Navigating the intersection of Madison and Vine can be overwhelming, if only for the sheer volume of information to be tracked by both sides. But once a year, at the L.A. Office RoadShow, the traffic flows smoothly.

Now in its sixth year, the L.A. Office RoadShow, running today-Thursday in Hollywood, has become an important destination for consumer brands, marketers and agencies needing a one-stop overview of upcoming entertainment properties - and potential promotion partners - in music, film and television.

RoadShow was a natural extension of L.A. Office, a marketing agency formed in 1994 by studio promo veteran Mitch Litvak, in response to an obvious and growing need. "There was no centralized way for the marketing industry to know what was going on in entertainment," he says. "So we became the 'L.A. office' for agencies that didn't have an L.A. office."

In addition to producing RoadShow, this "agency's agency" has a subscription-based membership program that provides a monthly 150-page report and up-to-the-minute online tracking of more than 2,500 entertainment properties (including video games) for a $3,250 annual fee per company.

The first RoadShow in 1998 was a three-city tour (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York), with eight movie studios presenting their upcoming theatrical slates in a show-and-tell format that continues today - each studio has 40 minutes to pitch projects and talk about licensing opportunities, target audiences and release dates. In 1999, RoadShow added TV and music companies to its list of presenters and began dividing the program into simultaneous "tracks" (adult/teen vs. kids/tweens/family), so that agencies could focus on properties relevant to their audience. Two years later, the RoadShow took over a multiplex in Hollywood and became a three-day, L.A.-based event, with attendance continuing to rise by at least 33% each year.

"It really helps us get to a wide net of partners and drive awareness," Warner Bros. vp domestic theatrical promotions Erin Corbett says. "Year after year, we find it important to show and have a presence there."

Presentations can be as simple as a narrated PowerPoint or as involved as a $40,000 song and dance with stars, though brand decision makers often prefer a simpler approach. All of the properties are presented by the marketing executives directly responsible for developing their promotions - a total of 250 presenters last year (vs. 10 total in 1998).

This year, all 10 major (and mini) studios are presenting, along with a record number of TV and music companies. To handle the increase, a third TV track has been added, allowing attendees to choose between two simultaneous adult-and-teen presentations and a kids-and-family TV slate; Film Day has been extended an extra half-day as well. Music also will be a strong focus this year, with three panels added to help marketers better understand how to leverage music in their campaigns.

Taking place today at the refurbished Henry Fonda Music Box Theater in Hollywood is Music Day. Aside from lunch, a networking reception and a kickoff party, the event includes presentations by all of the major music distributors and 11 live performances. Wednesday is split between the three TV tracks in the morning and film presentations in the afternoon, and Thursday is an all-film day, showcasing the major theatrical and home video releases of the next six to 24 months.

"Every year we're surprised by who the attendees are," says Litvak, who expects this year's attendance to exceed last year's record of 600 brand, marketing, agency and PR executives, from midlevel managers to CEOs. Among the new, "nontraditional" attendees are the U.S. Army, United States Postal Service, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the American Red Cross.