At the first Financial Crime Forum event, someone who had attended literally hundreds of ordinary conferences asked “did you just look at what everyone else does and then do something different?” The answer to that was “pretty much, yes.”

And that is the hallmark of Financial Crime Forum events.

This is what we don't do: you don't sit in rows, staring at a platform. The speakers aren't rushed in and out so you can't talk to them, or held up on a stage for half a day at a time so they can't talk to you. You are not harangued with commercial presentations masquerading as expert ideas. You won't hear the rent-a-mouth speakers that appear on platform after platform. You won't find more than 100 people trying to work the room with business cards, a harassed look and a quick handshake.

Taking those things out was easy. But putting in additional benefits took a lot of thought.

10 reasons why delegates and speakers consistently praise Financial Crime Forum events:

10. The Forum day starts and finishes early – on time – this means that, if you need to, you can be in contact with your office before the end of the working day – even taking into account some time zone differences. Or you have time to hold meetings, explore the city – or go to the beach.

9. Speakers have an hour in which to develop their themes – and they are encouraged to ask questions of delegates, not just to sit and wait for delegates to ask questions first.

8. Delegates sit at round tables, so they can talk to each other – and the event is usually limited to around 75 delegates so you can actually meet and have time to speak to others.

7. Speakers are distributed around the delegate tables and delegates are encouraged to move from table to table so as to mix more

6. The choice of venues – from Hong Kong harbourside, to London's West End, from Bali's beaches to Dubai's futuristic architecture, from Kuala Lumpur's vibrant melting-pot culture to Singapore's mountains (yes, you would be surprised, it has some decent hills and we use one of the highest), from Sydney's waterfront Victorian heritage to Jakarta's out of town retreat, Financial Crime Forum venues are chosen very carefully – and so as to be suitable for your spouse if you would like to be accompanied on the trip.

5. Breaks are short and the timetable is strictly controlled – so you get more effective time in the Forum and discussion times are incorporated into the daily schedule so as to maximise the value of the event

4. Unique speaker and delegate handbooks delivered in advance of attendance so you can hit the ground running – and conference material presented on CD so your luggage allowance isn't taken up with piles of heavy paper.

3. Sponsors are able to make short commercial presentations – helping us to keep ticket prices low, to make sure you are fully informed and making sure you know the difference between pitch and specialist presentation. Also, sales people are not permitted to sit at delegate tables (so preserving the integrity of your discussion) or to take part in discussion groups other than by invitation of the group. But you have ready access to them because they have pop-up stands in the Forum hall, and they take part in meal and coffee breaks.

2. The Forum provides CPE hours for The Society of Anti Money Laundering Professionals (www.socamlpro.org).

and the top reason?

1. The quality of the speaker panel which is made up of people who really know their subject and can communicate it – and raise the level of understanding and awareness of their audiences.