It has recently came to my knowledge the story of a colleague from a UK university who registered for a conference organised by RayHolden Publishings / the International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal. However, the conference never took place. That colleague registered for the conference, paid the £180 + VAT fee, travelled to London on the day only to arrive at the venue and find out that there was no conference. In a conversation with the venue conference manager, the colleague was told that the conference had not been confirmed due to non payment. Needless to say, the colleague tried to contact the organisers to get the money back and did not succeed. This conference was advertised as organised by ‘Holden publishings’- This was the conference announcement:
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Future Cities 2011 – International Symposium London
15th and 16th
December, Westminster London UK
Call for Papers and Delegate Registration
IJNR, The International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal is pleased to announce the staging of Future Cities, a New Annual Conference Series dedicated to the sustainable development of our Cities and Urban areas. The first event is being staged in the heart of the global city of London at Westminster and overall details of the event can be found at http://www.rantrad.co.uk/rantradfuture‐ cities Over the 2 day event over 700 delegates from across the globe will listen to a range of presenters and discuss key issues and topics. There are eight streams to the event and Papers are welcome in the following policy themes:
CULTURE
The Cultural City
Urban Theory
The City of Neighbourhoods
The Health City
The Connected City
Deprivation and the City
The Sporting City
GLOBAL
The Global City
The City of Enterprise
The City and the Region
To submit a paper please email here an abstract and a short summary of the Paper etc. The deadline for submissions is 1st October 2011. To register as a delegate please email your requirements here. Delegate and Speaker Registration Fees for 2011 are £180 plus VAT with a special rate of £90 for students. There are also 50 display stands at the conference to market and promote to work that you do and these are priced at £490 plus VAT. If you wish to book one please email you requirements here. If you would also like to sponsor any aspect of the Symposium please just get in touch and we will make the necessary arrangements.
We look forward to seeing you in London in December. Follow us on Facebook – look for our page RANTRAD.
The Global City
The City of Enterprise
The City and the Region
To submit a paper please email here an abstract and a short summary of the Paper etc. The deadline for submissions is 1st October 2011. To register as a delegate please email your requirements here. Delegate and Speaker Registration Fees for 2011 are £180 plus VAT with a special rate of £90 for students. There are also 50 display stands at the conference to market and promote to work that you do and these are priced at £490 plus VAT. If you wish to book one please email you requirements here. If you would also like to sponsor any aspect of the Symposium please just get in touch and we will make the necessary arrangements.
We look forward to seeing you in London in December. Follow us on Facebook – look for our page RANTRAD.
The Future Cities Conference Team
Holden Publishing, 20 Garrick Street,
Holden Publishing, 20 Garrick Street,
LONDON WC2E 9BT
United Kingdom
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Surprise, surprise, the website http://www.rantrad.co.uk/ where the conference site was hosted, is no longer available. Recently, they advertised their 2012 conference. Earlier in January I started receiving emails like this probably one every week). This was the latest one I received, just two days ago (Wednesday, 18th January):
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Future Cities Conference
18 and 19 June 2012
Oxford
Failing Cities Conference
20 and 21 June 2012
Oxford
In June 2012 we will be holding two important conferences concerning urban planning, urban geography and neighbourhood renewal entitled Future Cities and Failing Cities. Both will take place at Oxford. Both events are 2 day events and the cost to attend each event is GB 250 plus VAT per person for delegates and speakers. To have a display space at the event the cost is GB 600 plus VAT for both events in total. All papers presented at both events will be available after the event in a Conference booklet for all delegates and speakers. Student researchers receive a discount of 50%. All attendees at the event will receive conference papers, refreshments during the event and invited to the Conference Drinks Receptions.
To register for the event, as a delegate, speaker to submit a paper, for delegate inserts or a display space please email here. Details of the event can be found here http://rayholden.moonfruit.com/#/home/4558201354
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Surprise, surprise, the website http://www.rantrad.co.uk/ where the conference site was hosted, is no longer available. Recently, they advertised their 2012 conference. Earlier in January I started receiving emails like this probably one every week). This was the latest one I received, just two days ago (Wednesday, 18th January):
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Future Cities Conference
18 and 19 June 2012
Oxford
Failing Cities Conference
20 and 21 June 2012
Oxford
In June 2012 we will be holding two important conferences concerning urban planning, urban geography and neighbourhood renewal entitled Future Cities and Failing Cities. Both will take place at Oxford. Both events are 2 day events and the cost to attend each event is GB 250 plus VAT per person for delegates and speakers. To have a display space at the event the cost is GB 600 plus VAT for both events in total. All papers presented at both events will be available after the event in a Conference booklet for all delegates and speakers. Student researchers receive a discount of 50%. All attendees at the event will receive conference papers, refreshments during the event and invited to the Conference Drinks Receptions.
To register for the event, as a delegate, speaker to submit a paper, for delegate inserts or a display space please email here. Details of the event can be found here http://rayholden.moonfruit.com/#/home/4558201354
Themes for the conferences include:
Future Cities
The Connected City
The City and the Region
The City of Neighbourhoods
The City of Enterprise
The Healthy City
The Sporting City
The Sustainable City
Urban Theory
The Cultural City
The Global City
The Connected City
The City and the Region
The City of Neighbourhoods
The City of Enterprise
The Healthy City
The Sporting City
The Sustainable City
Urban Theory
The Cultural City
The Global City
Failing Cities
The Right to the City
Unsustainable Cities
Urban Theory and the Production of Space
Shrinking Cities
New economies for smaller cities
How to plan for smaller cities
With kind regards and we look forward to seeing you in May 2012.
Confirmed organisations currently include:
BMW Group / Newcastle City Council / University College London / University of Bournemouth / Taylor and France Group / Routledge / Oxford University Press / Association of Town Centre Management
The Right to the City
Unsustainable Cities
Urban Theory and the Production of Space
Shrinking Cities
New economies for smaller cities
How to plan for smaller cities
With kind regards and we look forward to seeing you in May 2012.
Confirmed organisations currently include:
BMW Group / Newcastle City Council / University College London / University of Bournemouth / Taylor and France Group / Routledge / Oxford University Press / Association of Town Centre Management
Holden Publishing and Research
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As you can see, it is similar to the December event and organised by the same people. Today, the website for the 2012 conference is no longer available (it was available two days ago). The web address for the International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal, which Ray Holden Published, is also no longer available too.
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As you can see, it is similar to the December event and organised by the same people. Today, the website for the 2012 conference is no longer available (it was available two days ago). The web address for the International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal, which Ray Holden Published, is also no longer available too.
When looking at their promotion, there are some alarm signs... One is the intention of the organiser to create the image that the event is a reliable initiative. For example, mentioning the entities already 'confirmed'. These entities are very disparate. The other is the reference to the University of Bournemouth as a ‘supporter’ – but we are Bournemouth University, not University of Bournemouth. And also the reference to Taylor and France Group (actual name is Taylor & Francis).
I googled this organisation, and found this information about one of their events – basically very poor and encouraging others not to attend them .
I am simply reporting the facts and my interpretation of this situation. I don’t want to take conclusions on your behalf - I will let you draw your own about the International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal, Holden Publishing and their events.
Just found this. Very strange
ReplyDeleteone of many real Ray Holden s
Raymond Holden is up to his old tricks again, this time through the organisation 'Place and Space Research Ltd'. He is selling delegate and speaker places for 'Planning for Climate Change' conference series http://www.planforclimatechange.co.uk/home/4587746096 I booked onto the December 2015 one (paying £150), but the day before the event I received an email to say the event had been cancelled due to a family bereavement. No refund was offered, and Ray is not responding to my emails.
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