11.   The conference was a great place to meet other managers and pick their brains about issues I was also facing.

12.   The conference was an important social event.

13.   The conference was usually a dull affair.

14.   The organisers claimed the conference was a resounding success.

15.   The whole conference was a complete mess from start to finish.

16.   The whole conference was a shambles because half the speakers did not come.

17.   When the conference was over, the delegates voted not to adjourn, but to constitute themselves as a permanent body.

18.   The conference was an opportunity to flag up Scottish concerns across the European Parliamentary scene.

19.   The conference was a gathering of the upper crust of the computer programming industry.