Information about the MASH JALT Equinox to be held on Sept 17-20 at Toyo Gakuen University, Tokyo.

1. For Immediate Release September 1st, 2010
Equinox 2010
Professional Development Through Collaboration
Collaboration works. Throughout history and in just about every field imaginable, the
adage, “Anything I can do, we can do better” rings true. Just ask Lennon & McCartney
(The Beatles), Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google), Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
(Apple), the list goes on and on. In fact, Equinox 2010 began as synergy between MASH
and JALT members during a Skype call one evening. This led to the following sponsors:
West Tokyo JALT, Tokyo JALT, Yokohama JALT, Pearson Longman Publishers, and
MASH Collaboration.
We are very lucky to bring together Scott Thornbury and Paul Nation. Scott was eager
to come back to Japan after his great success last year at JALT 2009 in Shizuoka. He is
also very committed to getting to know our EFL context better and sharing the underlying
tenets of the dogme approach found in his recent award-winning book, Teaching
Unplugged. Scott and Paul will lead a discussion on Accuracy & Fluency in Tokyo
(9/19), and then in Osaka (9/25), they’ll have a live-streamed, one-on-one discussion of
ELT. Beyond these headliners, we are thrilled to announce that some of the best and
brightest teacher/researchers in Japan will also join us:
Marc Helgesen Chuck Sandy Alastair Graham-Marr
Roger Palmer Marcos Benevides Jennifer Yphantides
Andy Boon Kim Horne Philip Shigeo Brown
Steve Brown Steven Herder Steven Nishida
Joanne Sato Daniel Beck Ann Mayeda
In order for collaboration to reach its true potential, there are two very important
requirements – rapport and mutual respect – and these take time. Equinox 2010 offers
a conference experience that focuses on both planting the seeds of collaboration and
nurturing relationships between conference-goers. The four-day conference in Tokyo at
Toyo Gakuen University (Hongo campus) will take place all in one room. Ample time for
talking, discussing, questioning and sharing face-to-face has been built into the schedule.
Friday evening offers a dinner (RSVP, please) at Soul Food India. We’ll spend Saturday
afternoon hiking up Mt Takao, and Saturday evening sharing ideas over a beer at the
top of the mountain. On Sunday evening from 6:00 pm we’ll party at the fabulous Pink
Cow for the whole evening. Think of the conversations and ideas that’ll flow on that
evening!
Besides the guaranteed fun each evening of the conference, we have built in two officially
-recognized Equinox 2010 x Pecha Kucha events on Sunday and Monday. These six-
minute, 40-second whirlwind presentations are a chance for everyone to sit back and
enjoy a swash of creativity on a wide variety of topics related directly and indirectly to
teaching, collaboration and professional development. Come check it out—for a day or
for the whole event— we’re ready to welcome you.
Pre-registration RSVP (for prizes) at http://mashcollaboration.com/equinox-rsvp/
RSVP for dinners at http://mashcollaboration.com/dinner-and-beer-garden-reserva/