|Read later

Meet the mind behind our GESS Dubai Conference Programme

Hello readers, new and previous Speakers/Exhibitors/Sponsors at GESS Dubai. Perhaps I am the ‘best kept secret’ behind GESS Dubai. My name is Rhona Greenhill and I am the Programme Director for GESS Dubai and with my Programme Manager Helen Freeman we are responsible for collating, curating, and producing the conference programmes at GESS Dubai, which is around 7 rooms a year. We work closely with the marketing team to ensure we announce the talks and give the feel to delegates about the diversity of our programmes each year.

I have been involved since GESS was BES with the first ever GESS event held at the Madinat Jumeriah then moving to Airport Expo prior to moving to our coming of age venue at the Dubai World Trade Centre a few of our current speakers will remember those days.

           

 

We have had a variety of different formats over the years and we love to discuss new ideas and concepts with schools and the wider teaching community. 

We also work closely with a team at the Ministry of Education to produce the morning keynote sessions in the Arena which are attended by regional ministers and local dignitaries and we have collaborative relationships with all the regulators throughout the Emirates.

Each year we strive to research new speakers and trends and where possible meet them personally in one of our regular visits to Dubai, so collating the programme for 2021 seems very different as no one knows when we will be next in Dubai – luckily we have Danny Mesmar on our marketing team who is based locally and can visit you on our behalf.

So with that certainly in mind we have decide to open the Call for Talks page earlier than usual to allow everyone to apply to talk during the holiday so once your back at work at the end of August you won’t have that pressure. We will keep the page open and obviously as those who have spoken at the event know we are flexible if you have talk title changes  that need to be made due to the focus of your talk needing a little nudge in a different direction, as obviously none of us know how much topics will change before  March 2021.

What to expect when you agree to talk at GESS Dubai

We are very open to having different styles of talks and presentations so don’t be afraid to bring along your newly hatched chicks, your students to talk about bullying, dance, theatre, art, or VR.

                              

We like to hear about new innovations, products, problem solving collaborations with the Public and Private sector, and more about the changes to learning that new learning spaces and curriculum can make to citizens of tomorrow, with education for work initiatives and this includes hearing student voices. 

                    

Do's and Don’ts

Remember talking at GESS is not like being at school you have a different AV set up as it’s a live event things may not go to plan, so please do help us to help you by letting us know about your preferred methods of presentation in advance, not on the day, and do endeavour to supply your presentation in advance but also do bring it along on a USB on the day.   Do not email them to us as then we have to download them on site too and that is not always possible.  Do not rely on the internet for live links during the event as that is not always going to work and seasoned presenters take a belt and braces attitude to speaking at this kind of event by having videos of those elements ready for their talk.

Advance planning

Get to know where the Dubai World Trade Centre is and the nearest car park (perhaps visit the area before hand). Do make sure you know which room your session is on in and where that room is before you come to the venue, (we send you a floorplan showing the rooms before the event).   Allow at least 45 minutes in the venue for breathing, visiting the amenities, grabbing a hot drink and water, prior to making your way to the conference room before your talk. Contact us via WhatsApp on our UK numbers during the show if necessary, advise us the night before if you are unable to present for some reason.

DTCM

Do be prepared for the UAE authorities’ requirements in the way of the DTCM requirements which means you need to send us your passport copy/UAE Emirates ID (If you are a resident of the UAE), headshot photo, and a short biography. Failure to do this means we are unable to allow you to speak at GESS Dubai.

Over the years we have speakers who have become friends, speakers who come back year on year, along with lots of new GESS speakers who want to share their knowledge and talent with delegates come back to enjoy listening to new ideas, new concepts and have exciting conversations and more importantly all of whom take back something new to their classroom for use the very next day.

The rooms to apply to speak in for 2021 are:

Leadership

Future leaders

EdTech

Innovations

Wellbeing

Immersive

Here is the link to apply to speak:

https://www.gessdubai.com/call-for-participation

We look forward to meeting you in March 2021 and feel free to email us directly with any ideas and concepts.

Keep you and your families and friends safe and well at this time.

Rhona