...shortages, lines and standing-room-only educational sessions. I had my favorite sessions picked out before I caught the plane in Seattle. But I haven't been able to get into any of them today.

But I'm learning the tricks for surviving Greenbuild. One is to show up way early for the sessions you want. What with the f2f meetings and press conferences, unfortunately, I can't spend that much time in a line. Just walking between locations within McCormick Place is time consuming due to the distances and crowds.

I'm dragging it a bit anyway from getting up early to hear our last popularly elected president Bill Clinton's keynote after a late night at the "PDX Lounge." The city of Portland OR throws a blast of a party each year at Greenbuild, to draw attention to selected green-tinted businesses in the Northwest. I met some nice Oregonians, had delicious food, stayed up too late, and blew out my vocal chords. Somehow today the nominal two-hour time zone change is seeming much longer.

Instead of shoving my way into education sessions today, I'm working on an audio tour of the expo floor, with short interviews in the booths of several energy-related vendors. On my list are companies in solar, lighting, controls and general energy efficiency. That will be online as a podcast -- my hoarse voice and all -- after the conference, due to the sound production time required.

Now, I have to go get upstairs to the Daily Grind latte stand, a little-known alternative to the hour-long lines at Starbucks. Another trick for surviving Greenbuild.

To be continued tomorrow.

More on Greenbuild 2007.

Greenbuild 2007: Nearly 8,000 people attended the opening plenary with President Bill Clinton, who captivated the audience with a compelling speech. (EP photo)