Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hogwonguy1979]

Went up there today to see my wife present and all I can say is what a farce. Publishers were stuck outside (thank god it didn't rain), nobody there, no room number info for speakers in the program, cash only for registration . Also heard that one of the publishers had paid for a room for the entire 2 day event only to find out that they scheduled another presentation in it so they didn't have access to the room they paid a huge chunk of change for.

I've heard of massive problems with them before especially with registration but this year sounds like one of the worst and least attended conferences in a long time.

KOTESOL Sparkling!!!!

[globusmonkey]

Two options:
1. Volunteer and help to fix problems.
2. Whinge on the internet.

[crescent]

LOL! Volunteer and help fix problems?
The KOTESOL organization has been and continues to operate on the same level as ATEK. You can't fix what a bunch of corrupt cronies want to keep broken.

[schwa]

Third option: Maybe expect a long-running & supposedly serious organization to have ironed out recurrent problems with its signature conference, without blaming its failings on casual visitors who pay some serious coin to attend.

I wasnt there. I spent several years involved with them. Interested in other reports. Anything positive?

[hogwonguy1979]

you'd think after holding 20 of these conferences they would know how to run things and don't give me this "this is a transient organization run by volunteers blah, blah blah" or "quit griping and get involved yada yada". this IS NOT a group of newbies trying to run a conference, the people in charge have been pretty much the same people for the past 5-10 years (they manage to keep the reigns of power in KOTESOL) and the venue has been the same for at least that long. Even if you had newbies involved you'd think there would be a "book" on how to run these things.

From what my wife told me and she has been going to these conferences for the past decade this was one of the worst she has ever seen.

[jazzmaster]

I'm a member of the Seoul chapter but I've only attended one meeting. It was a waste of time. I was sat next to a Korean uni student attempting to do a group activity. The kid tried his best but wasn't up to the task.

There was also a female member extolling the virtues of being friends with the students and letting them choose which activities they wanted to do. She also said that she was often asked to justify her choice of activities to the students (high school level) before they decided if they wanted to take part.

I had a look at the website for this year's conference and was a tad confused. It was over two days but some of the presenters were giving three lectures on different topics. I'd prefer quality over quantity.
I also thought it was expensive at 50,000won.
I had attended the ALAK conference in Busan the previous weekend so was all conferenced out and gave it a miss. It seems like that was a good choice.

[transmogrifier]

It's moving to COEX next year, so that's something.

I went yesterday, and the presentations I saw were mostly okay. They seem to be rather basic though, in terms of the content, pitched to beginning teachers, and there never really seems to be presenters interested in presenting anything controversial or even questioning.

They screwed up at the plenary (which was boring, as they usually are) by stating that the afternoon presentation sessions were going to be delayed 30 minutes from what was in the book, and then right at the end, after quite a few people had already left, they corrected themselves and said that it was only the feature presentations that would be delayed. This led to a number of people missing presentations they wanted to go to after lunch because they turned up 30 minutes late based on what they were originally told.

[Old fat expat]

transmogrifier:

[globusmonkey]

While I agree with much of what is said here (and do not choose to defend against what are reasonable complaints), the options I expressed earlier remain the same. Like it or not, that choice is the basis of human civilization.

[PatrickGHBusan]

I attended a few of these in the past and the conference always suffered from a mild case of confusion and lack of organisation. However, if you let that stop you, you will likely miss out on some pretty great conferences, presentations, discussions and on a chance to network.

They could be better organized but then again they are mostly volunteer driven for the organisation of these events....


You want a good round up of the activities, check out Koreabridge. The guy named Jeff (from Busan) usually posts podcasts and videos where he interviews some of the key guests. Interesting stuff for teachers.

I do agree that complaining online or to your friends will solve nothing. Getting involved as a volunteer might.

[tob55]

I went and presented yesterday. The presentation was attended by 4 people who really appeared to enjoy the topic I was speaking on. The presentation was more theory based than practical like the presentation I was asked to fill in for because the presenter backed out of their commitment to the conference. 25 or so people walked away when they found out I was presenting rather than the other guy, but that was okay. The time spent with 4 people was truly exciting and lots of questions were asked by the participants.

I have to agree this year had problems above and beyond the previous 3 years I presented there, but it was a good time for the most part. I saw a few sessions and they were typical of the conference schedule, nothing earth shattering or new, but a rehash of information that people have seen before. Honestly, some people want to be told again and again about the things they already know, so that may be why these types of presentations are scheduled for the conference.

Perhaps the new venue next year will put a spark back into the organizational structure and put a better light on what KOTESOL does, IMHO.

[misher]

KOTESOL for me was just a representation of EFL in Korea in general. A racket and complete joke.

[PatrickGHBusan]

[madowlspeaks]

KOTESOL tries really hard to help teachers better themselves. Why are you knocking such a sincere non-profit organization?? They are there to help you. Some of the people who run these conferences put in endless amounts of blood sweat and tears. Why not say thanks?? You know, it is hard to keep continuity with the expats who volunteer and people who have been running the show for years do their best to pick up slack. It isn't easy running such a show. A lot of the higher ups practically dedicate thier lives to this organization; trying to help ESL teachers gain know how. These posts make me upset. Why not try and be thankful? And if you know so much about running a good show then why don't you join and volunteer? Help them out. Become the conference chair and put on the best conference ever and do a better job rather than flapping your gums here. So easy to sit and criticize rather than help out, eh? If you volunteer, then you can understand better what the organization faces during these conferences. And I think they did a great job this year. In fact, they do a geat job EVERY year.

[hogwonguy1979]