Conference: #ETAG2013

A sell-out of tickets for the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh for the annual Edinburgh Tourism Action Group annual conference 2013. The theme of this morning's conference was Leadership, and we had a variety of different speakers from different backgrounds speaking on the subject. Of particular note was Brigadier David Allfrey who represented the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and encouraged us to have the moral courage to say when something is sh***. Meaning that quality will only improve if we are critical.

The Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh re-opened last summer after a huge re-fit including some restoration work. The surroundings are certainly much improved, and it's a stunning place to have a conference, but with all 'mod-cons'. The conference opened with some fun and games for the participants, using voting buttons to vote on questions in an 'ask the audience' format. The wi-fi signal was a bit patchy as I was trying to live-Tweet the salient points and had to keep signing in to the network, but it was streets ahead of many other conferences I've attended.

As far as convenience was concerned (pardon the pun), the fact that there was an ample supply of toilets made it possible to have a break for meeting people without having to spend all your time standing in a queue. Small things, but vital for the smooth running of a conference.

Enjoyed hearing (albeit briefly) about the success of the Blogmanay project where a team of 21 people came to Scotland to spend New Year and about a week afterwards touring Scotland.