Auckland, Oct 7-8 2017
[This report comes courtesy of the JETAA International site]
This year, the theme is sustainability, and delegates from Australia and New Zealand focus on topics and strategies to continuously maintain JETAA’s relevance and dynamism for the future. Other segments also included a review of the previous year’s conference, and what JETAA chapters have found useful and have implemented since then.
- JETAA Wellington presented on the use of social media in promoting their chapter;
- JETAA NSW spoke about change as part of sustainability. JETAA must define itself to offer something unique;
- JETAA QLD talked about the evolving nature of the JETAA committee’s responsibilities, from the creation of new roles, and what JETAA has changed since its inception 30 years ago;
- JETAA VICTASSA discussed their experience of growing community links;
- JETAA WA presented on JETAA recruitment, and how they work to maintain a connection with current JET participants, sending newsletters that maintain a constant reminder of what will await JETs upon their return;
- JETAA Canberra spoke in detail about how they rebuilt their subscriber database after its loss several years ago;
- JETAA South Island spoke about how they maintain a direct relationship between JETAA and Japan, through their small exchange programme with a sister city in Japan, where a JTE is hosted to work in New Zealand;
- JETAA Auckland presented on future proofing chapters, and minimising burnout within committees.
This year, JETAA Singapore was invited to join the Oceania conference by Skype. Country Representative Cheryl Phua presenting on maintaining links between JETAA chapters as part of sustainability.
In the Country Representative joint presentation, Daniela Mageanu (NZ) and Eden Law (Australia) focused on mental health support of JET participants, and encouraged chapters to find ways to incorporate information and awareness of these issues into their activities, primarily pre-departure orientations. With the death of a NZ JET (Kelly Savage) this year, it has helped pushed these concerns to the forefront.