Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami Beach, FL

One of the nice things about the Heckerling Institute Conference at the Fontainebleau Hotel is that with proper planning, networking, and contacts, one can get invited to enough private parties and receptions so as not to have to buy too many meals. The Institute provides a substantial complimentary continental breakfast every morning, plus the opening night reception we had last night. The rest of the evenings, various vendors in the exhibit hall host promotional cocktail parties and such for their select clients.

At the big welcoming reception in the exhibit hall the night before last, they had several tables set up with essentially the same things, with cheeses and crudites on the ends and down the sides heavy hors d'oeuvres like beef teriyaki and chicken satay (a/k/a beef and chicken strips on skewers), vegetarian egg rolls, coconut breaded shrimp, spinach spanikopitas, and mini beef empenadas, plus an open bar. I tried the white wine (always best for receptions, since it won't stain your teeth!), but it was nasty, harsh, and sweet, so I switched to the Woodbridge Merlot which is boring but drinkable. They also had beers and hard liquor, and I noticed an awful lot of people drinking doubles and triples.

Every year at the institute, the legal book publishers Thomson/West has a large "private" (it's a pretty open secret) theme party to tie in with the theme they have in their exhibits, and this year it has a football theme. So, last night we were herded outside onto the back "lawn" at the Fontainebleau for a tailgate party, where all the Thomson employees were clad in blue and white football jerseys and a DJ played peppy versions of "elevator"music. Prominently displayed was an autographed shirt from some pro football player named Joe Montana that was to be raffled off later in the evening, and which a lot of the party goers were just orgasming over. As we entered the yard, table after table was covered with pre-made margaritas, and there were more tables scattered all around with "bars" serving wines and beers. Since they weren't doing cocktails and highballs, I really had to search to find the non-alcoholic drinks so I could have my Perrier (I always get re-addicted to Perrier every time I come to this conference, especially now since it comes in nice plastic bottles!).

Near each of the wine/beer stations were tables offerring three different kinds of pizzas. Farther in, on either side of the lawn were big buffets with tossed green salad, potato salad, cole slaw, chicken strips, hamburgers, big hot dogs, steamed buns, spiced french fries, and a large selection of vegetables and condiments. Behind each buffet were two or three charcoal grills being manned by hotel staff, but judging from the size of the party and the speed with which they were cooking food, I think the grills were mostly just for show and that most of the food had been cooked in the hotel kitchen. On the backside of the yard was a big dessert buffet with assorted cookies, brownies, and cakes, and dozens and dozens of two-inch tartlet shells filled with creme patisserie and liberally topped with mixed fresh fruits, then glazed with apricot preserves. Since I had another engagement last night, I refrained from drinking their alcohol and only ate a little bit, mostly just sampling.