There are two ways you can prepare for party Conference.

Six weeks out, when the agenda and the directory come out, you could sit down with a nice cup of tea and work out a tentative plan for how you are going to spend the 4 and a bit days in Brighton.

If you are new to Conference, the agenda has all the motions up for debate – (you can read more about that here) so you can start to plan whether you might like to put in an amendment or a request for a separate vote before the deadline on Monday 7th September at 1pm.

The directory has all the details of things like the exhibition, the fringe and the marvellous array of training on offer. There will be at least five things in every time slot that you want to do and that’s before you even think about catching up with your friends.

The other way of doing it is to follow my all to often example. Leave it all to the last minute and end up filling in your schedule in the excellent Conference app on the way down while you are trying to write speeches and fill in speaker’s cards.  Ditto with packing. Rather than plan what I’m going to wear and travelling light, I usually end up throwing every piece of clothing I possess into a big suitcase half an hour before I leave the house. Or I panic that I don’t have enough to wear and buy things I really don’t need on next day delivery.

Every time I resolve to be better. Almost every time, I fail miserably. Don’t be like me.

If you want to be extra diligent, you can read all the Reports to Conference from party committees and think of super awkward questions to ask them – but, again, they have to be in by the deadline of 7 September.

To be fair, if you are going to adopt my lackadaisical approach, you’ll get by and you’ll have a fabulous Conference, but being prepared is undoubtedly better and you can feel very smug about it too.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social