This week, 334 extraordinary women met in San Diego for the 10th Anniversary Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit (October 1 - 3).

The setting was beautiful (the venue was The Four Seasons in North San Diego), the temperature was warm (high 70s). And the sky Wednesday night — opening night — sported a crescent moon and no rain, humidity or tension. Limousines greeted us at the airport (why not, the entrance fee is steep but we all paid months ago when "bailouts" were something you did from rowboats). The fate and fallout of a crashing economy was THE topic (the news of the Senate’s and House’s passing of Secretary Paulson’s proposal had yet to surface), and the women were comparing notes on meltdowns, layoffs and rumors, while networking with a vengeance to make up for decades of networking dearth.

Who was there? Meg Whitman, ex-eBay CEO; Lisa Caputo, chief marketing officer of Citigroup; Esther Dyson, chairman of EDventure Holdings; Mary Meeker, managing director of Morgan Stanley; Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Capital; Sherrie Rollins Westin, chief marketing director of Sesame Workshop; Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo; Kay Koplovitz, founder of USA Network and CEO, Koplovitz & Co.; Ursula Burns, president of Xerox; Susan Decker, president of Yahoo!; Donna E. Shalala, president and professor of political science, University of Miami; Susan Arnold, president of Procter & Gamble Co. The super achievers all seemed to be donning Armani suits with an occasional flair of a Gucci/Ferragamo accent scarf. The haircuts were impeccable. The heels, chunky yet still super-high. The electronics — glowing all the time while tucked inside gift bags (yet another favor from a Fortune sponsor).

Only three males were in evidence:

1. Andy Serwer, our first host, who is managing editor of Fortune and seen often as business anchor on cable television (CNN’s "American Morning," etc.).

2. Lloyd C. Blankfein, our first guest and chairman and CEO of  Goldman Sachs (recipient of some $5 billion from Guest No. 2), celebrated the winner of a global initiative that Goldman Sachs launched — "10,000 Women," a  philanthropic endeavor providing 10,000 women, mostly from developing markets, with a business and management education. Many of the participants were present (glowing young women from Russia, Peru, Argentina … entrepreneurial embryos privileged to work alongside these top business women in America for three weeks). Mr. Blankfein beamed out at the audience: "I’m thrilled to be out of New York!" We all knew why.

3. Warren Buffett, the supreme guest, was also introduced, and the rumor spread all evening that he was looking for a bridge game. At the time of this writing, Ann Moore (CEO of Time), Jane Olson (chair of Human Rights Watch) and Kristen Manos (executive vice president and president, North American Office Environments for Herman Miller, Inc.) had volunteered! Of course the other buzz about Mr. Buffett that evening was that he had bestowed $3 billion onto General Electric … ("What the hell were the stakes at bridge?" we wondered).

Carol Loomis interviewing Warren Buffett