The ECC Conference is the largest annual early childhood conference held in NZ. Each year hundreds of early childhood centre managers, committee members, owners, staff, students, government officials, training providers and others with an interest in the care and education of children under 5 meet together at the ECC conference to be inspired and informed, entertained and refreshed.

Our conference is most definitely one of the highlights of the early childhood calendar in NZ with a perfect mix of plenary sessions, workshops and social activities.

Each conference boasts a range of activities including:

• world class speakers, both local and international
• keynotes presentations
• workshops/seminars covering a comprehensive range of early childhood and business topics
• tours of local early childhood centres
• resource making, practical and fun hands on activities
• government agency help desks
• topic specific forums
• informal discussion groups
• large trade fair
• networking opportunities
• social events

Go to the events section of this site for more information about dates, location and registration for the current year's conference.

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ECC regional meetings are organised by the local ECC Area Contacts regularly through out the year.

These meetings provide members with valuable support and networking opportunities with other members in their region.

Meetings are tailored to suit the needs of the membership in the specific region and generally include providing information on topical issues, and can often include specially invited guest speakers as well. The meetings are also a very important opportunity for the Area Contacts to gather information on local issues from those attending to feed back to the ECC Executive Committee.

Generally meetings are limited to members only however from time to time meetings are opened to potential members as a means of introducing the benefits of ECC membership to them.

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The ECC has a network of local Area Contacts who provide the link at the regional level between the ECC Executive Committee and the general members of the organisation. Members are able to contact their local representative to share concerns, and to seek advice and support.

ECC members who undertake the Area Contact position for their regional do so in a voluntary capacity.

Area Contacts responsibilities include:

• Organising regional meetings
• Hosting ECC seminars
• Encouraging membership growth
• Responding to individual member's questions and concerns, referring members to appropriate sources of information for assistance
• Providing feedback to the Executive Committee concerning local issues

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