On a Roll: David Adler

David Adler, 48, was the top publicist for publishing company Primedia from 1993 until last year and also for legendary publisher Robert Maxwell in the late 1980s. Last year he launched BizBash.com, a business-to-business publishing company focused on New York City events. The venture capital-financed operation includes 16 employees, a Web site, and a quarterly newspaper (scheduled to appear in 2002). Its business model is advertising-driven and users pay to be listed on the site, but BizBash.com also selects top practitioners to list for free.

Mission: To link New York event resources, describe the best and the worst events, and promote creativity.

Fact: New York is probably the world's biggest event market, with over 2,000 venues and 100,000 trade events annually amounting to about $4 billion.

Coup: Organizing a new Meeting & Event Coalition post-Sept. 11 to stimulate events planned for New York. We have helped move dozens of events to New York from other places for this year and next year.

Forecast: The downturn is causing people to be more strategic and a lot more creative with events. But events are also supplanting other forms of media, so in some sectors, event activity is up.

Best ideas seen: Hors d'oeuvres on the walls, instead of tables. A human guest book, where attendees signed someone's skin. A person "wearing" a dessert table and circulating among the guests. Art at events, instead of events at galleries. Events are the ultimate proprietary product; no two are alike.