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The LTM Star Awards are becoming a focal point of the international education industry, giving those working in the industry a chance to get together and celebrate all the hard work of the previous year. Rebecca Pocock relates some of the highlights of this year’s ceremony.
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Back for the second time and the LTM Star Awards 2007 shone in the sky on a balmy September evening. “The awards were twice as good as last year,” says Huw Morris of Netherwood School in the UK. “From the floor everything was seamless. And it was fun.” An impressive 1,000 companies received votes nominating them as an LTM Star this year, a figure that is up around 50 per cent on the voting last year.
In total, 512 industry delegates turned out at this year’s black tie event to show their support for fellow industry workers. Amy Baker, Editor of Language Travel Magazine, presented the evening’s ceremony and the first category to be announced was LTM Star English Language School - Europe, featuring Intuition Languages, London; EAC, Edinburgh; Centre of English Studies, Ireland & UK; and Atlantic Language Galway, Ireland. Without further ado, the first winner of the LTM Star Awards 2007 was… Centre of English Studies, Ireland and UK! A delighted Jonathan Quinn, Marketing Director at the school, collected his coveted award.
The second category was LTM Star Agency – North America, sponsored by Karlov College. Lingua Service Worldwide from the USA beat off stiff competition from Languages Abroad, Canada, Séjours Linguistiques VTE, Canada and NRCSA, USA to win the award. The agency was the only winner not in attendance that night but Leo Rodriguez had sent a few words, which Amy read out to attendees.
The winner of the next category, LTM Star Spanish Language School, was shortlisted for the award last year but lost out to Enforex. Ida Willadsen, the owner of winning school Malaca Instituto in Malaga, Spain, was clearly ecstatic to have triumphed second time around.
The International Language Academy of Canada (Ilac) in Toronto, ONT, sponsored the following award for Star School Association, which was taken by English UK over other nominees Ialc, English Australia and MEI~Relsa.
The next gold envelope revealed that the English Language Company in Sydney, NSW, Australia, won top prize in the category for LTM Star English School – Southern Hemisphere. Lyn Scott collected the award on behalf of the school, for whom winning is a tremendous accolade to its work given that the school is only four years old. Scott speculated that they must be doing something right! Another new company on the right tracks for success is Discover Canada, Mexico, which won the prize for the next category, LTM Star New Agency, which was sponsored by language school chain EC.
Next up, the award for LTM Star School Innovation sponsored by Cactus – the category that rewards those schools with great forward-thinking ideas for international student learning. This year’s prize was won by the Aspect’s Opus programme. Joe Solomon, Manager of the programme, explained the benefits of the Opus Paid Work and Study programmes, whereby either English or business English tuition is offered alongside a guaranteed job offer. Other respected innovations included interactive online tutorials, offered by EF, and an Explore China programme run by EC.
The LTM Star Agency Association title was scooped by Belta, Brazil and Tatiana Mendes was accompanied by Mariglan Gabarra to collect the award. One school that voted for Belta in this category said, “They have a real impact through their website and associated programmes.”
The next category was LTM Star French language school and was won by France Langue in Paris, which was up against French in Normandy in Rouen, Accord in Paris and Institut Linquistique Adenet in Montpellier. Jean-Francois Vouilloux, Director of the school was on hand to accept the award.
Before long the agencies felt the heat of the spotlight, this time with the LTM Star Award for Agency – Asia sponsored by American College Dublin in Ireland. Familiar faces came from Gio Club and Ryugaku Journal, Japan. Indeed, Gio Club took the prize that it first won last year.
Next were the schools vying for the title of LTM Star English Language School – North America. Here, the presence of Canadian schools was overwhelming: Study English in Canada in Toronto, ONT; Ilac in Toronto, ONT; Pacific Language Institute in Vancouver, BC; and Language Studies Canada in Toronto, ONT. Ilac, which lost out on last year’s top title, LTM Star English Language School, to St Giles International, was the lucky school to take home this year’s North America branch of the award. An entourage of staff took to the stage and attributed the all-Canadian nominees to the country’s great international education system.
In the category of LTM Star Insurance provider, Student Guard in Canada, last year’s winner, was up against AVI International in France, Assist Card and CareMed in Germany. Keith Segal from Student Guard in Canada was present to collect the award for the second year running.
One company that hadn’t anticipated last year’s win was did deutsch-institut which was without a representative at the 2006 ceremony. This year, Patrick Semidei, Managing Director, made a point of attending (and trying to find out who had won beforehand)! The wait proved worthwhile as the school beat off competition from GLS Sprachenzentrum, Humboldt Institut and IH Berlin – Prolog to win LTM Star German Language School.
Alanea sponsored the next award for LTM Star High School, which was taken for the second time by Saskatoon Catholic Schools in Canada. Director of the International Student Programme, Kim Hoffart, accepted the star award.
LTM Star Award nominee English Australia was the sponsor of the next category of LTM Star Agency – Latin America. One school voting for the winner, Central de Intercambio – CI in Brazil, said that the agency had “innovative and strong ideas, and strong marketing offices all over the world. The company sent a delighted Tereza Fulfaro to collect their award.
Just as overwhelmed was Tiziana di Dedda, from Dilit IH – Rome in Italy, who won the award for LTM Star Italian language school and went up on stage with Ursula Boess to collect their trophy. Like many winners, she says the award motivates the whole Dilit – IH team to work even harder.
With one more agency award up for grabs, nerves abounded for Cactus in the UK, Boa Lingua in Switzerland, ESL – Séjours Linguistiques in Switzerland and Language Courses Abroad in the UK. Stuart Bannermann was introduced on stage to present the penultimate award. The Director of Overseas Relations from the ceremony’s main sponsor, the University of Essex, addressed the industry attendees with a brief speech. Cheers echoed throughout the room upon his declaration that the university has adopted a policy to plant a tree for every time that one of their international students embarks on a long-haul flight. Bannerman then delivered the LTM Star Agency – Europe award to winner Kurt Krummenacher from Boa Lingua.
And so it came to the final award of the evening, which was the LTM Star Chain Language School category. Embassy CES, Aspect, St Giles, Enforex and EC were all nominated for this prestigious award. The suspense built and finally it was revealed that the winner of the prestigious title was… Embassy CES! Johnny Peters made the last speech of the night, then it was up to Stephen Roberts, Hothouse Media Director, to close the ceremony with a few concluding words before hip band Carwash got the music and dancing going for the next phase of the evening!
And the winners are……
LTM Star Spanish Language School:
Malaca Instituto, Malaga, Spain
LTM Star French Language School:
France Langue, Paris
LTM Star German Language School:
did deutsch-nstitut, nationwide
LTM Star Italian Language School:
Dilit International House, Rome
LTM Star Chain School:
Embassy CES
LTM Star English Language School – Europe:
CES, Ireland and UK
LTM Star English Language School – southern hemisphere:
English Language Company, Sydney, NSW, Australia
LTM Star English Language School – North America:
Ilac – International Language Academy of Canada, Toronto, ONT, Canada
LTM Star High School:
Saskatoon Catholic Schools, SK, Canada
LTM Star School Association:
English UK
LTM Star Agency Asia:
Gio Club, Japan
LTM Star Agency Europe:
Boa Lingua, Switzerland
LTM Star Agency Latin America:
Central de Intercambio – CI, Brazil
LTM Star Agency in North America:
Lingua Service Worldwide, USA
LTM Star Agency association:
Belta, Brazil
LTM Star New Agency:
Discover Canada, Mexico
LTM Star School Innovation:
Aspect – Opus programme
LTM Star Insurance provider:
Student Guard, Canada
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Winner’s profile: Malaca Instituto, Malaga, Spain
LTM Star Spanish Language School
Ida Willadsen, Owner and Director of the school, writes, “I am thrilled to have won this award. I accept it on behalf of all my team who work so hard to ensure that all our students receive the best that we can provide. It was espacially gratifying that the voting was by industry professionals who really know more than anyone else about all the schools.”
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Winner’s profile: did deutsch-institut
LTM Star German Language School
Patrick Semidei, Managing Director, writes, “Winning the LTM award for the second time is a fantastic feedback as we see this prize first and foremost as an acknowledgement for our service; our support and our continuous effort to further improve our programmes. Receiving the LTM award a second time will have the effect that the entire team will start the year 2008 with even more motivation and commitment.”
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Winner’s profile: Dilit International House, Rome
LTM Star Italian Language School
Tiziana Di Dedda, School Director, writes, “Second time… must be true! Thank you so much for choosing our school again. This is really motivating us to work harder and better. 2007 has been a wonderful year and thanks to you all [for making it] even more special. Thanks for trusting us.”
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Winner’s profile: Centre for English Studies, Ireland and the UK
LTM Star English Language School – Europe
Jonathan Quinn, Marketing Director at the school, writes, “We are delighted to receive this award as it’s coming from people we have worked with for over 30 years. When it’s your peers voting it makes it all the more worthwhile. It’s a huge honour so thanks to the dedication of the CES team who have made this possible and a huge thank you to all of our agents!”
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Winner’s profile: France Langue, Paris
LTM Star French Language School
Jean-Francois Vouilloux, Director of the school writes, “First of all, congratulations to Language Travel Magazine and its team for organising this wonderful event. Last year I joked about a second nomination, not only are we nominated, but it is incredible that we received this award a second time. I have to thank especially our teachers and our staff in Paris and Nice who take care of the students. They combine quality teaching and a relaxed, personal atmosphere. We are so happy and honoured. From all our staff in Paris and Nice merci beaucoup for your great support. Last but not the least, we are very happy and proud to belong to Ialc, a fantastic organisation.”
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Winner’s profile: Embassy CES
LTM Star Chain School
Johnny Peters, Regional Director of the school, writes, “This marks the beginning of a very special journey, a journey of technological innovation, quality, and customer delight. Thanks to everyone who voted for us and to our Study Group staff. We look forward to a fantastic 2008!”
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Winner’s profile: English Language Company, Sydney, NSW, Australia
LTM Star English Language School – southern hemisphere
Lyn Scott, Director of the school writes, “I’d like to thank our agents for voting for us but especially for trusting us and supporting our growth over the last few years. I’d also like to thank the dedicated staff of ELC. You can have a fantastic location and amazing facilities but it is the staff who make the school what it is.”
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Winner’s profile: Ilac – International Language Academy of Canada, Toronto, ONT, Canada
LTM Star English Language School – North America
Jonathan Kolber, Executive Director of the school, writes, “The fact that all the nominees in our category were from Canada speaks volumes about Canadian education as a whole and we are inherently proud of this fact. This award belongs to Canada! We would like to thank all our staff for their great customer service and to all of our agents who continue to support us year after year.”
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Winner’s profile: Saskatoon Catholic Schools, Canada
LTM Star High School
Kim Hoffart, Director of International School Programmes, writes, “It’s a great honour to be a two time winner. I like to think that it’s through the service we provide to the agencies and the quality language programmes we offer that’s made us successful both this year and last year. Thank you to Language Travel Magazine and to all the agencies that voted for us. We look forward to working with you in the future.”
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Winner’s profile: English UK
LTM Star School Association
Tony Millns, Chief Executive, writes, “English UK would like to thank everyone who voted for us. The award is as much for our members as it is for us - their dedication to quality and customer service is what has created the UK’s reputation for excellence in educational standards. We are pleased to work to support their efforts and those of the agents who work to similar standards.”
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Winner’s profile: Gio Club, Japan
LTM Star Agency Asia
Kazuteru Shinohara, Director of the company, writes: “Winning this award two years in a row gave us massive pleasure and significant motivation to keep on working hard.”
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Winner’s profile: Discover Canada, Mexico
LTM Star New Agency
Jesus Calzoncit, Operating Manager, writes, “We are delighted to win this award. We have been in business for two-and-a-half years and we have been nominated for an LTM Star Award twice. From November, due to expanded business, we will change our name. We will start sending students to Europe and Australia. We are located in Monterey but will open an office in Saltillo in November. In five years we want to have five offices in Mexico.”
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Winner’s profile: Boa Lingua, Switzerland
LTM Star Agency Europe
Kurt Krummenacher, Managing Director of the company, writes, “I am incredibly proud and honoured to receive this award. It is the result of many years of hard work and continuous efforts to assure that we build up and continuously strengthen good relationships with our partner schools. I dedicate this award to the whole Boa Lingua team who have been doing a wonderful job all along and thank all of the schools which have given us their votes.”
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Winner’s profile: Aspect – Opus programme
LTM Star School Innovation
Joe Solomon, Opus Programme Manager, writes, “Thanks so much on behalf of Kaplan Aspect to all agents who voted for us in this category. This year has been an exciting time for the Opus programme and on a larger scale for Aspect, which has now joined forces with Kaplan to provide a wide variety of courses to international students.”
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Winner’s profile: Central de Intercambio – CI, Brazil
LTM Star Agency Latin America
Tereza Faulfaro, Director of the company, writes, “I am very happy to win this prize. I truly thank all the schools that voted for us – we believe we are doing a very good job. We intend to continue to do so.”
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Winner’s profile: Belta
LTM Star Agency association
Tatiana Mendes, President of Belta, writes, “We see this award is not just recognition of our hard work but also as motivation to keep doing our best.”
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Winner’s profile: Student Guard, Canada
LTM Star Insurance provider
Keith Segal, President of Student Guard, writes, “We are extremely honoured to receive this award for the second year and we would like to thank everyone who voted for us. This award represents the outstanding service and care provided by our staff around the world, without whom this award would not be possible. We look forward to continuing to deliver superior service and innovative solutions to our clients worldwide.”
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Winner’s profile: Lingua Service Worldwide, USA
LTM Star Agency in North America
Leonel Rodriguez, Director of the company, writes, “On behalf of the staff and directors of Lingua Service Worldwide, I would like to thank Language Travel Magazine, Hothouse Media and the schools that have voted for us. It is quite an honour to receive this nomination and award. Thank you!” |
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To find out about sponsorship opportunities for the LTM Star Awards 2008 please contact Nicola Lutz on nicola@hothousemedia.com or tel: +44 20 7440 4026
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Contact any advertiser in the this issue now
The following language schools, associations and accommodation providers advertised in the latest edition of Language Travel Magazine. If you would like more information on any of these advertisers, tick the relevant boxes, fill out your details and send.
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