Just how much intense hard work can the market's leading traders pack into one three-day conference? Consider the schedule for the International Securities Market Association (Isma) conference in Prague.
Day one, May 6, is a reasonably gentle start: 19:00 welcome reception. Day two, and it's down to business at 8:00, pushing on until 8:15 when there's a welcome one-hour coffee break. Delegates are then hard at it, with just one more half-hour coffee break, until 12.30, when it's cocktails and canapés. Apparently, this will be a prolonged session, as the next item on the schedule is: 19:00 Isma gala party. Day three starts at an optimistic-sounding 8:30 with no doubt much-needed coffee until 9:15. The conference then cracks on with high-powered speeches, and just one 45-minute coffee break, until 12.30, when, with more cocktails and canapés, the conference closes. Phew! Peter Lee