Last week we concluded the London 2012 Party Conference programme with an action-packed few days in Birmingham in the company of the Conservatives. The shadow of the current economic uncertainty naturally dominated the news, but that didn’t stop Parliamentarians having a real interest in 2012 progress post Beijing.

Now, the key to any successful conference is finding space to meet people, and holding the space as if your life depends on it. This isn’t easy with thousands of people desperately vying for a few dozens seats. Thankfully we won the seat battle again and undertook a series of meetings with Shadow Ministers, Select Committee members, and London Assembly members which allowed both the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to provide a progress report.

There was a consistency of issues with other conferences as we discussed financing, delivery progress, and maximising the UK benefits story. There was also a desire to understand from Seb Coe (Chair, LOCOG), Paul Deighton (Chief Executive, LOCOG), David Higgins (Chief Executive, ODA), and John Armitt (Chairman, ODA) what they had learnt from the Beijing 2008 Games, and how they believed London 2012 would compare.

Both the 'Ask 2012' lunchtime fringe event and evening reception were full houses, and I’m no doubt this was due to the interest in 2012, the chance to meet several Beijing 2008 medallists that kindly came from Team GB, and also the rumour of birthday cake, with it being Seb’s birthday.
 
The 'Ask 2012' lunchtime event:


All in all a successful conference season, with over a thousand Parliamentarians and delegates engaged across all three conferences, several hundred miles of train journeys travelled, and the knowledge that around each corner there was a finger buffet, a pop up stand, and a person smiling with a leaflet.