Ulearn brings millions of dollars to Christchurch

PRESS RELEASE

Millions of dollars are about to be injected into the Canterbury region with a large conference coming to the city next week.

Christchurch and Canterbury Convention Bureau manager Leonie Ashford said the whole region, not just Christchurch, would benefit from ULearn, one of the largest conferences to come to the city.

ULearn09 is an educational conference focusing on innovative teaching and learning for the 21st century organised by CORE Education that attracts about 2000 delegates and features 400 national and international speakers.

Education Minister Anne Tolley will open the conference on October 7.

Mrs Ashford said the minimum a conference of ULearn’s size would bring to the region was $3.3 million.

Often people stayed on and did activities around the region.

“For the wider region there are also benefits. There are all sorts of activities that are available that people might do like visiting Hamner Springs, skiing if the ski fields are still open, visiting the banks peninsula and Akaroa or hot air ballooning.”

Bars and restaurants would also notice a difference in trade during the conference because people often went out for dinner or a drink at the end of the day, she said.

During the four day conference that starts with pre-registration on October 6 and finishes on October 9 organisers will trial new technology in the city that could help attract other larger conferences to the city.

Conference technical director Dave Merton said ULearn was returning to Christchurch because of the technological capabilities of the city.

"We’re going to be trialling new technology for New Zealand from Japan with the help of Allied Telesis.

“This technology will provide us with around 10GB pipes, where last year we had 1GB, to blanket wireless our conference venues,” Mr Merton said.

Mrs Ashford was excited about the new technology as it could be used as a selling point for future conferences.

“We work very closely with the Convention Centre and I am sure that they will pick up on that as a key selling point,”she said.

There was also a huge trade expo accompanying ULearn. Positions in the trade expo had been sold out for months, conference organiser Gwenny Davis said.

Vbase Business Development general manager Alan Garner said conferences like Ulearn09 were the reason the Convention Centre needed to be expanded in size. ULearn was one of the largest conferences to come to Christchurch and it brought a lot of positive benefits for the city.

If the Convention Centre was expanded it would enable Vbase to attract more events like ULearn, he said.

The Christchurch City Council has supported expansion of the Convention Centre committing $40 million towards the $80 million cost of expanding the existing facility to three times its current size.

It was the second time in three consecutive years ULearn will be held at the Christchurch Convention Centre. Mr Garner said the mix of the venues where the conference will be held, all managed by Vbase, was a major selling point.

“The delegates really enjoy being able to participate in a plenary session in the Town Hall and then cross the airbridge to where the trade area is all located on the same floor of the Convention Centre.”

Vbase also operates Westpac Arena where the delegates will enjoy a fully-themed gala dinner, he said.

ULearn features top thought leaders which give people attending the opportunity to gain new ideas and a better understanding of the latest technologies. Delegates range from early childhood to tertiary educators.

www.ulearn.org.nz

ENDS

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