Have you ever been truly terrified? Not anxious before getting on stage, not like that. More like the fear that comes with driving through the Serengeti on a Segway covered with beef carpaccio, that kind of fear. I realized, around 1 a.m.-ish Utah time, that I had never quite experienced real fear -- until that time.

What better way to wash the sinful scent of Expo Hall carpet from your brain than with a little alleyway hunt for a speakeasy? Perhaps some of you who headed to Barrelhouse (really the "rec room" at the Pereira & O'Dell office space) did so with little effort, but me? I like to put a little spin on normalcy and take a right when I'm supposed to take a left, walk into office buildings -- where, believe it or not, the security guards are from New York, and know about as much about the area as I do -- and …

Last week I traveled with the MediaPost events team (sales, marketing, IT... well almost the entire team) and even some of you to San Francisco for our first ever OMMA Global San Francisco (obviously). This year the theme was "unbound" and we walked the talk, offering the conference free of charge to our loyal MediaPost membership. Sure sure, you may think that would encourage folks on Skid Row to show up, hoping to get some leads, but what really happened was a colorful batch, including a pooch snuggled on his owner's lap, sometimes even participating in Q & A. Slapped …

Next week I'm heading to San Francisco with the bloody-knuckled, sweaty-browed (No tears, people! No tears!) MediaPost Marketing and Events Team for OMMA Global! I'm geeked up as all hell because I always feel shot with energy and part of the team around event time. Scoff and chortle all you want, but there is nothing like being swept up in the storm that is a group working to make a huge industry event successful. That and I've never been to San Fran and I'll grab whatever tiny moments I can to see. AND I'll be giving YOU ALL this column, …

Last night I headed to "Top of the Week," a name I'd never heard of and thought I'd read wrong. It's not the penthouse, which is a logical assumption when "top of the..." is part of the name. No, it was the 3rd floor of the building that houses Newsweek, Slate, and The Washington Post. It was also the location of the celebration of Budget Travel's 100th issue and ground zero for the stinky cheese plate.

I'm not meant to cover The Shorty Awards. I'm either assaulted verbally by others, or I assault myself with my own feet.