The 13th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS), held at Tallinn University last August, has come away with the Estonian Convention Bureau’s (ECB) first-ever Conference of the Year award.
The event’s organiser, professor Rein Raud, was handed the honour at a ceremonial gathering at the Tallinn Teachers’ House on January 30.
The conference brought over 700 participants from 43 countries to Estonia and was the largest of the 13 congresses the EAJS has held so far.
Accepting the award, prof Raud praised Estonia’s readiness to host top specialists from abroad and noted that the country had plenty to offer the worldwide academic community. He also said that his efforts for the EAJS, including organising the conference, had earned him the association’s presidency as well as an Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government.
ECB Managing Director Kadri Karu said that there were nine strong candidates for the Conference of the Year title, but that the EAJS conference stood out for its number of delegates, number of generated overnights and high level of organizational quality therefore serving as an example to those putting together similar events.
The 2011 Conference of the Year award was the first ever handed out by the ECB. To be considered for the prize, an event must have a minimum of 100 delegates, 40 percent of whom come from abroad.
At the same ceremony at the Tallinn Teachers’ House, the Estonian Convention Bureau and Tallinn City Tourist Office & Convention Bureau recognized the 44 Tallinn Conference Ambassadors who have joined the Ambassador Program that was launched in 2010 and recognized their efforts to bring international conferences and large scale events to Estonia.
