Uncertainty Looms Over Annual Sun Valley Gathering As moguls descended on Sun Valley on Tuesday for Allen & Company's annual gathering, they were greeted by a giant plume of smoke. Fanned by wind, wildfires in southern Idaho had spawned a huge cloud, obscuring the area's verdant hills and creating a mess on the runways. Commercial and private jets were delayed. Many circled Friedman Memorial Airport, waiting for their turn to land. And about a dozen private jets were diverted to the airport in Twin Falls - an hour and a half drive from the resort. As the attendees straggled in, a few headed for the Duchin Lounge, the resort's go-to watering hole. Many who arrived late headed to bed. Tuesday's muted kickoff was apropos. After a year of mixed initial public offerings and continuing disruptions in the media industry, a cloud of uncertainty now hangs over Sun Valley. And while many technology hotshots are back, their golden patina has faded. Last year, the industry was busy toasting the new Web kings, a group led by Mark Pincus, the chief executive of Zynga; Andrew Mason, the chief executive of Groupon; and Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Facebook, who had brought his playful Puli, Beast. At the time, their companies were on the precipice of going public at sky-high valuations. In the months since, the start-ups have received a swift lesson on the capricious nature of the public markets. Zynga, the game maker, is roughly 50 percent below its offering price. Groupon is trading below $8, an all-time low. And Facebook, after a tumultuous first month, has clawed its way back, but is still 18 percent below its offering price. The pain in the public markets has seeped into the private, bogging down enthusiasm for other high-profile start-ups like Twitter, the micro-blogging service. Still, there were plenty of reasons to grab a drink on Tuesday night. The lounge, though less populated than last year, gave the technology and media moguls a chance to mingle and hatch potential partnerships. Mark Pincus and Eric Lefkofsky, the co-founder of Groupon, made quick visits before retiring to their rooms. Mr. Mason, practically stapled to Mr. Lefkofsky's side last year, was notably absent. Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter and Square, held court with a small group outside. And after a late entrance, Mr. Zuckerberg also showed up, alongside his friend Drew Houston, the chief of Dropbox. Clad in his uniform gray shirt and jeans, Mr. Zuckerberg made a quick beeline for Duchin, but not before Dennis Kneale of Fox Business Network managed to get in a few words. "Can I buy you a vodka gimlet," the boisterous Mr. Kneale asked, also dressed down in a short-sleeved black top and worn-in sneakers. The Facebook billionaire, whose stake is still billions of dollars, politely demurred, "I'm good, thanks." Mayor Michael Bloomberg arrived with the former New York City schools chancellor Joel I. Klein (now chief executive of News Corporation's newly formed education division) and Cory Booker, the Democrat mayor of Newark. Kazuo Hirai, the recently named chief executive of Sony, rushed past reporters as his predecessor, Howard Stringer, lingered in the lobby. Filmmaker Harvey Weinstein also made a brief appearance. While the techies had been taken down a peg, many media executives strolled in with a little more spring in their step than in previous years. Tensions remain between media and technology companies over the distribution of content via online digital. But in the last year, media executives have said they feel more positive about harnessing new media as a means to build additional revenue streams. Last year, Time Warner and CBS struck their biggest deal yet to allow Netflix to license its television content. The $1 billion deal over eight years will give Netflix the right to stream shows like "The Vampire Diaries" and " Gossip Girl" broadcast on the CW network. Those types of deals could amount to a new revenue stream for media giants, who can try to make money off TV series that would not necessarily sell in a traditional syndication model. Time Warner's Jeffrey L. Bewkes (who once compared Netflix to the Albanian army taking over the world) said he had already chatted with the company's chief, Reed Hastings, at the conference, with more discussions planned during the week. He also said he expected to talk to Apple's chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, about plans for the secretive new Apple TV. Mr. Bewkes said his best guess for Apple TV would be a partnership with a cable operator similar to the way Apple partnered with AT&T on the iPhone. "It will probably be a lot more painless than everyone thinks," Mr. Bewkes said, who also took the opportunity to boast about Time Warner's improved stock price. Regardless of how the hierarchy of Sun Valley shakes out this year, there is one great equalizer. When one Duchin server was asked what time she would have to kick out Mr. Zuckerberg, who was lingering at the bar along with a handful of other executives at midnight, she said she could not serve alcohol all night - no matter who was ordering. "Well, 1:30 is the law in Idaho," she said.