This just isn’t the same old Sundance … but I remain hopeful it will pick up.  They tell me that lots of folks skipped this year for financial reasons and because of the event in DC.

For me, there have been some great opportunities although the festival press office has been unreceptive.  Oh well, they are just “doing their jobs.”

Thank goodness for Southwest Airlines!  They invited me to stop by their suite on Main Street.  When I got there, however, Southwest representatives had left.  Not to worry.  Their partner in the suite was Moving Pictures Magazine.  After passing a litmus test, the magazine folks allowed me to stay … again, just “doing their jobs.”  Regardless … it was very cool.  I pulled Benjamin Bratt aside for a few moments, after his interview with magazine editor Elliot Kotek.  And even better, I met the co-star of Bratt’s film “La Mission” — Erika Alexander.  She was sporting a big Texas-sized cowboy hat, so you can see how I was drawn to her.

Southwest Airlines and some A-List stars, promoting Indy films — share the love — six pings.

And after the magazine types finished their work, Kotek went in front of the camera for a brief interview:

Oh … in other news.  I also spent some quality time with friends at HP in their Internet lounge.  They had lots of cool new laptops on display, but the Wi-Fi there was provided by Sundance, and pretty slow.  Not a good thing for a computer company, no matter who is responsible.

Overall, most of the comments overheard regarding the Wi-Fi around the festival have been slightly negative.  There are quite a few people trying to get on and share limited bandwidth.  But it is better than nothing …

The crowds seem smaller, but more importantly, the Sundance Wi-Fi isn’t handling the traffic that is here — just doing my job, three pings.

Know what I sayin?