So we’ve had Mr Polson’s version of the #langcatlive experience. A perspective largely from behind a camera which, after a little cross-London sprint and some highly educational narrative, was happily attached to a tripod. (There’s a lesson in there: checklists are great as long as you remember to put stuff on them.) We’ve also had some lovely feedback from people and it seems a good time was had by all. This makes us very happy indeed. We might even do it all again. We’ll see.

But there’s always the slightly less glamorous aspect to these things; requiring that you be up and alert(ish) at a time that should be illegal, quietly beavering away in the background to make the magic happen whilst trying to manage some of the more diva-esque demands.  Although I did manage to talk Mr Polson out of his request for a basket of kittens and a bottle of 50 year old Balvenie in his dressing room. And a dressing room.

I can’t even claim credit for very much of the beavering, that was all down to the indefatigable Shona McCowan who really did make the magic happen. The bulk of my efforts involved strenuous negotiations with some pull up banners. Doesn’t sound like much I grant you, but it was a battle, not a skirmish.

While Messrs Polson and Locke (a frustrated roadie at heart) ran the show at the front, I settled down at the back for some serious live-tweeting as proceedings unfolded. Quite apart from the quality of our line-up of speakers, I was impressed by the audience. It was something of a who’s who of financial services and it gave me a little warm feeling inside that so many people had taken time out to come along to our little event.

It was a curious feeling sitting alongside people in the room whilst reading their tweets. A modern phenomenon but one that gives a unique sense of how people are genuinely reacting to and engaging with what they’re watching. There were some robust debates going on in the room without a word ever being spoken. And how different points resonated with the various members of our audience was reflected in who was highlighting what to their followers. If you missed it and you do Twitter, take ten minutes and read through the #langcatlive timeline, there’s a lot of good stuff there.

There’s also some good stuff in When the Levee Breaks: What Next for the UK Retirement Savings Market? (seamless, eh?) which formed the basis of the event. If you’ve missed it so far, we’ll forgive you and you can put things right by downloading it for free here.

It was our first event and we learned a lot. Mark has covered most of it but he did miss one thing. If you’re sending stuff home by courier (particularly if you’re flying home) take a roll of packing tape and a pair of scissors you don’t mind leaving behind. That’s a worker elf tip, by the way.