Well I still reckon it's a talking shop
But, I have to say that it has improved immeasurably over the 5 years.
The speaker who said "We are good at spotting the problems but we haven't been able to provide any of the answers" just about summed it up. However being able to spot the problems is a really good first step and as long as they don't follow up with the hinted-at threat of excluding the technical community they might actually start pointing at some of the solutions.
Agree about the taxis though. Although having taken the shuttle-bus option this wasn't so much of a problem, and it worked out cheaper in the long run.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
