2017 Directors' Conference in Toronto

International House directors from around the globe have just returned from an incredible edition of the annual Directors’ Conference. Breaking from tradition, instead of being hosted by an affiliate school, this year IH Directors were kindly hosted by our partners guard.me Insurance in their wonderful city of Toronto.

Keith Segal, President and Founder of guard.me Insurance said: "We really enjoyed hosting the IH Directors' Conference in our hometown of Toronto. It was a chance for us to show off our city and at the same time to thank our IH partners from around the world for their continuing support.”

"This is the most important Conference in the International House calendar and the first we've ever held in a city where we do not have an affiliated school. We were made to feel very welcome by everyone we had contact with and the event itself was a great success both in terms of the serious and the social", said Monica Green, Executive Director of International House World Organisation.

With around 100 attendees and an action packed few days of discussions, workshops and networking events, Toronto’s Intercontinental Yorkville was a hive of activity. Guest speakers included Luis Huete from IESE; Andy Harrison from Trinity College London; Charlotte Darrell from Study Travel Magazine; Samuel Vetrak from Student Marketing and Sarah Mines from ICEF. Sessions were also lead by members of International House, covering a wide variety of topics ranging from branding and social media to online learning and customer experience.

International House was proud to be joined by some fantastic sponsors this year: Cengage National Geographic Learning; Guided E-Learning; Cambridge Michigan and Cambridge English; Study Travel Magazine, Trinity College London and ICEF.

The lively annual charity auction was again a huge success, with $10,000 being raised for a local charity, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, through bidding, donations and raffles.

The conference finale came in the form of a spectacular gala dinner at Casa Loma where directors were treated to a delicious dinner followed by lots of dancing to a live band. Special thanks were given to guard.me Insurance for their kindness and professionalism as IH partners and they were certificated as ‘Best Friends of International House’. “Thank you for honouring us with the title!" said Keith Segal.

Lucy Horsefield, Chief Operating Officer of International House World Organisation said: "It was an absolute pleasure to be hosted in Toronto by our friends at guard.me Insurance and we had a really productive few days.  The IH Directors’ conference is always a wonderful combination of sharing business ideas, focusing on key strategic areas and celebrating what it means to be International House. It was also fantastic to be able to raise money for such a worthy local charity.”