The Annual Leadership Conference goes Virtual

After a two year COVID-19 break, we were determined to deliver a FOBISIA Annual Leadership Conference to address some of the key challenges that COVID-19 has brought, and support our Senior Leaders 'Leading in an era of Change'. Although it was the first virtual leadership conference of this size held by FOBISIA, the turn out was fantastic, with Senior Leaders showing their dedication to excellence with a large number attending online even though many were on holiday.

There were 47 speakers and over 600 participants in the Conference. Many of our speakers went the extra mile, calling in from the UK at 5 am, layered with jumpers and scarves, sitting in darkened rooms; these speakers inspired and challenged our attendees.

On Diana Osagie’s inspirational keynote speech on The Powerful Moment of the Leadership Pivot; one attendee said, “Inspirational speaker which is just what you need at the start of a conference like this. Powerful messages intertwined with practical ideas. Diana has the ideas but it is obvious she has put them into practice.”

Dame Alison Peacock’s keynote on compassionate leadership led one of the attendees to say, “Wonderful speaker - so easy to listen to and clearly speaking from personal experience. So good to listen to someone who presents with honesty, humility and incredible insight into the challenges staff AND students face.” Our Affiliate Members also had a chance to talk about some of the amazing things they do, Janelle Guce-Torres, South East Asia Field Researcher for ISC Research presented on Market Shifts & Rethinking International-Mindedness to inspired results; “Great preparation by the speaker; excellent, informative and practical info shared at the presentation.”

The Annual Leadership Conference gives school leaders a chance to get together, share experiences, advice and concerns. One of those concerns was in regard to exams, where leaders had the chance to meet with key people from Cambridge Assessment International Education, Pearson Edexcel and Oxford AQA. Leaders raised their issues and had questions for the panel, including concerns going forward as not every region has opened as fully as the UK. The panel agreed these needed to be addressed and that they would raise them with their home office. Panelists shared their experience and expertise with leaders from FOBISIA schools with practical advice and real life solutions.

This year's FOBISIA 28th Leadership Conference attracted over 650 attendees across the globe and was an absolute triumph.

Key presenters including Diana Osagie, Angela Browneand Dame Alison Peacock showcased a dynamic passion and expertise in their educational fields that highly impressed all participants. Board member and Head of Bangkok Patana School Matt Mills said, “It’s always a huge undertaking to create a leadership conference that brings hardworking Heads from right across Asia to network over a selected theme for two concentrated days. Adding to that challenge was dealing with a global pandemic and having to create that same sense of common focus but in a virtual environment with no face to face opportunities.”

Kathy Wharton noted, “The conference was fantastic and it was great to be part of something so well put together.”

There was just the right mix of key educational presenters and fun virtual experiences like the art challenge and the personalised Desert Island Discs which the virtual audience lapped up and valued. This year’s Leadership Conference was a real celebration in ‘The Show Must Go On’ and let's make it the best learning opportunity that is feasibly possible.

Many days and weeks were spent in the organising and planning of the first Virtual Leadership Conference by the team at HQ and we are proud of the effort that was put into making it a huge success. So, what does all of this mean for the next Leadership Conference? Excitement at planning an in-person event in Bangkok in March. Feedback and suggestions are more than welcome for speakers, discussions and workshops. Please contact us at eom@fobisia.org with all your ideas.