Welcome to the first instalment of the MIPIM blog.

On these pages you'll be able to read all about the adventures of a first timer in Cannes. This year I've been lucky enough to score both a hotel room and a flight to Cannes (a pretty tough undertaking apparently), to cover the event for PropertyWeek.com. Needless to say everyone around me who isn't going is turning Green with envy.

I've been talking to a lot of people about what to expect, and all I can say is it's a good thing I don't scare easily. The picture that's emerging looks something like Apocalypse Now, but with yachts in place of Navy patrol boats and champagne instead of unpleasant things like war and death. If you're not sure what I mean then here's a game you can try at home: find yourself a MIPIM old hand and pose the question 'what's MIPIM like then?' I've found the other person's response is usually to grin, shake their heads and mumble "mental" with a far off look in their eyes. I'm excited to see whether the event can live up to all the dramatic descriptions of it.

In the name of preparation I've also been trying to gather some tips off the aforementioned MIPIM veterans. I was hoping for things to see, people to meet and so on but so far the pearls of wisdom I've had include "bring at least two boxes of ProPlus" and "don't be a woman". The ProPlus idea confuses me a little – does anyone but long haul truck drivers actually take it? Is it not just like having a lot of coffee? And if you need to stay awake, isn't that what all the alcohol is there for? Not that I'm advocating daytime drinking or anything. As for the second bit of advice, I'm going to have to draw the line at running around Cannes in drag. If you think you can do better on the advice front I'd love to hear from you on the message board.