Perth, 6-7 Oct 2018
Delegates at the conference
[Summary of the report from JET Streams, an online magazine maintained by the official JET Programme website]
This year’s conference theme of “Outreach and Communication”. With this subject in mind, chapters discuss what they have been doing to reach out and communicate with target groups, using tools at their disposal. For example:
- Organisational tools like Trello and social media sites to engage committee members and plan events;
- South Island discussed their recent triumphs with their sister city relationship of Kurashiki in Okayama, and their very first JTE exchange teacher;
- The benefits of working with other Japanese groups like the Australia Japan Society, University Japanese groups and MEXT scholarship awardees are discussed;
- Maintaining a strong relationship with the consulate and embassy of Japan benefits both parties;
- Issues on how to deal with donor fatigue in fundraising are discussed.
JETAA International projects were also highlighted, such as KenJETKai, which seeks to re-connect JET Programme alumni with their home prefectures to continue the grassroots cross-cultural exchange and friendship that was at the heart of their JET Programme experience. KenJETKai also helps and supports local chapters by connecting them to individuals and chapters around the world with similar wants, projects and struggles.
CLAIR Tokyo Executive Consultant Mr. Isobe introduced delegates to recent developments in the JET Programme, support for JET participants, and showed new promotional materials that have been created for the program.
The 2018 guest speaker, Kent Anderson asked delegates to consider what it is that chapters want from alumni. He suggested that with each new generation of JETs they will have a different wants and needs from JETAA chapters.