The trade stand was piled high with all the goods that I remembered from conference exhibitions of the past. There were branded Moleskine notebooks, pencils, rubbers, pencil sharpeners, and desk toys, as well as the usual promotional literature to describe the company’s product range and pricing.

A company rep stood behind the table. However, she was obviously not in the mood to engage with customers, especially those who were puzzled by a display that appeared to have flown in from the 1990s. When a potential client asked about the business that she represented, she pointed at me and instructed ‘Ask her. She’s the one who wrote a book about business information sources’.