The Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) has postponed its heavily promoted In The Room event, claiming scheduling conflicts.

However, insuranceNEWS.com.au has been told the two-day conference, which was to be held on December 11-12, failed to attract sufficient interest from anywhere.

In The Room was announced in August and was to have been held next week. It was to feature a host of overseas speakers, but sources say registrations fell well short of expectations.

ANZIIF CEO Joan Fitzpatrick will not reveal the number of registrations received for the event, but it has been rescheduled for next August 15-16 in Sydney.

Informed sources have told insuranceNEWS.com.au the conference’s focus on non-insurance speakers – including futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil and London Olympics Director of Communications Jackie Brock-Doyle – failed to enthuse industry professionals­­.

But Ms Fitzpatrick says ANZIIF received strong support for the event. She defended the choice of speakers and the marketing campaign, which included online advertising, promoting the event outside the industry without reference to ANZIIF as the organiser, and mounting displays in Qantas frequent flyer lounges.

“Because we are in insurance it doesn’t mean we don’t have an appetite for [non-insurance issues],” Ms Fitzpatrick told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“The point people often miss is that even though it’s not about insurance, the insurance industry is an immensely complex industry and our members have told us they need and want content that deals with broader issues.

“We’ve had so much positive feedback and it’s just a really strong brand. People have embraced the In The Room concept.”

Ms Fitzpatrick says a December date was chosen because it was believed to be a quieter time of year.

“We posted several dates and got positive feedback on December,” she said. “People said they are winding down and attending parties [in December] and others spoke about gifting it to their staff.

“It looked good, but things changed in the industry and the market. This has been a very trying and busy year for the sector.”