ILMC 21 saw a record number of almost 1000 delegates pack into London's Royal Garden Hotel in March. And despite the economic doom and gloom elsewhere, the mood was remarkably upbeat. Conference founder, Martin Hopewell, comments...

 

If the record attendance at ILMC 21 showed anything, it was that either the world's live music industry is riding the current financial crisis much better than anyone had imagined, or that support for the event from its members is even stronger than ever. Probably both explanations carry some weight. In spite of a higher capacity for this year’s meeting being set, the ILMC was sold out days before the event started with 1,000 top live industry figures taking up the invitation and pouring into London from 57 different countries.

That upbeat spirit continued right through the weekend. All of the 'official' ILMC social events were packed out: the 'inter-industry' go-karting, the soccer, a hilarious 'Soiree Punque' Sunday dinner, and even the 350-capacity Gala Dinner - while a whole raft of other functions, whether at the O2, the Dutch Embassy, or showcase venues and restaurants around town, made sure that very few people were left feeling as if they hadn't just spent 3 days being rolled around in a tumble dryer...

The conference sessions themselves produced some of the highest quality and most focused discussions we've ever seen - largely thanks to the hard work of an exceptionally capable team of session moderators. As always, the sheer number of topics tabled for discussion meant that it was impossible to take everything in, but every session was either well-attended or packed to the doors, and produced some of the most open, informative and productive conversations to date.

The sessions also highlighted what is perhaps the main challenge that faces the ILMC at the moment: to connect with the next generation of industry leaders who have been swelling the ranks of ILMC members over the past few years, and make them realise that the ILMC belongs to them just as much as it does to longer-standing members. Often it is their voices that are missing from the discussions - although it's not hard to understand why when many of them are from smaller markets, or are currently not running their own businesses and therefore feel that their opinion is not as valid as that of the more experienced members. Others have perhaps yet to realise that the way this "game without rules" is played in the future is as much up for grabs now as it was when the ILMC first started - that very little is set in stone and nearly everything can be questioned. One thing is certain, though: if ILMC is to continue into the future it can only do so if this generation takes the opportunity it is offered, gets involved in the discussions and gives us the feedback that we need in order to design a template for what will soon be their conference...

So, another successful chapter completed in the continuing saga of the ILMC, another set of objectives to aim at, and another collection of happy memories to file away in the mental scrapbook. Now for number 22..!