Meeting our members in Boston

When we were in Boston for the ACTFL conference, we took advantage of being there by also hosting a “Meet & Greet” for local area NLSC members. Over twenty joined us to share appetizers, feedback and personal networking.

We met at the John Hancock Hotel and Conference Center, just a short walk from the Hynes Convention Center, the ACTFL venue. Members enjoyed a variety of appetizers as they met one another for the first time, as well as meeting several from the NLSC staff.

We held a brief "what do you know about the NLSC" contest, awarding prizes to members who knew their stuff about the NSLC. We also gathered feedback on the concept of local chapters, asking questions on how to organize a chapter and what activities it could be involved in.

This Meet & Greet follows on the heels of our summer meetings. We look forward to our upcoming Meet and Greets in Atlanta and Hawai'i.

Scenes from our Boston Meet & Greet:

In Boston for ACTFL 2010

For the third year in a row the NLSC recruited at the annual conference of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). It was held in Boston, MA this year, over the November 19-21 weekend.


While our booth was a few aisles away from the main entrance of the exhibit all, we had strong traffic, including 19 people who completed applications on the spot (several were interested in applying on-line – we hope all who expressed that interest will follow through!).

Conference attendees included university professors and instructors, linguists, high school foreign language teachers, industry representatives and professionals in the federal government foreign language community. Organizers expected over 5,000 to attend, and about 400 of them visited the NLSC booth.


Dr. Bill Rivers, our Chief Linguist, spoke in a session about the NLSC’s effort to develop ASTM standards for language proficiency testing (which is currently going through the final ASTM approval procedures).

Recruiting at the ACTFL conference

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) held its convention the weekend before Thanksgiving in San Diego, and we were there. About 4,500 elementary, high school, college and university teachers were there, and we got to speak with many of them.

This was our second trip to ACTFL, and so much had changed for the better. On the ACTFL side, we were in a convention center with much more room than last year. Until we began attending association conventions like this, I had no idea that they had to book venues years in advance. So if your group grows significantly, you wind up in a space that is unexpectedly tight. This year, the convention center seemed to have all the space needed.

On our side, last year we had only begun to recruit, so we could only talk about what NLSC Members might do. This year, we could talk about Members travelling from Atlanta to Thailand and Indonesia. That made for a much more effective pitch. Plus, we had our videos playing on a monitor in our booth. As a result, I think we had a more compelling story to tell when ACTFL members came to our table. Based on the number of business cards and brochures we handed out, it looks like touched close to 1,000 people. Not only that, last year there were no NLSC Members to come by and say hello! Four came by this year; see their pictures below.

Thanks ACTFL!


NLSC Charter Member Mara (center) with NLSC recruiters Charlie Pressley (left) and Bridget Baker (right)


Member Michelle with NLSC's Chief Linguist, Dr. Bill Rivers


NLSC Charter Member Amy with Bridget

Fall conferences where you'll find our recruiters

September 10-12: Our recruiters will be at the first ever Asian MBA (AMBA) leadership Conference & Career Expo is a ground-breaking event with a mission to connect and empower top Asian American MBAs and professionals. Jacob Javits Center, New York City.

October 10: We will be at the APEX (Asian Professional Exchange) Career Symposium, the the largest career development conference dedicated to the Asian Pacific American professionals in the L.A. area. The goal of this event is to provide opportunities for qualified students and professionals at various levels to network with senior executives and recruiters from major corporations. Los Angeles, Wilshire Grand Hotel.

November 20 - 22: This will be our second visit as an exhibitor to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Convention and World Languages Expo. This event brings together more than 6,000 teachers, administrators, method instructors and students of foreign languages at all levels from across the world. San Diego, San Diego Convention Center.

NLSC at ACTFL conference

We went back to Orlando, but this time for the annual conference of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreigh Languages (ACTFL), November 20-23.  As with ATA earlier in the month, we had a booth, we were one of the event sponsors, and our Chief Linguist spoke at a couple of information sessions.

We talked with over 400 interested individuals among the conference's 6,500 attendees.

One of the interesting things we participated in was a "passport".  We were one of the exhibitors that appeared  in a paper language "passport" that encouraged attendees to circulate through the exhibitor's hall.  An attendee would seek out our booth and request a stamp in his or her passport.  Once s/he collected stamps from all of the passport exhibitors, s/he put it into a drum for a prize drawing at the end of the conference.  We're glad we were part of it because MANY of our visitors came by for a stamp and wound up sticking around to talk.