UKISA 2016 Regional Judge Conference

On behalf of the leadership of the UKISA Region, we would like to announce and invite applications for the 2016 national judge conference.

Venue

The venue for the conference is the Hilton Hotel, London Gatwick Airport.

Date and time

The conference will begin at or about 10:30am on Saturday morning with registration; the first seminar will be at 11:00. Finishing time on Sunday will be by 5:30pm to allow attendees to travel home on Sunday night.

The detailed programme can be downloaded via the event files below by registered judges.

Organisers

The organisers for this conference are Luke May, Lucy Wyatt, and Thomas Ralph. Luke is the primary contact for venue, logistical, and other general queries. Thomas is the primary contact for travel queries. Thomas and Lucy will be jointly handling facilitator queries.

Attendees

Certified judges who live in the UK, Ireland and South Africa region are welcome to attend. Judges from other regions may apply to attend; applications will be accepted at the discretion of their regional coordinators.

The event has a maximum capacity owing to venue size. Judges are encouraged to apply early, as in the event that applications exceed capacity and the venue is not in a position to increase the space available to us, later applications may be placed on standby.

Programme and seminars

The conference programme and seminars will be announced at a later date. Judges interested in facilitating a seminar or otherwise contributing to the conference should indicate this in their applications, and preferably apply by the end of July to have the best chance of acceptance.

The final deadline for facilitator applications is Friday 19 August and judges will be notified within approximately 1 week from that date whether or not they have been accepted and added to the schedule. Facilitators will then be expected to share progress and draft materials and notes of their seminars following a timetable to be notified. This is to ensure quality control.

Travel

• Air: Gatwick Airport (LGW)
• National Rail: Gatwick Airport (GTW)
• Coach: Gatwick Airport South Terminal
• Car: M23 J9

Accommodation

We have arranged a preferential rate of £77 per night for a twin or double room at the Hilton London Gatwick Airport (price is per room, that is to say £38.50 per person with two sharing). Single occupancy rate is £67. Both rates include a full English breakfast and free wifi (higher speed connections may incur a charge). For your convenience, if you tick the specified box on the application form we will contact you with details of another judge who has ticked the box to indicate an interest in taking up this offer. We will start contacting people for this purpose from early June.

Judges attending the conference are expected to stay at the Hilton. Most attendees will arrive on Saturday, stay Saturday night, and depart Sunday; however, the preferential rate is available to arrive on Friday and/or depart on Monday if that is more convenient for you. Please contact Thomas Ralph if you live locally for further information on options.

You can book your hotel room on this dedicated site or by telephoning (UK) 08705 90 90 90, (Ireland) 1800 409 633, or (international) 00800 4445 8667 quoting group code GMAGI. Twin and double rooms are available, and you can stay Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights, or any combination. A credit or debit card is required to guarantee the booking but will not be charged in advance. Payment is on check out. Bookings can be cancelled up to 28 days before check-in at no cost; inside this window one night's room rate will be payable.

A number of complimentary upgrades to executive rooms are available, including executive lounge access and a selection of other perks. These will be determined by the organizers with priority given to facilitators and based on date of application.

Following from feedback at the last conference we have not organised luncheon or dinner and attendees will be free to make their own arrangements for same. Though we hope attendees will acknowledge the preferential rates we have received by opting to make at least some use of the hotel's restaurants and bars, the hotel is in close proximity to Gatwick Airport which offers a wide range of options including Caffè Nero, Wetherspoons, Boots, M&S and WHSmith.

Judge foils

As a token of appreciation of the time which judges give up to attend the conference, certified judges who attend and actively participate in all conference sessions (excepting those from which they have been duly excused) will receive a selection of promotional foils. Please see the event forum for details of arrangements to purchase the foil packets from delegates to pay towards hotel costs.