It was refreshing to hear from real people, rather than simply to analyse the trends in a computer model, and the ideas coming forward were universally helpful and as diverse as the audience itself.
I began by explaining to the members of the London 2012 Forum all the different challenges and considerations I have to take into account in preparing to publish our ticketing strategy next year, starting with the big one - no free tickets.
Everyone in every stadium at Games time will fall in to one of three categories: they will be an athlete, a worker, or a spectator in a paid for seat.
Even tickets that are bought by partners will ultimately go to competition winners or their own staff (so, for example, Lloyds TSB's bank counter staff).
I found the whole process energising and was good to get positive feedback -for example, Elizabeth from the London Church Leaders group made a particular reference to how we had exceeded her expectations to day with the depth of understanding of the issues different communitities face.
One of the key messages I wanted to communicate to the group was that people should consider thinking about buying tickets to watch some of the traditionally less well watched sports in the UK like Archery or Handball, as you not only get to learn about a new sport but they tend to be more affordable than tickets for the Athletics or Cycling.
Forum members also understood very clearly how the most affordable tickets would ensure access to once-in-a-lifetime Games opportunities for their community members, as there would be a consistent feel to every event from the 100m track finals to preliminary round Football at 10am on a Tuesday at Old Trafford.
Forum members were also pleased to hear about the opportunities to watch the road events for free, lining the streets as the Marathon and Road Cycling routes cross the capital.
I asked the Forum members to help me understand specifically how we could meet the needs of some groups in our society and, generally, what they expected of our ticketing programme next year and when ticket applications begin in 2011. The over-riding reponse was 'fairness' followed by clear communication and transparency.
So I'm back to the office now to check my exisiting plans against everything I've heard today to make sure I can meet that aspiration for everyone wanting to buy a ticket for the London Games.
