Who says that during Covid-19 we can't have a live Study Abroad Workshop? Social distancing, face masks, travel restrictions? Not a problem!

With great enthusiasm from both agents and IH schools, on the 3rd and 4th June we had the pleasure of organising our very first International House Study Abroad Online Workshops. We were joined by representatives from 24 IH schools, who had the chance to meet with more than 60 agencies from all over the world: Africa, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, UK, and many others.

With these live online events, we might have been physically distant, but the desire to be together was absolutely there. Together we are stronger. 

Giuliana Faldetta, Marketing Coordinator at IHWO, commented, "These workshops provided an invaluable opportunity to discuss our plans – and the challenges we all face – together as partners. It helped both schools and agents to meet new and existing partners, and to talk about what is happening in different countries within our industry.

"I feel that today, more than ever, we need to support our partner agents and friends. Seeing each other face-to-face, even if virtually, helps us to feel part of the same community. We are stronger together.

"Because of the very positive feedback from both agents and IH schools, we are planning on organising more workshop events to continue to support our industry and community."

Peter Hayes, Director of IH Manchester, said, "This event symbolised everything that is great about International House; innovation, creativity and global cooperation. I've never been more proud to be part of IH."

The face-to-face online meetings were arranged through a useful platform called Remo. Just like a face-to-face workshop, it allows participants to have a virtual room with chairs and tables. Each school had a table assigned and agents could easily move around the room for their meetings. In a way, it felt like a face-to-face workshop, but with the advantage of not having to travel.

In each meeting, you could see the partner agent or school on video and share documents with each other. To attend the event was very easy, you simply needed an internet connection, camera and mic. We also chose two different blocks of time so that schools and agents could attend no matter their time zone. If anything, the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us that we can be closer than ever online.

Just like most educational institutions, IHWO normally attends and organises many workshops around the world. But with the current status, we wanted to make sure we could continue to work with our valuable partners and let them know what our future plans were. From Young Learner Programmes to Language Plus courses, our schools have been working hard to create live and interactive online programmes that deliver the same high quality IH experience for students. We are very excited about the many course options we can now offer to agents and clients. Looking ahead, we are all hoping for a return to face-to-face classes as soon as it is safe to do so, and in some locations this is already becoming a reality. 

On Wednesday 3rd June from 15:00 to 17:30 UK time, IH schools that attended were: IH Aberdeen, IH Alegre, IH Belfast, IH Bristol, IH Cape Town, IH Galway, IH London, IH Manchester, IH Montevideo, IH Newcastle, IH Rome - DILIT, IH San Sebastián - Lacunza Spanish Courses, IH Valencia - Españole.