By Andrew J Kittell, Director of Corporate Relations, ACS North American Office With the winter holidays just ahead, our campuses will soon close, allowing students and their families to share this festive time of year. Activity here in North America will slow as well, with key mobility and International HR/talent management conferences and other travel beginning again in early 2018...
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Before looking ahead, I’ll recap insights shared this autumn during important industry gatherings.
Disruption was a constant theme during this autumn’s major and smaller relocation-linked events. This includes disruption in service-providing models from relocation management companies to destination/settling-in services at a host location. Technology and new assignment policies are driving these changes. Nevertheless, as recognized industry surveys and thought-leading presenters affirm, “family issues” and “children’s education” remain among the very top considerations in whole-family moves, both as key drivers for assignment success as well as for potential assignment turn down. Most companies support international school-style education for the dependent children of senior-level and other critical talent.
Since late-August, I’ve been actively sharing more about ACS International Schools and thought-provoking content about preparing the next generation of global leaders. The response to my more-robust sharing via LinkedIn has been encouraging with thousands of post views to date. Expect continual improvement in this online presentation of valuable and right-timed content.
With its move towards charitable status, ACS International Schools will expand its outreach to thousands of alumni and friends living in the US and Canada. As official Alumni and Friends chapters are formed here, the North American Office will assume a greater role in supporting their social, professional, and fundraising activities.
Next summer, our now all-scholarship study-travel program will welcome its twentieth cohort of summer. At the conclusion of the two-week course, this group will join alumni now numbering in the hundreds. In the years ahead, the ACS British Studies Summer Program will ramp up, funded by donations enabling more deserving and academically able young people a first-time opportunity for international experience. To learn more, please see our dedicated webpage.
In winter/early spring 2018, ACS representatives will sponsor, exhibit, and present at key relocation and schooling-linked events. Please catch up with us here:
Bay Area Mobility Management Conference February 15th in San Francisco
Families in Global Transition Conference March 7th-10th in The Hague, the Netherlands
National Foreign Trade Council International HR Forum March 21st-22nd in Houston
Forum for Expatriate Management’s Americas Summit May 23rd-24th in San Diego
The team here looks forward to reconnecting with friends and colleagues across North America and making new connections this year, next, and beyond.