Day two, and you can divide people into two groups. Those who went out the night before, and those who went out for hours and hours the night before! Luckily, the breakfast tables had hangover cures on them… unluckily you have to take them with the drinks, not the following day!
The sessions were well attended, including people crowding round to hear examples of great content supplied by Clive Dickens and Phil Dowse, even if much of it was Australian (isn't all radio these days?) and somewhat formulaic.
Other highlights of the morning included talent-managing tips from the BBC's Rachel Jones, who has to deal with Chris Moyles on a daily basis, and insights on audience measurement and a new media workshop.
Lunch was an interesting affair – it was sponsored by HD Radio, which as far as we could work out on our table is only available in the states, and during the main course they played Christmas music and Auld Lang Syne. No idea why. And the poor guy from HD, no-one was listening to his speech.
The mega sessions of the afternoon were well received – Executive Management or Brilliant Imaging – then suddenly it was the draws for the freebies from the exhibition hall, and then time to go home. Two days over, really quickly.
However, apart from an expensive hotel and a couple of duff sessions it's been a good festival. Attendees from all over the world – including a good number from Asia and the Middle East – and a growing number of foreign speakers to start to off-set the influx of Brits and Yanks.
Next year? Barcelona. RadioToday's tips for improvement? Fewer Americans telling us how it should be done, and more natural light available in the conference. All in, a good time had by most.