ONA: The Scene

I am posting real-time from the Online News Association Conference in Hollywood. Here are some Day 1 observations:

+ Where's my goddamn coffee? They always screw up one big thing at these conferences, and this year, it's hiding the coffee. You have to go digging around in the innards of the hotel -- is this the kitchen? -- to find a simple cup of joe.

+ The swag sucks. Let's see what's inside this Yahoo News bag: One Reuters baseball hat. One CBSmarketwatch notepad. And three tins of mints: SignOnSanDiego.com, U.S. Newswire, and Valeo Intellectual Property. There better be something better at the booths.

+ This is a maze. I'll try to post pics later, but this is one of those hotels that attempts to merge with the nearest shopping mall. (It's that monstrosity on the Strip in Hollywood -- you might have actually read about it elsewhere. Biggest. Gap. Ever.) The conference rooms aren't labeled on the elevators, and you have to guess that it's the "POOL" button. Like, duh. So the conference is right next to the pool, which would be a horrendous visual tragedy if you lived in Minnesota, but here... eh, not so bad. Is that Wonkette sunbathing over there?

+ Location, location, location. I don't know if I'm supposed to find industry significance in dropping the conference in the middle of Hollywood, but I do find it important that the Erotic Museum is one block away. (Last night, the line was around the block. I'll try again tonight.)

+ But... let's be honest: there's high-speed WiFi everywhere, and that trumps pretty much any faults you could come up with. Excellent addition.