Introduction
The 13th Canadian Education Expo (CEE) and the 9th American Education Expo (AEE) was hosted by the Oh Canada / Oh America Education Consulting Centers from March 3rdto the 6th. The event had a record number of school participants and student attendees making it the largest and most successful overseas education event in Taiwan.
Event Review
Date & Venues:
March 3rd , Saturday
Taipei World Trade Center, Hall #2 12:00 ~ 18:00

March 4th , Sunday
Taipei World Trade Center , Hall #2 12:00 ~ 17:30

March 5th , Monday
Taichung Splendor Hotel, 13th floor 15:00 ~ 20:00

March 6th , Tuesday
Kaohsiung Business Exhibition Center 15:00 ~ 20:00

Organizer:
Oh America Education Consulting Center
Oh Canada Education Consulting Center

Sponsors:
Supporting Sponsors:
1.American Institute in Taiwan, Commercial Section
2.Canadian Trade office in Taipei
3.International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT)
4.Representative offices from the states of Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Maryland, Idaho, Delaware, Louisiana, Florida, Montana, Vermont and Hawaii.

Supporting Commercial Sponsors:
Air Canada , Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines, Evergreen Hotel, Ambassador Hotel, Far Eastern, Shangri-La Hotel, Vibo Communications

School Participants: the 115 participants are listed below:
*American Schools

*Canadian Schools

Student Attendees: (numbers of registered visitors)
Taipei :           13,058
Taichung:         2,675
Kaohsiung :      3,130
Total:             18,863

Promotions:

Related Activities
* AIT, ASOA and See America Participation
* Taiwan TESL Teacher Training Conference
* Seminar Series

AIt, ASOA and See America Participation
The organizers provided a booth to the American Institute in Taiwan’s Consular and Commercial Sections, and another booth was provided to the American State Offices Association and the See America Committee. These organizations distributed materials and answered questions about visa application procedures, and studying and traveling in the United States

TESL Training Conference
The Spring 2007 TESL Teacher Training Conference was the sixth conference hosted by the Oh Canada and Oh America Education Consulting Centers. This event is an opportunity for English teachers in Taiwan to share teaching experiences with and learn new skills from American and Canadian professionals in the field of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). The Spring 2007 TESL Conference was held in conjunction with the Canadian and American Education Expos (CEE/AEE) in Taipei at the Taipei World Trade Center Hall#2 on March 3rd, 2007. The schedule was as follows:

Classroom	Times
Using Writing Journals to Increase Fluency Ms Dawn Schmid California State University, San Marcos Foundation	12:10 - 13:00 Session I
English Phonetics for Chinese speakers Mr.Bradley Gilpin University of California,Irvine Extension	13:10 - 14:00 Session II
Taiwanese Student's Reflections of their English Instruction in Taiwan before Studying Abroad Mr.Gordon E.Clark Ashland University	14:10 - 15:00 Session III
Opportunities for Teachers with a master's in TESOL Games and Lesson Planning Ms.Elizabeth Clodflter Ohio University	15:10 - 16:00 Session IV
Teach Modals With a "Native Speaker" Spirit Mrs.Janet Magnoni International Education Center at Diablo Valley College	16:10 - 17:00 Session V

Seminar Series
In order to provide a range of useful information to the public, the Oh Canada / Oh America Centers invited speakers to host 55 seminars during the four-day CEE/AEE. Presentation topics ranged from how to apply for American and Canadian visas, to tips on living, studying, and working in North America. Speakers included consular officers from the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei and the American Institute in Taiwan, Specialists the Senior Counselors from Oh Canada and Oh America.

Feedback from Participating Schools:
(Satisfaction level averaged: 5 = Excellent, 1= Poor) 　

Plan to attend the Fall Fair 2007:
Yes 64%
Depends (budget, result of this fair) 25%
No answer 11%

Selected Participant Comments and Responses

1. This was a well-planned event, well done Brian!!
   
2. Yes – The fair was very well organized and well attended. Much better than previous fair experiences with other companies.
   
3. Thought it was well organized.
   
4. Thanks for advance contact about conference staff follow up about students who are coming to our CIEP or UNI programs.
   
5. Organization of Oh! Canada was A-1. The best I have ever seen in terms of fair organization. To be commended: a) The response of staff to e-mail/questions, b) organization of logistics – WOW! c) Training of translators – incredible~, d) attention to needs of delegates – comfort, food, drinks, etc.!
   
6. Yes! It gave a chance to present the school to students who are planning to apply next year!
   
7. Yes! We plan to continue attending the fairs in the future. It was great to have my own student translator/assistant.
   
8. Yes! Great venues and hotels and great volume of inquires from students. Overall great, some small issues with translators.
   
9. Yes! Two students applied during the fair – 1st time!!
   
10. Absolutely! This was way better than I expected! This is my first recruiting trip and Brian and his staff are helpful and knowledgeable. It seems that I will have very good applications and a lot of interest in our program offerings – even for spring semester.
    
11. Exceeded my expectations – the attendance was very excellent and the arrangements were well executed!
    
12. Thanks for all the great work for this event -- the organization was excellent.
    
13. Overall organization support was great. Fairs should have ended one hour earlier.
    
14. It would be a good idea to introduce your staff to the participants at the orientation at Oh Canada Center.
    
15. Give delegates a list of the counselors for each city.
    
16. I feel the Oh America staff should be introduced to the delegates at the pre-fair briefing. They don’t seem as friendly or fluent as in the past or as interested in the delegates or the schools as they used to be. The list of academic programs on the profiles website & posters should be updated & changed to better reflect U.S. offerings. They were confusing now.
    

Response: Normally, the staff is introduced to the delegates on the first day of the event; however due to the late arrival of many delegates, the pre-fair seminar started late and this opportunity was lost. In the future, we will ensure to make introductions and have a handout with our staff pictures and introductions.

17. One day break is needed in between
    
18. A break between venue 2 & 3 perhaps. Less American food. Something (music, food) that most regularly brought delegates in touch with Taiwanese culture.
    
19. Spaces out the Expo so that we travel on days between fairs – we’re going to use the whole week anyway, could use the extra time to meet with agents, schools / universities, Oh America staff… etc. Or even – sightsee, rest, relax, recoup our energy. I would much prefer a schedule like this.
    
20. Four days (consecutive) is maybe too long?
    
21. The only thing I would think would be good would be a break day after the two days in Taipei. Also the beds were hard in the 2 hotels. Other than that everything was great! I loved the Les Suites hotel in Taipei!
    
22. Time of duty? Weekends seem to attract more visitors? Train travel?
    

Response: We have surveyed delegates in the past about having a day off on Monday before going to Taichung, and the overwhelming response (over 80%) requested to have four consecutive days. We will conduct another survey to see if a different format would be preferable.


23. Inter city travel should be by train, not bus. All events should be on weekends, we could use the time in between for other business. Maybe Spring fair can focus on language; the fall can focus on College/ University.
    

Response: Train travel is attractive, however, tickets can only be booked two weeks in advance, and there would still need to be a bus transportation from hotels to the train station and an extra transfer of luggage. Train travel from Kaohsiung back to Taipei once the event is completed could be considered instead of the airplane flight.


24. Loved the check in Taichung, should encourage Reps to leave purse at hotel.
    

Response: Additional security measures will be taken at future events to ensure delegate and staff valuables are secure.


25. Fairs in Taichung & Kaohsiung were too long; they should be 3-hour events.
    
26. Maybe research a later start time – Taichung seemed to need later in day.
    
27. Bathroom at KEBC is not very clean, Taichung – we were in a back corner, many jr. high + H.S. students sent by teachers to practice English / complete homework.
    
28. Better facility in Kaohsiung – it had terrible, smelly bathrooms. Rest stop should have toilets with seats, please.
    
29. Location of booth is the venue seemed to make a different in traffic flow.
    
30. Taipei is perfect though I like TWTC I hall better than II. Taichung location isn’t great, out booth was in the corner besides a pylon, so we has very few students, maybe a different venue would be good. Kaohsiung is fine.
    
31. The Taichung location could have been better.
    
32. Try to get the fairs in Taichung & Kaohsiung in the same hotels as we are staying.
    
    Response: There are limited appropriate-sized venues in Taichung and Kaohsiung, and we are continuing to search for better alternatives. The current venues are the best available, so greater care will be spent to improve the layout and facilities in these venues. Two maintenance people were hired to clean the Kaohsiung washroom facilities, but greater attention will be paid to this area for future events.
    
    
33. Two of student translators didn’t contact me.
    
34. Bus and Venus sometimes got too cold. The translators were great! Also thank you for having wireless available.
    
35. Well run fair – row was a bit isolated however (secondary schools)
    
36. The timing was a little difficult just after the Chinese New Year; we could not plan much before the fair and communication during the week before the fair was a problem.
    

Response: This year proved to be particularly challenging to organize with the late Chinese New Year’s holidays. This will not occur for several years to come.


37. Food – Meals (Lunch & Dinner) were not adequate for vegetarians. Snacks were great but I would like to recommend fruit be added for next time.
    
38. Thanks for the Internet. Please make an option for food in Taipei.
    

Response: Greater attention will be paid to provide alternative meal options for vegetarians and delegates with special dietary requirements. Meal options are always a challenge to be able to meet everybody’s requests, and this is why we will also provide pizzas, granola bars, snacks, coffee, tea, etc. to fill in the gaps.


39. This is more like a question, how can an agency like “Oh America” help to educate students in Taiwan to be more open-minded and learn the real US education system, e.g. 2-year college vs. 4-year university. Building the foundation in the 2-year college + educate the students that they may not qualify for the grad school although they may have gotten for their BA/BS degree in Taiwan.
    

Response: Oh America/Oh Canada is quite active year round to provide information to local students about overseas study opportunities. We make over 400 visits to local school campuses a year to conduct seminars and meet with international student advisors. In addition, we publish a weekly newsletter and more than a dozen catalogues and guides each year, which are widely distributed throughout Taiwan. Looking at the popularity of the “Sign Up at the Event” promotion this year, greater attention will be paid to prepare students prior to the event, so that they will be able to finalize their information collection and make a decision at the event.

1. A new promotion to encourage students to sign up at the event was launched for the spring 2007 event, and it turned out to be quite successful. Further development of this promotion will be done for the next event to a) prepare students prior to the event to be able to make decisions at the venue, and b) prepare participating schools to structure their promotions at the event to meet student expectations.


2. The pre-fair marketing will become segmented to promote the specific types of programs represented at the fair.


3. Greater involvement with government representative offices, such as AIT, CTOT and state representative offices will be done to further promote a strong, united message to welcome Taiwanese students.


4. The organizers launched a new registration and school profile database for the spring event. Work will continue to allow delegates to make greater use of this system and to ensure its ease of use.


5. A possible alternative option for the third day of the event (Taichung) will be developed.


6. Further improvements will be made to the Kaohsiung venue.


7. The layout of the Taichung venue will be improved


8. Additional food options will be provided.


9. Further work to prepare the translators will be done.


10. Greater attention will be paid to security of delegate and staff valuables.


11. Printing services for school materials will be offered to allow schools to avoid costly shipping costs and the risk of lost shipments.