Over 13,000 Education Researchers To Meet In Vancouver For The First Time

More than 13,000 education researchers from over 60 countries will attend the American Educational Research Association (AERA)’s 93rd Annual Meeting in Vancouver from April 13 to17 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Contributing an estimated $34.7 million in direct spending to the local economy, AERA is the largest gathering of experts in the field, featuring the latest news and discoveries from scholarly and scientific education research.

“Without the addition of the Convention Centre’s West building, Vancouver was not considered a candidate for this significant convention,” said the Honourable Pat Bell, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation. “We are thrilled to welcome AERA to Vancouver. This meeting will gather attendees from around the globe who will contribute significant economic activity to the city and province.”
Meeting for the first time in Vancouver, this annual meeting has regularly been held in major U.S. cities as well as Toronto and Montréal.

“Our efforts with Tourism Vancouver to bring AERA’s Annual Meeting to Vancouver date back to 2004,” said Ken Cretney, General Manager, Vancouver Convention Centre. “AERA 2012 will rank as one of the largest conventions to be hosted at our facility. Our team is excited to welcome our guests and ensure they leave with a remarkable experience.”

AERA 2012 features 2,400 sessions, invited lectures and other events utilizing the Convention Centre’s East and West buildings. This is a record number of break-out functions for any convention hosted at the facility to date.

“Over the course of the conference, AERA delegates will occupy over 28,000 room nights at some 33 downtown Vancouver hotels,” said Jacqueline Benear, Tourism Vancouver’s regional director of sales for Washington, DC. “In addition to meetings at the Vancouver Convention Centre, business sessions and networking events will take place at venues throughout the downtown core giving delegates the chance to experience all that Vancouver has to offer.”

“Driven by the vision of AERA President Arnetha Ball and this year’s theme, Non Satis Scire- To Know Is Not Enough, we look forward to being in Canada and on the soil of indigenous peoples so rich in their heritage and understandings,” said Felice Levine, Executive Director, AERA. “Vancouver provides the perfect setting-diverse cultures, openness to innovation, and majestic vistas in every direction that capture both the contributions and the potential of education research for addressing the most pressing issues in education and learning around the world.”

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Vancouver Convention Centre
Located on the downtown waterfront with a dramatic mountain backdrop, the Vancouver Convention Centre’s two connected buildings feature 466,500 ft2 (43,340 m2) of flexible function space. As the world’s only LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certified convention centre, the facility is committed to environmental sustainability as well as unparalleled service, technology offerings and culinary excellence. Recognized globally, the Centre is the only two-time winner of the International Association of Congress Centres’ (AIPC) APEX award for “World’s Best Convention Centre”, and the recipient of the AIPC 2011 Innovation Award and International Association of Venue Managers’ 2011 Venue Excellence Award.

Tourism Vancouver
Tourism Vancouver’s focus is on building exceptional customer relationships with meeting planners, travel influencers, travel media and independent tourists. The Meeting and Convention Sales and Service team actively promotes Vancouver worldwide as a premiere event destination and services hundreds of meetings each year. Tourism Vancouver’s “service edge” strives to deliver the best combination of customer sales, service and destination value anywhere in the world.

AERA
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is a national research association of approximately 25,000 scholars who undertake research in education. Founded in 1916, AERA aims to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly and scientific inquiry related to education, and to the use of research to improve education and serve the public good.