I now know why friends in the film industry offered a friendly warning to prepare to feel overwhelmed at the conference. Sure, I've been to my fair share of conferences before - but I wasn't selling my research to all who would listen the entire time. Switch to AIDC and you are playing a whole new game - and its a game where pitching is a key talent. I'd studied the website and it's curious combination of the meet market, screenings, round tables and sessions - but it's what happened on the fringes of all those events - in the hallways, in the nearby cafes and on the couches in the bar that was the real eye opener. Throw commissioning editors in with funding bodies and passionate filmmakers and you end up with a heady mix of creative and commercial reality. Oh yes, from the onset I can see this AIDC is going to be a wild ride.