Having set myself the challenge of writing only positive posts for two weeks my output on this blog has dropped. This tells me that much of which I had to write about has been silly things the "unpaid" local "authorities" (also known as councillors or pocket people) have been saying and the dire things other money grabbers have been up to. I'm a little sad that I've not had more positive things to say.

Rather than wallow in self pity and ignorance of what we have going for us I've been trying to improve my grasp of local resources. It was in doing so that I discovered that the faceless body of work so often attributed to TDC is more likely funded and run from the shadows by KCC, businesses co-operatives and other interested parties with lots of cash. To be honest I've been hard pressed to see exactly what it is the council does at all (other than cost us money).

I have also discovered something else - a need. A need that any right thinking businessman with sufficient investment capital could easily convert into a profitable venture. Even TDC would be hard pressed to screw it up.

We local web pundits of the Home Brew Media variety (better known as bloggers) would do well to be aware that the primary source of income related activity for full time bloggers (and I think Thanet could support a few) is that old business stalwart - the conference.

Thanet could potentially enjoy a large upturn in income (with the upper spending bracket) from a well placed multi-function conference centre (or two). Such a centre (ideally custom built or fully and utterly refurbished) would do well to forge links with the local college and University as well as the art community as this would provide a solid foundation for an opening game plan.

More than that a conference centre of significant size would be a powerful force in it's own right. Able to recommend to it's well funded visitors any hotel, guest house or Bed and Breakfast it wishes it could target areas for regeneration simply with the power of it's word. For a privately run establishment this might or might not be of any interest beyond leveraging a share or a fee but a local authority run establishment would be a tool for modernisation beyond the obvious facilities it provides.

A conference centre is not just a place where businessmen gather to hear good speeches on industry matters but is also a massive and well paying consumer requiring, catering, parking, stationary, plants, décor, staff, cleaners, computers and accommodation for visitors. It provides in addition to jobs and commerce a flow of visitor that (depending on the itinerary of events) will want to explore the area (think art gallery, amusements, historically significant rollercoasters, fairs, markets, beaches, quality cafés and pubs).

A capacity of just 1,000 across all rooms could with good marketing produce some 200,000 visitors a year (or more). Add tot his a good working relationship with such multi-purpose venues as the winter gardens and any hotels that still function normally and the capacity of the centre with planning can increase across the locality to truly massive numbers of people.

With faster rail access and the ever increasing cost of such facilities in London the attraction of a conference centre by the sea where art and culture are readily available would be a most enticing attraction to those in management that plan such things. Even without leaving the island we have organisation with conference needs in the likes of Pfizer's.

We've got The Turner Centre now want it or not so why not actually invest in a facility nearby that can use the place if only for publicity. Sure it's a wee bit cynical to look at it that way but a promotion like that is a promotion for both projects to joint benefit. Nothing in Thanet (not just Margate) is going to work without it working with other things.

So I suggest to you that what we need in Thanet is a large capacity conference centre as cornerstone of regeneration and a source of rather more assured spending than an art centre alone. If only local planners listened to such ideas... but we can hope.