and leaflets for high schools, universities, and English centres o Outreach to local student clubs
Promotions – sample online ads
Promotions – social media
Promotions – banners
HCMC March 2015
Ha Noi March 2015
HCMC Oct 2016
HCMC 2016 Full House
HCMC Nov 2015
Vietnamese Parents
Event Statistics September November Victoria Education Fair March 2015 October 2016 2014 2015 Number of 173 157 79 153 registered students Hanoi Number of actual 95 52 54 160 attendees Number of 75 69 73 92 registered students Ho Chi Minh City Number of actual 30 20 52 110 attendees
Event Statistics Educational Sector September 2014 March 2015 November 2015 October 2016 School District 9 Leads 9 Leads 8 Leads 38 Leads 4 Applicant 13 Applicants College 6 Leads 6 Leads 2 Leads 32 Leads 3 Applicants 3 Applicants 1 Applicant 3 Applicants University 13 Leads 13 Leads 21 Leads 46 Leads 3 Applicants 3 Applicants 2 Applicant 1 Applicant
KOREA Quick Facts & Why? • 3 rd Top sending country to Canada • 2 nd top source for BC across all educational sectors (12,695 students per year) Identified as Maintenance market
Overview of Event – South Korea o Event Venue: Canadian Embassy in Seoul o BC Trade Office & Canadian Embassy’s presence & support o Online Advance Registration o Collaborative presentation session followed by mini-fair (English & Korean) o Testimonial session with alumni o Student volunteers who studied in Victoria
Promotion done by Honest Education o Create a new Website & Brand o Social media outreach (Embassy, Blog, Community website etc..) o Banners branded for Education Victoria o Pre-filtered students - Perspective students for CANADA only (30%) o E-newsletters and E-message to Honest Education database (33000 people)
Promotions #1 Embassy official blog
Promotions #2 – Go Go Canada Go Go Canada Internet community(café) for studying & working in Canada Members more than 33,000 Visitors a day more than 2,500
Promotions #3 – New website Victoria Event Website www.victoriaedufair.com Adverting - google, naver
Promotions #4 – Internet Communities Partner Internet communities for Korean moms More than 700,000 members of 4 communities
Promotion #5 – Branded Banners
Promotion #6 - WEBSITE Contents For Victoria Public Education Consortium
Promotions #7 – offline marketing
Event Statistics Interests in 2016/2017
2017 Event Photos - 1
2017 Event Photos - 2
February, 2017 – SUCCESS!
Additional Activities o High school visits o University visits o Agent office training o Team building – debrief & future planning
Results o Applications and registered students o Brand awareness o Improved student services o Strategic understanding o Market insight o Strong local ties o Template for approaching other markets
Lessons Learned Internal Factors o Organizing & coordination o Unique offerings o Maintaining scope o Audience expectations o Decision-making by committee o Community explanation
Lessons Learned External Factors o Visa approval rates o Competition from Australia and U.S. o Vietnamese school policies o Staff turnover at institutions o Price sensitivity
What’s next? o Conversion o Expand to other markets: Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Columbia, Kenya, Japan o Public Partnership MOU o Vietnam fall 2017 o Collaborative program launching Aug, 2017 ( Canadian Campus and Industry Experience )
Thank you!
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