ATP Launches Successful European Conference in Brussels

With the historic Metropole Hotel in Brussels awash in ATP's signature color purple, leaders of the European Division of the Association of Test Publishers welcomed attendees to the inaugural European conference: Growing Talent in Europe/Gaining Advantage through Assessment. More than 150 delegates representing 15 countries attended the first time event held 30 September - 2 October 2009.

The opening keynote speaker was Wim J. van der Linden, Chief Research Scientist from CTB/McGraw Hill and renowned professor, author and researcher of psychometrics throughout Europe. Professor van der Linden kicked off the conference with a keynote address in which he compared and contrasted the educational systems of the U.S. and Europe. He noted the U.S. emphasis on what he termed as "output control" in which students are assessed according to national standards and assumed to be candidates for higher education upon their completion of high school. He noted this contrasted with the European model of "input control" in which students are assessed by local standards and admission tests and where a high school diploma does not guarantee admission rights to higher education. Understanding the different testing and educational traditions, he said, was a first step in finding commonalities.

Conference delegates then dispersed to attend a variety of workshops and content sessions and to visit an exhibit area in which 15 sponsors displayed their products and services.

John Mahoney-Phillips, Global Head of Human Capital for UBS AG, one of the world's leading financial firms addressed delegates as the closing keynoter. Mahoney-Phillips gave an insider’s view of the challenges in hiring and managing a global workforce. He noted that having 30,000 applicants from 40 countries, speaking 8 different languages can tax even the most efficient of hiring assessment systems. He outlined for delegates the way in which his company has partnered with assessment vendors to create way to identify high quality candidates with leadership potential.

Another highlight of the conference was a panel titled CEO Perspective in which seven CEOs from the world's leading assessment organizations addressed questions related to the future of assessment in Europe.

Click here to download a copy of the 2009 Program. (File size: 2 MB)

Check back shortly to view our 2009 Photo Gallery.