MIPIM: The large-scale soft sell

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For most people, a 24-hour stay in France is more likely to mean Calais than Cannes.

However, my fleeting visit to the scenic coastal resort, famous for its film festival, was perhaps the polar opposite of picking up cheap cigarettes and alcohol.

I joined the 25-strong Leicestershire delegation attending the MIPIM conference with the aim of wooing major investors to the county.

This was the biggest presence the county had ever had at Europe's largest property fair, and it will hopefully be even better next year. It was also the first time, to my knowledge, a Mercury journalist had attended in an official capacity and the first time I'd ever been there myself.

I am currently writing a number of pieces about what the delegation got from MIPIM for Tuesday's Mercury Business Weekly, so cannot spend too long on this blog. All I'll say was that after years of being told that I needed to be there, the event didn't disappoint.

There is the serious business stuff, of course, like meetings with international property big hitters. There is also the sheer scale of some of the exhibition stands, particularly London and Russia's (see picture) And there is the fact I ended up meeting key regional business people I'd only previously spoken to on the phone - although this is something I'd always been told would happen.

Then there's the social side, the good relationships you foster and the fact you get to speak to big decision-makers with multi-billion pound budgets in an informal, relaxed environment. The fact it just happens to be against the magnificent backdrop of the French Riviera makes it all the more pleasurable.

But whatever people say about it being an expensive junket, it's pretty obvious MIPIM is important. You only need to look at all the effort made by cities, regions and businesses to grab your attention in the huge exhibition hall. However, there is no hard sell, because it's more about the size and effectiveness of your presence. Pushing leaflets at people just wouldn't wash.

And of course, it wouldn't be France without something strange and amusing happening. One that stays in the mind was the incident with the driver who took such exception to our mini-bus driver trying to jump a queue he ended up stopping in the middle of a busy slip road to remonstrate with him. However, our fears of a punch-up soon subsided as the pipe-smoking Jean-Paul Sartre look-alike turned out to be a doctor on his way to an urgent call.

What followed was more a detailed discussion about road etiquette than a raging argument.

Things are done more subtly in France, which is why MIPIM seems to work.