EHN News Update

Dear colleague

Responding to your training needs

We're aware that there are many people wanting training on aspects of empty property work, and finding it hard to come by.  Using our recent conference as a spring-board we are now starting to move forwards to facilitate that.  Our aim is to be have a bank of proven speakers and trainers available to meet as wide a range of training needs as possible. 

National Empty Homes Conference, May 25th Birmingham - under a week to go

The conference is going to be attended by nearly 100 people.  There are still a handful of places left but we are still getting a trickle of late bookings.  So if you want to come and haven't yet booked, please contact David Gibbens asap at admin@naepp.org.uk or on 0844 736 5 736. You can either email your booking through or fax to 0844 736 5 736.

If you were an "early bird" booker, please note that you can book additional places at "Early Bird" rates.

Dear colleague

This brief newsletter contains notices about our AGM and reminders about the Empty Property Practitioner of the Year Award 2010.

AGM Business

For an overview of the AGM process, refer to the last newsletter at www.naepp.org.uk/newsletter-issue/annual-general-meeting-2010-overview

Dear NAEPP member
 
It was agreed by the Executive meeting in February, following consultation with the wider membership about the NAEPP Conference, to hold our Annual General Meeting by using the website and email (meeting "at a distance") rather than taking up valuable conference time. 
 

Dear Empty Homes Practitioner

At the last NAEPP Empty Homes conference, the Empty Property Practitioner of the Year Award was presented to Bruce Cameron of South Oxfordshire for his pioneer work in obtaining the country's first Interim Empty Dwelling Management Order.

Now is your opportunity to nominate a colleague - or yourself - as the Empty Property Practitioner of the Year for 2010.to be presented at our National Conference in Birmingham on May 25th and sponsored by Ad Hoc Property Management

The final running order and delegate rates for our 2010 Conference in Birmingham on May 25th are now available.

The opportunity to book at "Early Bird" rates has now gone but cheapest delegate rates are still only  £135..

We have an important new session.  Kieran Colgan of the Audit Commission is giving a presentation on Meeting the Challenge of Inspection -how to make your empty homes strategy fit for  purpose.  See the Event block on the website  - or link to www.naepp.org.uk/event/conference2010 - for full details, brochure, booking form etc.

Conference Latest

We are close to booking an important additional session.  We've invited the Audit Commission to give a presentation on their evaluation of local authorities' empty homes work.  We hope to confirm that by the end of the week.  This may encourage senior managers to ransack their over-stretched budgets to let you go. Or even go themselves.  Hopefully as well as, not instead of.

Meantime, some people want to know about the venue and hotels.  The conference isn't being held in a hotel this time.  It's at the Studio.  Here's the link if you want to check it out.

http://www.studiovenues.co.uk/

Here is a Newsletter focusing on the forthcomig National Conference on May 25th in Birmingham.  There are also news items on the Subscriber option and Collective Membership option.

Additionally, if you think you might be able to come to the Conference, it would be a big help for everyone if you could fill  out the questionnaire in the Excel attachment.   You'll need to save it to your PC (either before or after editing it) and then email to us at admin@naepp.org.uk.

David Gibbens (Policy and Support)

Dear colleagues

It seems that the notifications module has been updated in version 6 of our content management system such that it now notifies you of changed content as well as new content.

As I am going through updating broken links that is generating quite a lot notifications.  I've reset the frequency of notifications so there won't be too many emails but I can't change the fact that it is notifying you of changes.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

I am just about to start testing the new version of notifications that will hopefully be available within the next two weeks.  That is far more configurable, allowing you individually to select the frequency of notifications (amongst other things).

Dear colleagues

The NAEPP website is being upgraded to the latest version of software (Drupal 6).  This will be followed very quickly by further upgrades to the functionality of the site, in particular the long-promised improvements to the notifications system.  The theme (appearance) will also be improved.

In an ideal world all these changes would happen together in one big bang.  But that is a more costly approach because we would have to test everything out and then go back and reapply changes from the very beginning to the live system.  So we are following a middle way and doing things in stages.