I think I recall the name. Smorgasbord’s had their heyday in the 1960s. Some of which were more than just buffets.
And they’ll guess what the size of a reasonable serving is based on most of the people they cater to.
I go to organic farming conferences. The first year at a new venue there’s never enough food – because the facility’s used to serving conferences of office workers. Construction workers apparently have the same problem, and I would guess that athletes do also. People doing a lot of physical work need to eat more than people who don’t.
Sounds like the organizers dropped the ball if they let the venue talk them into making that mistake. The venue maight start out by assuming normal portions, but the organizers know different. Unless they’re oblivious.
But yeah, you’re surely right that some sorts of audiences eat very differently from others.
I think it’s more likely that the organizers tried to tell them, but the people running the kitchens thought ‘we know what we’re doing, why are these people trying to tell us how much food to make?’