At the club room of the Wellcome Collection this evening for an event organised by At Abrahams.
I was chairing the evening, which was themed 'When is enough, enough?"

There was a fascinating and diverse line-up of participants. Science writer Colin Barras talked about what he saw as the need for scientists to continue to push the frontiers of knowledge, even when challenged by self-appointed moral guardians or prophets of doom.

The Neo Futurist Collective performed a few music / spoken word pieces celebrating urban chaos and noise.

Frances Corner, Head of the Royal College of Fashion discussed the role of the designer in a world where there is a proliferation of cheap, widely available, disposable fashion.

And expedition organiser Andy Pag talked about how he drove from London to Timbuktu in a chocolate-powered lorry and organised a rally to Greece in which the cars were all fuelled by vegetable oil scavenged from the waste fat from chippies and kebab shops on the route.

Seemed like a genuinely interesting evening to me and I think I got away with my somewhat ill-prepared remarks in defence of advertising (in the broad sense) as a potential force for good in a world where people are deluged at every turn by a torrent of crap sales messages. At least, no-one threw anything at me.

Our friends at Spitalfields Music kindly arranged a performance at the agency this afternoon by the Gainsborough Quartet, who played a selection of festive and familiar pieces, while we scoffed mince pies and mulled wine. Very civilised.

Check out the eclectic line-up at the Spitalfields Music winter festival – including Monstrous Meoldies and a Spitalfields Christmas Carol – which starts next week at their website here.