• by George Simpson , Featured Contributor, October 1, 2010

As the curtain comes down on a soggy Advertising Week 2010, we stop to ponder what we've learned and how to leverage the contacts we've made between the seemingly endless panels and programs and late-night private and semi-public parties. For those who came to New York from out of town, we apologize for the rain -- but to be honest, we saved it all summer just waiting for the right occasion, and well -- this was it.

If you were feeling a little overwhelmed, that is understandable. On Tuesday, to pick a rainy day at random, there were 40 official Advertising Week events  -- many of them overlapping and blocks away from one another. There were at least half a dozen "unofficial" events thrown together by companies that think that more is better and that if you cobble together a panel discussion and buy everyone a bagel, your guests will somehow be able to remember your event distinct from the other four dozen they schlepped to.

If you came to Advertising Week hoping to grab a handshake and chat with the CMOs of a three billion-consumer-products company or an ad agency head in charge of billions in ad spending, you were undoubtedly disappointed, since they at all costs avoid these affairs ---or sneak in, make their remarks and sneak out like a politician someone just took a sniper shot at and missed. "I repeat -- POTUS is safely in the vehicle and we are exiting the garage with extreme prejudice."

So, other than the breaking news that AOL managed to put a leash on l'enfant terrible Michael "Oy, what's really going on at this dinner..." Arrington in yet another attempt to build credibility for a brand that is so over, that it needs someone to mercifully shut down the ventilator, what did you learn this week? I saw lots of younger people taking notes (or were they replying to emails? hard to tell) and lots of older people looking vainly around the room for another adult to talk to. There were thousands of tweets and scores of real-time blog posts about anyone who said anything even mildly interesting. Not to mention the tweets trying to entice people to come fill up the seats so that speakers wouldn't look up and see empty rows and/or heads all buried in BlackBerrys.

The nights belonged to the young and the middle-aged-crisis-ridden. The adults of the business were skimmed off for private dinners and parties so that they 1) could affirm they were still on the A list and 2) could avoid having to suffer through a handshake and chat with the vast majority of folks who stalked Advertising Week in search of  pain points and bragging rights.

There was a fair amount of name-dropping going on, with everyone using first names as if they just came into the clubhouse from 18 rounds with the person(ality) under discussion. This is especially amusing to the few folks who really are close personal friends with the person(ality) under discussion -- but who just sit back and silently listen to the narrative that sounds like extras on a film set calling Laurence Olivier "Larry."

You would think that having navigated dozens of events, handed out hundreds of business cards, collected hundreds more and in between kept up with the usual office crisis via email, the organizers would hand you ribboned medals like they get at the finish of a marathon. Just so you have something to show for all of your efforts this past week.

But here is your chance to shine, like when a teacher calls on you and you actually read the assignment the night before. In the comments section below, tell ONE thing that you learned at Advertising Week that will make a difference in your life (leaving out the usual sticker-shock remarks about the price of everything in New York).

Dazzle me.