11:20—During the “Retail Runway” presentation in the Grand Ballroom West, a spirited video introduction to Blink Fitness features a trainer telling the advertisement’s lab rat to, “Get comfortable being uncomfortable, cupcake.” Moments later, the featured drill sergeant bellows: “Soul? You can worry about that shit at yoga class.” Brows furrow throughout the ballroom.
11:36—The CO overhears the day’s first and only Glengarry Glen Ross reference.
11:51—Back to the subject of comfort: JMP Holdings has outfitted its booth with two massage contraptions, literally bringing weary brokers to their knees for a good shoulder rub.
11:55—ABS Partners’ Dean Valentino predicts that the energy will reach a fever pitch shortly after lunch. Mr. Valentino is “looking forward to the networking parties” tonight. Newmark (NMRK) Grubb Knight Frank’s après-ICSC bash is a can’t-miss party, he says.
12:01—When asked how she keeps her sanity throughout the ICSC thrum, Winick Realty Group’s Kelly Gedinsky says “it’s really just like a typical day in the office.”
12:16—Ami Ziff, director of national retail at Time Equities, says that ICSC is busier than in previous years. “Asking rents are up in Manhattan, and where they aren’t up, they’ve stabilized,” Mr. Ziff says.
12:27—Lunch in the Grand Ballroom West. The incongruous spectacle of suit-and-tie-clad realtors networking while a Ke$ha club track blares from the speakers, the singer crooning about brushing her teeth with a bottle of Jack. “It’s cold in here,” one broker says. “Not as cold as the chicken,” another says.
12:31—Lunch table conversation turns to the Villanova basketball team.
1:27—The CO roughly estimates the number of business cards scattered across the second-floor lobby at 17.
1:43—Overheard in the Rhinelander Gallery: “My voice is gonna be fucking shot to hell tomorrow.”
