I go to a lot of conferences in the course of a year as a trend watcher, to report back to readers on new ideas, meet leading local and international gurus, lend media support and sometimes as a speaker. What struck me this past year was the lack of serious thought leadership and cutting edge trends coming out of 99% of the events, at least in this industry. Just blogging on Biz will reveal the need readers have for serious research and information on new trends and the first page of any Google search will reveal new innovations. So why aren't we documenting them and training up the rest of our industries at networking opportunities such as industry conferences? And it's not just up to the conference organizers - many key speakers booked don't pitch or send juniors to read off their boring PowerPoint slides - 'death by PowerPoint' is a disease for which there seems no cure these days! There seems to be a glut of mediocrity out there when it comes to presentations, even from some of our leading corporates and agencies in the field. Surely conferences and key speaking engagements are as much of a brand building opportunity as the millions you spend on your advertising? Have a good one! Louise Marsland, Editor, editor@bizcommunity.com.