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Conference Office gears up for biggest challenge yet
Published by the Communications and Development Department
6 November 2003
The University’s Conference Office is in the final stages of preparation for its most challenging event on campus.
The Third International Wildlife Management Congress, hosted by Manaaki Whenua/Landcare Research, The Wildlife Society (USA), Australian Wildlife Management Society and Ngai Tahu, will be held at the University of Canterbury from 1-5 December.
Around 1000 delegates from more than 50 countries are expected to attend the Congress, the first time the meeting will have been held in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Conference Office has been working on the Congress for the past three years. In November 2000, representatives from Landcare Research and the Wildlife Society (USA) met with Conference Office Manager Margaret Brown, and the Canterbury campus was chosen as the venue. Ms Brown said the organising committee liked the layout, size, park-like environment, modern lecture theatres and close proximity of the halls of residence.
She said the number of delegates would stretch the resources of the University: “The Congress is logistically challenging for the many areas involved, including AV, IT, Facilities Management, Halls of Residence and so on”.
The Conference Office has faced scheduling venues for around 800 oral and poster presentations, 17 trade exhibitors, and a number of workshops. “The opening ceremony is being held at the Convention Centre because the University does not have a room that will take 1000 people. Forty coaches will transport delegates daily from their accommodation to the University, and a marquee will be erected outside Central Lecture Block for the trade exhibition and catering.”
Ms Brown said that as with most conferences, an important part of the event was the social programme. “Continuing Education’s Educational Travel has been very much involved with this, arranging a number of local half day tours and South island post-Congress tours, and these tours are proving to be extremely popular.
“While the Congress is, due to its size, a test of University resources, it is great to see so much of the campus being fully utilised during the vacation period,” she said.
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