Our first Employee of the Month

2 weeks ago at our staff meeting we were handed voting cards to vote for the first ever EAC Employee of the Month. This morning, the votes were counted and the very worthy winner was........... Dave Ryan. Well Done Dave!

Dave joined EAC in April 2007 as a bookings temp, looking after the "Rest of the World" market. He was so good that he was asked to stay on permenantly and luckily he accepted! For a year, he worked on the UK Activity Camps, and then moved to his current role as Bookings Consultant for the Spanish, Austrian, Greek, Turkish....and a few other markets.

But Daves talents do not end at EAC - at the weekend, he turns into DJ Dave, hosting Daves Music Cafe on Leith FM Saturday 6-8pm 98.8fm (tune in for a listen this weekend!)

Dave is very happy with his award, and is looking forward to enjoying a few celebratory drinks this evening.

EAC 2010 Collage - Take 1!

After a day of pottering, I have come up with my first attempt at an EAC 2010 collage video. I'd still love to have more of your words pictures, but I think that I've done a good job so far....see what you think....! A big thanks goes to you all, as without your wonderful pictures, I wouldn't have been able to do this.

Put the volume on up your computer..........!!

Help!

I need your help for a little "end of term" project that I am working on for the blog site.......

This week/weekend, I would like you (and your students) to take lots of photos holding up signs with some of the following words:

12825, STUDENTS, 57, COUNTRIES, 1086, EXCURSIONS, DISCO, STAFF, FUN, GROUP LEADERS, EAC, 2010, LESSONS, SMILE, WORLD CUP, MUSEUMS, CULTURE, CREATIVE, GRADUATION, TALENT SHOW, CULTURE, FOOD, RAIN, SUN, SEASIDE, WEIRD, WONDERFUL, HIGHS, LOWS, SPORT, 100%, 28, CENTRES, I, GOTTA, FEELIN',GOOD, NIGHT.............and any others that you and the students can think of.

If you can stick to still photos rather than videos, that would be great - prizes to be won for the most imaginitive photos :-)

You can email the photos to me at or just upload them to sharepoint

Thanks in advance for any help that you can give.

Finally, a big WELL DONE to EAC Stafford who have created a magnificent website showcasing photos, student work, activities and student blogs - great work!

The Circle of....EAC!

It seems that there is hardly time for the marketing team to catch their breath as half way through summer, the whole sales cycle begins again with the creation of the brochure, and kicks off with the first major agent sales event in early September.

Our marketing team (Cath, Alison and Masha), headed up by Richie, are working tirelessly on our 2011 protfolio of brochures to make sure that every peice of text and every photograph is put together to create an informative selling tool for our agents and clients.

In our boardroom at Head Office, we have our brochures from past years displayed on the wall. It reminds us of where it all started, and how far we have come in just 18 years. From our first brochure in 1992 - just a few pages long, and featuring just one Activity Camp (Edinburgh) and featuring shell-suited youngsters, to our 2010 slick glossy brochures, featuring 4 Activity Camps, 2 year-round Adult Schools and over 30 Junior Vacation Centres throughout the UK.

We are still looking for some student feedback quotes for our brochure, so if you have any good feedback, please send to Richie ASAP for inclusion in the 2011 brochure.

On a final note, WELL DONE to Hull, who won the Blog of the Week award last week. Their Blog is great, with students logging on to record the latest happenings at the centre. Keep up the good work Hull!

The Summit

" After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb"

Nelson Mandela

"Oh the absolute lethargy of 24600 ft. You want to pee, and you lie there for quarter of an hour making up your mind to look for the pee bottle"

Chris Bonnington - conquered Everet 1975

"Hay, Whoa, climbing up a bloody great hill. Hey, Whoa, I'm Climbing, I'm up, Climbing up, I'm up, up"

Radiohead - Climbing up a Bloody Great Hill Lyrics

Today marks the "Summit" of EAC Summer 2010. Across the UK, we have 32 centres, hosting 6236 students from 35 countries around the world! This is pretty impressive, and is only possible due to the hard work of our staff, both here in Head Office, and at our centres around the UK.

It may not be Everest, but I am sure that a lot of you are feeling the fatigue and exhaustion which a busy summer brings, but we just want to say:

"KEEP GOING, YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB!!"

On the whole, the feedback that we are getting from agents is very positive, and from what I have seen on the centre blogs, it certainly looks like there are happy students enjoying their stays in your centres :-)

This week, you'll see the tears of the departing students, but also the arrival of new students, full of anticipation for the weeks ahead. Now, what hill-related song lyric should I pick for the new arrivals??........

"What's that coming over the hill, is it a Monster, is it a Monster?!"

Only kidding - I am sure that all of the new students will be lovely! ;-)

Hoo-Ray for HR!

Our Edinburgh Sunshine has finally been washed away by rain, rain and more rain, and we all arrived at the office this morning with sunglasses replaced with umbrellas and t shirts replaced with rain jackets :-(

Still, the HR team managed to remain a happy bunch for their Blog Team Photo - from Left to Right we have Amanda, Craig, Karen and Rachel. Most of you will just know their voices from your telephone interviews, but now you can see what they look like (and aren't they a beautiful bunch?!)

Having successfully recruited the majority of the 500+ staff for the summer centres, the HR team are now working hard to make sure that everyone gets paid next Friday....so be nice to them!!

This photo shows a typical day in the HR office - with Amanda and Rachel swotting up on the latest HR magazines, Karen swigging at a bottle of Vodka, and Craig offering his team some moral support in the form of one of his latest song and dance routines - "......now it's raining more than ever, you know that we still have each other, you can stand under my um-ba-rella, you can stand under my um-ba-rella, ella, ella, ay, ay, ay, under my um-ba-rella......." -

The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round....

Scaborough, London, Brighton, Stirling, Manchester, York - just a few of the fantastic destinations that we send our students to on excursions while they are at our centres, and the people who make this all possible......THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT!!

Headed up by the Lovely Doreen, the transport department is supported by our 3 fantastic summer temps - Ria, Danny and Eva (pictured here, working hard) and works tirelesly to ensure that every trip and transfer is booked with precision. Like Eva here, their desks are usually awash with post-its, spreadsheets and highlighters as they wade their way through the piles of information required to make each booking.

I am sure that you all talk to the transport department on a regular basis, and I am sure that you will all agree that they are a happy and helpful bunch, who are doing a marvelous job!

....and talking of doing a marvelous job, our Blog of the Week award goes to EAC Newbattle who have created a great blog site. Our favourite images are the outdoor Ceilidh, and the very lovely picture of our CM Dan dressed as a laydee! - keep up the good work Marc - big jar of sweeties is on its way to you now!