My room is on the 27th Floor of the Marriott hotel here in the conference complex.  You can't imagine the view.  Scratch that.  You have to imagine the view because there isn't one.  The complex is in the middle of an alluvial plain that probably would have stretched all the way to Mexico if there hadn't been a meteor strike in the pre-Cambrian era. That said, the conference has begun with a mosaic of classic TV spots.  Last night's lawn party was great.  Overheard that P&G has decided to devote $0 to advertising this year.  Just checking to see …

Holy shiite! I'm sitting here, dancing in my seat to the music playing on myriad screens and I check my email. There's a message telling me that someone has written on my Facebook wall: "I'm here, too." It's my old editor from Adweek days back in the 80s, Geoffrey Precourt! Haven't seen him in 20. Looking forward. This music is so great. They should add a dance component to ANA. Whatcha think, Lesley?

Standing in the buffet line this morning at the ANA conference in Orlando, I overheard two guys from Heinz talking about taking a couple of those little bottles of ketchup they put out for the yummy home fries. I asked them, "Don't you guys get enough ketchup?" Oh, they do, they said. But the more we take, the more they have to replace! Clever!

Whew! It's not easy insinuating yourself into a crowd of 1200 people. I couldn't help but notice how alike the venues are. Last year it was in Phoenix and this year in Orlando. Identical except for the humidity. On our way through the hotel maze, ran into Roy Elvove, EVP, director of corp comm at BBDO. Big fan, he said.  I believed him! At the Facebook reception, I ran into Karen Spiegel, svp/managing direcgtor, communications/marketing at R/GA. She told me she's been there several years -- was it seven? Says all the principals have been there that long as …

I'm at Bradley International Airport in Hartford, Conn., on my way to Orlando and the ANA conference. On the drive up on I91 I saw several electronic billboards that drew my interest. One was for Dunkin' Donuts and it was white white white and advertising the flatbread egg white sandwiches against a solid grey sky. Beautiful, and well placed because there were no others nearby. I think there may have been a landfill behind it. Then, another, off to the right advertising the candidacy off a local state senator wannabe. That one had just changed from another and I …

What's your favorite city?  Paris, France? Paris, Texas?  Mine is Orlando, where I'm going today for the Masters of Marketing ANA conference, not in that order. Wait, Orlando? My favorite city?  Sure, because Orlando isn't really Orlando, it's Orlando World.  It's a theme park whose theme is a central-Florida City filled with Theme parks.  There's Sea World, Disney World, Universal Studios World, God World (which is featured in Religulous this new Bill Maher flick).  And around each world arrayed like moons, are satellite theme parks for those who couldn't get into the Worlds they wanted.  I think there must …

Reporter extraordinare Karl Greenberg and I are heading to Orlando, Fla., today for the annual Masters of Marketing conference. Tonight there is a welcoming reception hosted by Facebook, where I'm eager to see some of the faces I see on the hour as I check my Facebook news feed to see what people are thinking and doing. In times like these, it feels good to be part of a community although I still haven't wrapped my arms around what exactly my community is and how my friends interact with other people's friends. Tomorrow morning we'll be hearing from …

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