The scenic route

With Mipim just days away, the storm of emails promoting various events has now reached gale force.

There’s a real skill in sifting through the invitations to pinpoint the best parties and events. For a start, there’s the regions – do you go for Liverpool over Manchester, Hull over Birmingham? And what about the emerging countries with grandiose dreams of new capital cities on the Eurasian steppe? Are they best ignored, or will their mineral wealth end up propping up your own company when markets closer to home head south? So many dilemmas …

For those of you not flying to Cannes on the Mipim shuttle (or taking the greener TGV), we will be offering extensive coverage. As well as the latest news, there will be images of outlandish new schemes, blogs from our team of reporters and regular video clips.

Mipim doesn’t actually start in Cannes any more – it starts in the UK with pre-Cannes parties from the likes of Eversheds, DAC and Mishcon de Reya, so we’ll be keeping an eye on pre-Mipim announcements, too.

The arrival of cyclists will add a splash of colour (and lycra) to Cannes on Tuesday night. I will be one of the 140 riders pedalling from London to the Riviera on the Cycle2Cannes charity ride (as long as I can replace my bike – which recently came off worse in an altercation with a London motorist). Between stints in the peleton I will be uploading blogs and pictures from the ride. There’ll also be a report on the Cannes rides being organised by surveying firm Plowman Craven, which sponsors a professional cycle team.