During the day, delegates attended sessions. At night, there were a host of gatherings; some were arranged by the Thai government, pharmaceutical companies or large AIDS organizations, such as the Global Health Council. Parties were held on boats, in restaurants and at the fanciest hotels. Favored doctors were probably the busiest, but with so many leaders in town, there was a lot of party hopping. While most of the delegates were not invited to the poshest festivities, most people found the conference a terrific opportunity to network with people from around the world who were doing similar work, whether it was outreach to homeless populations or figuring out ways to get funding for new AIDS projects.

The ubiquitous celebrity at this conference was Richard Gere. Most people who had never met him were skeptical of his commitment. But at a press conference, he expressed how much "his community" of entertainers had been affected by HIV. With a clear grasp of the issue, he spoke about spreading the HIV prevention message throughout India by helping to convince the country's radio and television media to allow public service messages that he was involved in producing. Through his foundation, The Gere Foundation, and in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and STAR India, Gere just launched the Heroes Project, a three-year campaign to combat HIV in India.