18 August 2026 
Jonathan Rans, HESPA Executive Director
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
I consider myself very fortunate to be working with HESPA and our vibrant and engaged community of members. Never more so than when we get together, make connections and share ideas at our conferences, our in-person event in February and our virtual conference in November.
We want our conferences to offer the best possible experience, encourage open discussion of the most important issues facing the sector, and reflect the breadth of perspectives across our community. To help us achieve that, we're establishing a Conference Committee and inviting members to help shape future conference programmes.
Serving on the Committee will provide an opportunity to assist in developing HESPA's flagship events, work closely with colleagues from across the sector, and contribute to discussions on the issues that matter most to our community. If that sounds interesting, we'd love to hear from you!
Please complete the expression of interest form by 5pm Wednesday the 9th September.
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
The Committee is open to all HESPA members, and we welcome expressions of interest from members at all career stages, and from all types of institutions and professional backgrounds. It will comprise six to eight members and will initially be chaired by Jonathan Rans, HESPA Executive Director. Committee members will be selected by the HESPA Executive, with the aim of establishing a group that reflects the diversity of the HESPA membership.
With the HESPA team providing organisational support, this committee is able to focus on the design of the programme and strategic direction. This will include:
The committee members will not be expected to spend time dealing with the practicalities of securing venues, organising catering or liaising with speakers. All of this will be handled by HESPA in conjunction with our colleagues at YourVision Events.
We envisage four to six one-hour committee meetings per year to support programme development of the two conferences with some correspondence in between. We will aim to concentrate these across spring/early summer with a catch-up in early autumn. Membership terms of committee members will be two years, with an option to extend.
This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the future of HESPA’s conferences, I’m looking forward to working with this group and hearing from you soon.
Jonathan Rans (HESPA Executive Director)
