Skew-WIF: lessons from a failed conference

Some good speakers were signed up, but there's a rumour going around that the WIF had more of them than they had delegates. So who exactly did the organisers want to turn up to their high-tech jamboree?

WIF hoped to attract hardcore industry figures as delegates. But that was too ambitious. Maybe they should have realised the issues discussed at WIF would concern the average IT director as much as a head of a corporation. Grass-roots decision-making is equally vital for the global economy, and IT is about more than a once-a-year gathering with wordy speeches and canapés.

Then there's the case against conference overkill. Even the organisers admitted there are too many events on the subject of technology. Robert Blaney, CEO of WIF, told silicon.com that important messages get lost because there are too many evangelists preaching.

WIF wanted to become a revolutionary event. Perhaps the only earth-shattering fact they learnt was not to ask industry heads to attend a show for three days when the whole extravaganza could have taken place in a style true to our times - through video conferencing and use of the internet. This way a worldwide audience could have been reached without the constraints and costs of travel.

It's hard to believe WIF organisers don't realise such modern wonders exist, and in their defence, these methods first have to be widely accepted.

But the message has to be hammered home to the WIF and organisers of similar events: IT professionals need an environment and information that allows them to move their businesses forward. They don't need more political banter. Maybe that memo can be passed around the impressive speakers' list.