MEXICO CITY, Mexico - Twenty-two thousand people from all over the world, gathered in one conference center for a week. All of them have different takes on the AIDS epidemic, and all of them are keen on making their points of view known.

It's like being a kid in a candy store for a journalist. All these people, all eager to talk to you, all vying for your attention as a representative of the global media.

But that's what makes covering an AIDS conference so difficult: How do you sort through all the information, all the public relations pitches, all of the staged events to get to the story?

In the space of three days, I've talked to prestigious scientists, sex workers from Thailand, proud parents of gay teenagers, hard-working community outreach workers from Bolivia, earnest activists from France, nervous press officials from the Mexican government, eager sales reps from the pharmaceutical companies. All have a story to tell, but I only have a few minutes a day to get all those stories out.

"It is a bit of a circus, isn't it?" asked the head of a major non-governmental organization as we prepared to do a live interview. I had to agree - but then proceeded to be amazed at how she shifted from that rather blasé remark into a perfectly executed 30-second quote about the essence of her organization's work in HIV prevention.

For me, the challenge was in attempting to do the same - distilling all the information available into perfectly executed and well-informed short reports on the essence of the gathering. After all, everything usually boils down to one essential message.

Gotta go. A group of drummers and dancers - AIDS activists from Pakistan - is threading its way toward me, and is headed straight for our camera.