Conference calls

The 2007 party conference season is in full swing. This week the LibDems are in Brighton, the circus then moves on to Bournemouth for the Labour conference, and the following week the Tories are in Blackpool.

Like many people, I have a love-hate relationship with party conferences. Drab hotel rooms (the best have been snapped up months if not years in advance), too many boring meetings, and - these days - one security check after another. No wonder so many MPs make their excuses and find something better to do.

On the other hand .... party conferences can be quite fun socially and if you organise a successful event it's a great feeling (tinged with relief). In 2005, at the Labour conference in Brighton, we had one of our best days ever (which I have already described HERE).

Last year, at the Conservative conference in Bournemouth, we went one better and organised what was - by common consent - the best fringe event of the year. We hired an events company, booked the ballroom at the Royal Bath Hotel, and staged a Prohibition-era reception with a live jazz band and mock police raid (above). Four hundred guests made it an evening to remember and hotel staff had to turn people away for reasons of "health 'n' safety"!!

This year we are organising two rather more modest events (receptions), one in Bournemouth, the other in Blackpool. The challenge, as you might expect, has been to find smoker-friendly venues. In practise, that means a room where people have direct access to a pleasant outdoor area where they can light up and still feel part of the event. 

In Bournemouth we have booked the main lounge of the Royal Bath Hotel which has direct access to the garden which overlooks the sea. Into the mix we are throwing a jazz pianist, a song and dance act, more balloons than you can throw a stick at - and a barbecue.

Why? Well, it's all very well having a message, but you have to an audience for that message - and we're up against stiff competition. In the adjacent room, at exactly the same time as our event, Andrew Rawnsley of the Observer is interviewing Foreign Secretary David Miliband. A few yards down the corridor Alastair Campbell will be talking about the Blair years (and flogging copies of his book). And that's in just one hotel!

According to the conference brochure, the Forest/Free Society reception is competing for guests with at least 30 other events. Wish us luck!