Los Angeles: 7/10

While last month's LA board flow report card depicted biz as all quiet on the Western front, things have picked up somewhat as prodcos head into the almighty fourth quarter blitz. "It's not summer board flow, but it's certainly not dead," says one exec, semi-enthusiastically.

In a town where Santa wears shorts, the gift of holiday boards has been a little late in coming this year. "I'm kind of shocked 'cause it's usually about now that you see the holiday-driven stuff," muses one EP. Still, the jobs that are on the market - weighing heavily towards automotive, tech and telecom - are coming with workable budgets. "They usually always suck but we've been extremely lucky."

The gushing subsides, however, when it comes to creative. "It's bad," says one EP, before spelling it out - "Baaaaaaaad. There's a lot that's going in the waste bin." "Some of the creative is great," offers another exec. "And some of it is like, 'Well, that was interesting.'"

While the holiday boards may be the traditional last minute jobs, the big ol' Super Bowl crush is picking up steam, with some EPs reporting they've shot their Super spots already and others saying they're still "teething" on some Bowl boards. Still, with end of year approaching, the mood is upbeat.

Toronto: 5/10

The chilly winds and rain-bearing clouds that have swept upon Toronto have been mirrored by the cooling off of board flow following the late summer stampede of August and September. With the resurgence of hockey spots now out of the way ("Thank God for them - I was going to pay the hockey players out of my own pocket to come back," sighs one EP), all that's left is what one source dismisses as "the bread and butter shit."

While a stronger Canadian dollar doesn't seem to have deterred foreign activity, with the US and Europe still bringing some business in, it's not quite enough to quell the general sense of "Is that all there is?" And while automotive boards seemed to pick up steam during the summer, the current crop "is all over the place - there's no rhyme or reason."

With the decidedly "meat and potatoes" stuff being pitched, creative hasn't been at its most inspired. "With anything that seems to have a creative backbone, you're just kind of waiting for the rope to get pulled," mulls one exec. "It feels like you're trying to walk out of the store with something and it's just a matter of time before someone calls you back."

Still, the holiday rush hasn't hit yet, and there is a sense of optimism that "November will be a slam month." And boards for the Winter Olympics are starting to filter through, which should pick up the pace somewhat, although, as one EP says, "there are only so many ways you can shoot a bobsled."

New York: 6/10

If autumn is meant to be New York's most calming, tranquil time, then unfortunately, clients are following the script. While everybody we spoke to noted an upsurge in work from the last few months, the overall consensus was that it was akin to going from second gear to third. In other words, nobody's in the fast lane.