So, there we were in Orlando Sept. 7-10 at the first-ever ASA/PHCC NA Network '05 show. In our hotel rooms, televisions were tuned to the news programs, which were showing the damage and uprooted lives created in the wake of Hurricane Katrina almost exclusively.

Meanwhile, "Tropical Depression No. 16," which hadn't yet hadn't yet matured into Hurricane Ophelia, was idling its engine off the east coast of Florida, about 100 miles away. While she churned up the ocean on the coast and made for some cloudy and occasionally rainy weather during the show, no one in Orlando seemed too concerned about their well-being or the possible interruption of travel arrangements because of her activity. After all, we were at the show to, well...network with others in-or affiliated with-the PHC industry.

After having attending countless trade shows in various industries during my 20 years in the publishing game, I have to offer kudos to the organizers of Network '05, not so much for the manner in which it was pulled off, but for the way it was structured.

See, Network '05 wasn't four days full of walking up and down the aisles of a trade show floor. Your feet start to hurt, your back is killing you and you begin imagining all the anatomically inappropriate things you would do to the person who invented the necktie if he or she happens to be in the next booth you visit for some reason.

Instead, Network '05 consisted of a whole host of seminars touching on subjects from politics to relaxation, green building to supply chain management and just about everything in between. The "trade show" part of the event was relatively small, uncomplicated and confined to a very reasonable few hours on Friday-just about the time most attendees would appreciate an opportunity to stretch their legs. It's the model for what trade events ought to be.