The Association for Coaching (AC) has announced its 5th International Conference,  ‘Journey to Coaching Mastery’, taking place over two days on the 30th & 31st October 2014, at the 5 star Sofitel in Budapest, Hungary. Expected to sell out at over 300 participants, made up of up professional and executive coaches, coach training/service providers, academic institutions, buyers of coaching, and organisations building coaching capability or cultures. Bookings can be made on www.acconference.com.

The global Conference reflects the expansion and progression of the coaching profession worldwide, with an international range of speakers and delegates. This conference will have a truly international flavor, with delegates from across the world. As the profession increasingly addresses global elements, the Conference will deliver an informative mix of thought leadership, theory and practice, with case studies, research, master-classes, networking and exhibitions with the latest tools and coach training.

Day One opens with a stimulating brief address by Association for Coaching’s CEO Katherine Tulpa. Tulpa will deliver the welcome address and ‘Journey to Coaching Mastery’ key message to ensure the Conference starts on an energetic, thought provoking note. This will be followed by the first keynote speaker, Ian McDermott, an acknowledged thought leader and global ambassador for the AC. McDermott will introduce the development of an innovation mindset, as a pre-requisite to mastery. As McDermott says, “Innovation is a mindset and a way of being that can be learnt. Understanding its dynamics is crucial for coaches as great coaching invariably involves fostering innovation in people’s lives”.

The first afternoon will provide another Keynote from Sairah Ashman, COO of global brand consultancy,  Wolff Olins, on “A new way of leading – how non-traditional organisations are reinventing coaching”. Ashman will share personal insights around how purpose, culture, leadership and entrepreneurship are key to attracting and retaining young talent. Also, how creating opportunities for people to learn, progress rapidly and be influential are critical to any businesses success. In the evening, there will also be a special Networking Event overlooking the Danube, where the AC’s anticipated 6th book, Mastery in Coaching, in partnership with Kogan Page and edited by Dr. Jonathan Passmore, will be launched.

Day Two opens with “Mastering the Brain in Coaching”. Dr. Paul Brown will offer a brief view of how the brain works, while focusing on what a coach needs to do professionally in order to have a foundation of knowledge about the brain of both client and coach in jointly creating individual as well as professional change and development.  In the afternoon, Dr. Martyn Newman will speak about “Mastering Emotional Intelligence for Leaders in the New Economy”, inviting anyone wanting to inspire teams to do the best work they can and create a culture of distributed, agile, purposeful leadership through great coaching to an interactive session.

Further to the four distinguished keynotes, the conference features 20 workshops in 6 streams over the two days. Presenters include Linda Aspey and Ruth McCarthy,”Transforming Teams with Time to Think”; Cristina Dantas, “Promoting Behaviour Change through Coaching”; Alan Mak and Adam Hendersonspeaking about “Nurturing the next generation leaders”; Sari van Poelje introducing“The Team Mastery”; Naomi Iles, asking”What do Leaders, Onions and Catalysts have in common?”;  AnikóSzabó on”How coaching can drive organisational change”; Katherine Tulpa and Darren Robson on “Building your practice”; Patrick Williams on”Using the Coach Approach for Creative Leadership Development and Social Change”; Geoffrey Abbott on”Coaching for and with Global Savvy”; Rachel Henke on”Developing your Practice with a Magnetic Brand”; ReinhardStelter on”Third Generation Coaching” and Declan Woods on “Coach Accreditation and Coaching Supervision”.

An early bird discount is available through to 30th of September, and the event is expected to once again sell out, drawing from the Association for Coaching’s wide membership base from across the world.