Last night I was invited to a cocktail party and dinner to kick off the GFC conference in New York -- taking place today -- bringing together some of the most up-and-coming DJs and creatives around the world. The conference's purpose is to discuss the future of music and creative collaboration. One of the most interesting choices is Pedro Winter, a.k.a. Busy-P, as curator in addition to being a DJ, he's also ex-manager of Daft Punk and founder of Ed Banger Records. Pedro selected several of the conference panel members -- those he deems exceedingly relevant in each of their respective countries.

Coincidentally, before the night’s festivities I bumped into Senor Pedro on Lafayette Street -- me in sweaty running gear, clenching iPod -- only a few hours before the party. We exchanged hellos and planned to catch up later on in the evening. The cocktail party was held at the Thompson LES hotel, and over drinks, I was able to find out in a little more detail from Pedro about his involvement. “The main reason I’m involved and we’re having this conference is to find out what’s going on in other countries creatively and how we can work together to make things better.” How did he choose the invites? He responded in his elegant French accent, “Well, for example someone in South Korea was chosen because that area of the world, creatively, is on the rise and about to explode. Same is true in Russia and South Africa. It’s important to know what they and everyone globally is up to.”

After our chat, Pedro headed off to dinner. However, before he departed, I told him that our mutual friends Stretch Armstrong and The Glass were DJing and performing at Studio B in Brooklyn. He said, “Maybe, I’ll surprise Stretch and just show up!” I unfortunately didn’t make it across the bridge to Williamsburg last night, but hopefully the busy Frenchman did.