I've had trouble getting on the internet so far, which is why this is my first blog from Ft. Lauderdale. Sunday was registration and Donruss hosted a very nice party and brought in Miami Hurricane's tight end Greg Olsen to sign for everyone.

Next was the Upper Deck boat cruise for scholarship winners. We thought we might be risking our lives with the crazy winds, but it was intercoastal so it's more calm. It was a great way to start the week, especially since I didn't get sea sick.

After that I was off to a Topps party for retailers, where the videotaped a Topps Case Rip Party in which selected participants opened boxes of the upcoming Triple Threads Basketball. The event will be posted soon on the Topps TV portion of the company's website.

Monday was the Upper Deck Golf Tournament at Grande Oaks Golf Course. It's the same course that Caddyshack was filmed at and it was a tremendous course. We had stong wind and it was cold (and I'm from Wisconsin) for most of it. Upper Deck does this so well every year with prizes, gifts and promotion, and this year was no different. Everyone got a gopher headcover to remind us of the movie.

The big news of the day was the NFL confirmed that Topps, Upper Deck and Donruss Playoff all had their licenses renewed. There was speculation that the NFL might follow Major League Baseballs's lead and cut the number to two, but all three will produce football cards.

This was followed by a great evening event hosted by MLBPA, Topps and Upper Deck. The turnout for this event was really impressive, with almost all the 320 (roughly) attendees there. Tuesday marks the start of the business sessions and I'll write about some of those highlights in a bit.