The New Year has started with some more acquisitional activity from Kaplan Aspect, so it seems to be business as usual at one of the largest language school operators in the world (which has just added another five schools to its network). A business-as-usual approach is imperative for all language schools, no matter what size, if a hypothetical question mark hangs over the business outcome for 2009. In potentially challenging trading times, the rule of thumb for many industries is to spend more on marketing to ride out any wave of uncertainty. Based on our bookings for the Alphe Conferences this year so far, there is certainly a gung ho approach being shown among operators in the study abroad industry, with bookings for all conferences significantly up on 2008, particularly for the UK and Russia.