One rumour going the rounds at EPCA on Monday was that after the recent merging of the Annual Meeting and the Distribution conference, there was a feeling amongst the EPCA's board members that the event had become too large. According to one well-connected visitor to the ICIS suite, it had been mooted that the event should become more exclusive, and that some sectors would be actively excluded.
The Blog thinks that this sounds like a return to the bad old days when the EPCA would not allow traders to be members, or at least would allow only a restricted quota of long-established traders amongst its more respectable manufacturing members.
Actually, EPCA should be pleased because attendance at many other organizations' meetings has been declining for several years. They should be more concerned with scheduling the conference in a location where there is ample space and at a time when there are not so many conflicts with other events. Monaco is simply too small for the group, and it's absurd to think it's the other way around. Otherwise they invite another ICPA and lose control entirely.