Within our world (or at least the world of our clients) the annual AMA conference is a pivot point in the year. The conference often brings innovative thinking or unusual perspectives that filter down and permeate through the whole industry. For me, the point of attending was to take the temperature of the industry.

The event was well managed and we got to experience many of Glasgow's great venues (although I was disappointed not to have time to visit the wonderful looking Riverside Museum). Most of the daytime activity was in the splendid Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with evening forays into nearby venues. I was also pleased to attend a pre-conference session (run by Roger Tomlinson's Ticketing Institute) in The Arches, a venue I've always been curious to visit.

What did surprise me was how little talk was about austerity or surviving/thriving in tough economic times. Maybe the industry has already worked through those topics. I'd expected lots of sessions to be about fundraising (there were a few but not many) but most concentrated on digital gadgets, online tools and how data-sharing can produce interesting research and results; all important topics but not really on-brief. I'm not sure that's a criticism; I don't think the AMA conference really needs a theme.

If I really was just there to take the temperature of the sector, I'd say it was lukewarm. Next year's event is in Brighton; I'll definitely be going along. Maybe a trip to the seaside will help to raise the temperature and focus attention on how and what to communicate rather than just the digital tools to use.