It was a grueling flight back from NYC to Los Angeles on Friday. Not sure if it was because of the long night before (or do you call that an early morning?) in “K-Town” with a notorious cast of characters (did I really sing “Endless Love” at a Karaoke bar…..twice?) or was I just fried. Most likely a bit of both.

The event started with some intrepidpation. The weather had caused a lot of travel related issues and many speakers were calling to say they were unable to make it. I saw the the Inman News crew at the Marriott lobby bar Tuesday evening (the night before everything was set to begin), including the man himself, and they looked a bit blindsided. Mother Nature was not something they planned on. But just like an veteran producer Tim Smith (CEO of Inman News), rallied his talented troupe of performers, because this was Broadway damn it, and as the saying goes “the show must go on!”

While the first day attendance was a bit down most of keynotes were down right packed. I sat in on Dan Woolley’s ConnectTech session and it was wall to wall geeks. Maybe they hacked in to the airline computer systems and took all the early flights!

I really enjoyed Brad’s interview with David Carr, The New York Times‘ Media And Culture Columnist. Mr. Carr reflected on his life, told a few stories. The crowd was drawn in. Magic.

The MLS Session, moderated by the dependable Michael Wurzer was also very good. Highlighted by Bob Hale‘s list of the industry’s lost battles and Curt Beardsley’s original idea of a “dual listing input form”. I sure hope they release the video of this session. Lots of great ideas and commentary.

But this was New York, and the city beckoned. I had dinner the first night in Brooklyn at Peter Lugers (awesome!) and went to the see the new Spiderman musical (nobody got hurt). I was also luckily enough to see a Rangers game (they won!) at Madison Square Garden (my first time there).

Which brings me back to Thursday night at the W lobby bar where it seemed that everyone from Orange County and LA was hanging out. Here’s just a few…
Stacey Harmon, Eric Stegemann, Rachel Rusnak, Jim Marks, Devesh Khare, John Hensley, Prem Luthra, Shiraz Varanian, Laura Buser. And one San Diegan, Julie Han, thrown in the mix.

But isn’t that the point of a good conference? Good content, better conversations and great cocktails?

See in San Francisco!