News from Stockholm Water Week – Friday 22 August 2008

The conference is in wind down mode now, and so the post mortems are starting: what did you learn, who did you meet, what work was discussed, what new ideas generated and, overall, was it all worth it? A long time ago, as this year’s Stockholm event appeared on the radar, we at IRC had a “full and frank” discussion internally about attendance at conferences generally and this one in particular. We felt positive about Stockholm, perhaps less so in respect of some of the other large events.

So how was it?

Measuring learning is difficult – but taking part in wall to wall PowerPoint sessions, where timekeeping is often abysmal, chances for genuine discussion limited and the usual suspects lead, is without doubt limited. There were great topics on show, and some sessions were excellent, but in general terms, expecting good learning outcomes in these conditions is optimistic in the extreme. Next year, let’s try and do this differently...?

As a place to meet people, Stockholm historically is unparalleled – a small and intimate venue, with many of the donors, civil society and government organisations represented. Did it survive the transfer to the new venue? More than survived was the verdict: the extra space ensured lots of room for a good range of stands, there was plenty of informal meeting space – but the venue was small enough that the bumping into other people so necessary in this type of gathering was easily and frequently done!

And was this discussion just social, idle chatter, or does anything actually happen as a result? Well, I left Stockholm with a 30 long list of items to follow up, ideas about work sharpened, new projects conceived and next steps agreed; these things would not have happened had I been sat behind my desk this week! There was some very pleasant social, idle chatter too though – which was great fun!

So, overall, it was worth it. Very much. Some things should be improved before next year, especially in respect of session content and conduct – maybe we could try a PowerPoint free week!

One other thing - please, let’s have a sponsor who has the interests of the sector demonstrably at heart.

See you next year!