A city as ambitious as Liverpool simply has to attend events like MIPIM
The oft-quoted statistic about the MIPIM commercial property conference in Cannes is that its delegates quaff more champagne than people at the world-famous film festival a few weeks later.
I don't know whether that is still true but it has left the impression in some peoples' minds that the whole event is one big jolly.
So would it be right for Liverpool, which has attended the event for 10 years, to pull out in 2011, as has been suggested? For me, the answer is a very definite NO ...
I attended MIPIM as part of the Liverpool delegation back in 2003. The sheer scale of it is amazing.
Most of the world's major cities are represented and you will also find numerous bankers, investors, property owners and speculators. You can smell the money.
Never has the old adage of 'work hard, play hard' been more relavant than at MIPIM. The daytimes are a whirlwind of meetings and top-level discussions while in the evenings there is no doubt that people like to party hard.
Liverpool has bee sending a public/private sector delegation for a decade and in a time of economic hardship there is now a serious suggestion that this year's event, starting on March 15, should be the last one the city has a presence at.
The delegation is brought together by economic regeneration agency, Liverpool Vision. Investment director Mike Taylor believes we should be there but admits that in a period of economic restraint some people may see the exercise as an extravagance.
He adds that its economic value is "hard to evaluate in hard numeric terms".
Cetainly it is difficult to look back over the last decade and pinpoint a particular deal or project that came about as a result of Liverpool's presence at MIPIM. One deal believed to have been conceived there is the ã47m investment by Commerz Real in Merseytravel's new Mann Island HQ.
Despite this I believe Mike Taylor and his colleagues should keep faith in MIPIM and try their hardest to make sure we are there again next year.
Liverpool is now a city with serious international ambitions. Our presence at the World Expo in Shanghai in May is testament to that.
If those ambitions are to be fulfilled then we have to strut our stuff at these events. Great contacts are made. The Liverpool offer is visible to the world and if people are impressed, they don't easily forget.
The world's biggest companies spend billions on brand awareness. They know it's not just about sales. It's about being at the forefront of peoples' minds.
Liverpool wants to be in the Premier League. Pulling out of MIPIM would send out the message that we are just a second rate city.
Profile
Tony McDonough - is deputy business editor of the Liverpool Daily Post & Echo, covers business news and issues from across the Liverpool city region, with a particular interest in commercial property.
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