But, as any journalist will tell you, the source from which you gained your information is key.  Sometimes you have to probe a little more deeply.  All too quickly people are prepared to believe what they heard on the net or were told in a widely circulated email with little critical appraisal. It’s almost the modern equivalent of ‘a bloke down the pub told me so it must be true’.

So what one really needs when planning a corporate strategy or assessing technological investments or keeping abreast of industry thinking, is to hear the story directly from the horse’s mouth and to be able to question that story teller.  And you don’t want to have to trail around the country wasting huge amounts of time to do it.  Wouldn’t it be good to get a whole bunch of industry practitioners together all keen to tell their stories - warts and all? It’s even better if you don’t have to pay for it.

OK, this is beginning to read like an advert and the perceptive among will realise I am taking about the Service Management Europe conference which takes place next month.  I have put the programme together (see page xx) and I believe it is a great assembly of service talent and know how.  These are not pitches; this is peer to peer networking dedicated to the field service community.  I urge you to find the time to make the trip.

Of course, if you prefer you listen to anonymous tittle tattle on the net, or spend your life on motorways.  Or you could spend a day at SME and get in touch with the real world. Unless you think you know it all already?

To see the original magazine click here.