A slight hiccough

Conference has been in its planning stages for some 9 months and speakers have been lined up for up to 4 months. So for the last couple of weeks we have been on tenterhooks as we crossed our fingers and hoped that no speakers would fall by the wayside. Early in January we heard from one of our keynote speakers, that they could no longer make it. Whilst this was a little frustrating it was partly expected for a number of reasons. 1 - the speaker warned us it might happen; 2 - a major bbc correspondent is at the beck and call of the international news cycle and answerable only to the license payers, not the ABO. But it was early enough for us to quickly swing into action with plan B.

The problem comes when with 3 weeks to go all the speakers are booked and we then just wait and cross our fingers! Unfortunately, yesterday it happened. We spent much of the day hoping that the speaker would be able to make it, despite initial reactions, and as we left the office it was looking pretty good. Then at 10:00pm the news bleeped onto our BlackBerry screens and there was really very little we could do other than be completely understanding. It is part of the perils of conference organisation. And when you think about it, fielding 44 different speakers for a 48 hour conference would be pretty spectacular not to have anything go a little awry.

But we have looked at things, made some phone calls, sent some emails and re-worked a valuable session and like the paddling swan we hope it won't show!

In the meantime, Keith is off to Cardiff for a quick final site briefing and visits to various important people. (well that's what he says...) the office is a hum of industry as speaker biographies are put together, badges are starting to be compiled and printed, letters are drafted and the technical schedule is battered into shape. Apart from a short period of hysteria this afternoon, quickly calmed by Hester and Kirsten swinging into action with a well timed cup of tea, I think we are in good order.