We heard a lot of different things at our appointments at thisyear's ICSC convention in Las Vegas. "People are busier than ever.""There is significantly less traffic." "We are totally booked withappointments." "Not as many retailers are showing up." "Thedownturn will end by the end of the year." "It's not getting betterfor at least another couple years." "The consumer is bouncingback." "Don't expect apparel sales to improve any time soon."Our thoughts are that, yes, the place seemed less busythan in recent years, especially in some of the sessions that weattended. But if this had been our first time, and somefirst-timers we spoke with concurred, we'd think the place waspretty damn crowded.The main message we took away is that growthhas slowed due to retailer cutbacks and some projects aren'tgetting built as quickly because of financing issues. But is itrealistic to think an industry will, or even should, have majorexponential growth every year?Also, it was really, really hotoutside for the first couple days, which really sucks for those ofus who have to wear suits.