From: Annie (annie@geekbabe.com)
Date: Sun Sep 15 2002 - 00:00:48 CDT
In this mailing:
Org List
This mailing
Hotels & transport
Pre-DLV correspondence
Hotels
Densie writes
Monique writes
Change of day and venue
Nominated hotels
Summary Schedule of Activities
Administrivia
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Org List:
This is the DLV 2003 Organizational Mailing List (dlvorg@geekbabe.com)
Replies to this message will be forwarded to the DLVORG list and not
the DLV-Announce or DLV-Discuss list.
Ongoing activity database appears on line at:
http://www.geekbabe.com/annie/org03arc/acts.html
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This mailing:
This week's mailing contains a number of various hotel comments,
including one suggestion to do things somewhat differently from the way
we've been leaning toward.
We also have one item that throws a wrench into some of our preliminary
schedule (HWGA).
We have a few more hotel nominations, some in duplicate, and more
discussion on hotels and transportation.
. . . . .
I have a question for the group here, regarding the proposed shuttle
service: Is there anybody here who would REALLY use, and who would
prefer such a service, as opposed to your usual method of local
transportation in Las Vegas? Please speak if you would.
. . . . .
I'm copying the following item to the group, which appeared recently
in the alt.vacation.las-vegas newsfroup. It gives a bit of background
on the current Sahara:
Sam D writes:
+The Sahara is fine if you want a good on a budget and you're not too
+demanding. Here's a little background on the Sahara and its price
+strategy.
+The Sahara is owned and operated by Bill Bennett, the same person who
+formerly made a huge success out of Circus Circus. His thinking, which
+proved correct, was that low rates will bring the customers in and if
+you don't charge much they won't expect too much.
+Circus Circus became the cash cow that led to more than two decades of
+growth and success. When the upscale Luxor and initial plans for the
+Mandalay brought the parent company to a different operating
+philosophy, Bennett was forced out.
+He took his winning chips collected from all the years at CC and bought
+the Sahara. He did some extensive renovating and has since followed the
+same policy that had previously worked so well at CC. The cheap buffet
+and the low minimum table games are part of the package. However, the
+Sahara doesn't attract the hordes of kids that CC does.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hotels & transport:
Kate writes:
>I personally like the San Remo, Tropicana area for various reasons but
>ease of driving to and from is one of the main ones, as one of the
>girls already mentioned the IP zone is congested at all entrances for
>either driving or walking which can cause some stress when trying to
>get somewhere on time and this holds true for all the casinos in that
>area, whereas the Trop has easy access and has motel rooms too for
>those who don't want to negotiate the casino floor.
>The San Remo is a small and friendly and very reasonable in price too.
I'm going to take this as a nomination for the San Remo and the
Tropicana for consideration as suggested hotels. I'll add them to the
list (see below) and we can do the voting in November.
I personally can't see anything wrong with either. Although I've never
stayed at either one, I've heard no major complaints. I've played at
both and DLV has attended shows at both. No significant problems were
reported at either.
>The subject of transport is a difficult sell until you find you might
>need it, I suspect in a vacation town like vegas a limo/shuttle van can
>be hired with short notice, with that in mind I think it might be ok to
>leave it until the first night at Flex and those interested could pay
>on site and the shuttle could be reserved for selected nights/days etc
>this would eliminate the need to pay in advance of DLV before we have
>really decided what to do and where to go during our stay.(Again just a
>suggestion)
Regardless of how we decide to go on this, I would like to see plans
firmly in place before DLV starts. As to your suggestion, yes, it would
be more convenient to actually pay at the first DLV evening activity,
but it probably is not a good idea to hold off on any decisions or
plans until DLV actually happens.
One option would be to have a plan in place with a contingency that
it would be cancelled or scaled back if not enough people actually
follow through and pay for it.
>Personally I will most likely be driving myself around town.
This seems to be the option that most people appear to prefer. That's
why I'm suggesting we not expend mental energy on it now, but revisit
the topic once registration begins and get a handle on what the real
demand is.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pre-DLV correspondence:
>Also I think it may be nice if there was some way of setting up
>correspondence for those staying in a specific area, (just a
>suggestion!)
There has been a recurring need to allow and encourage our people to
get to know each other and to correspond prior to DLV.
Unless there is a very strong reason to do so, I want to see these
methods incorporate everybody, and not just a subgroup, such as those
who plan to stay in a certain hotel or area.
I realize we do have an exception here already, the golf list. This is
one case where the topic is very specialized, of very high interest to
some, and of zero interest to others.
It's easy to start a forum, the hard part is to get people to use it
and to get meaningful discussion going.
Previously we've tried pre-DLV e-mail address lists (poor response)
published web site addresses (good response), put up a DLV photo gallery
(good response), and there have been a couple attempts to start DLV
discussion forums (fora?) elsewhere (poor response).
This coming year I want to offer a more convenient and more informal
discussion forum to our people, and steer all the chit-chat, debate,
protracted discussion, personal items, etc., over there, and reserve the
general mailing list (moderated and digestified) for announcements and
other items that are genuinely important. It was mentioned several times
that the general mailing list was becoming too verbose and that people
were skimming, skipping, and missing important items.
This will exist in two forms, a mailing list, for those who like to do
these things by e-mail, and a web forum, for those who prefer the web.
Content will be shared between the two forms, of course.
It's on line and ready to be used now. Roll-out is planned for the
monthly September-October announcement mailing.
If you want to check it out, the web view of it is on line at:
http://www.geekbabe.com/dlv/dlv2003/dlvdisc/
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hotels:
Yvonne writes:
>Hi Annie!!
Hewwo :)
>There has been very good discussions brought up about hotels in the
>newletters.
>Would it be easier to do what kinda has been done in the past, where we
>have a list of hotels (like our list of business vendors) that has all
>our favorite hotels on it, and all other ones that DLV attendees have
>used, and have some sort of review criteria that deals with issues
>necessary for DLV and is updated as frequent as DLV attendees use them,
>similar to how Consumer Reports does their product testing.
>This could eliminate the selecting, chosing, or recommending a hotel or
>hotels and allows everyone to contribute information.
>This will allow the individual to decide by themselves, on where they
>feel most comfortable staying at, based on this listed (charted)
>information, and their own concerns (whatever they may be). This gives
>the individual more information to help them decide on a hotel and
>criteria that they may have never considered in chosing a hotel.
>The best hotel(s) based on the critera can be on the top of the list
>(like Consumer Reports).
>Those looking for hotels and have further questions can email and
>address the whole org or the whole DLV email group via the newsletter
>to get more information
>Also, we could grading (like A-F) each hotel on each critera as a DLV
>group (using our post DLV questionaire as the source of information) by
>those that stayed at the hotel. This might be an incentive for more DLV
>attendees to do the Post-DLV questionaire, and get a general feel from
>everyone how the hotel is as a group. Each DLV attendee will have one
>vote.
>Hopefully nobody's feels are hurt if their favorite hotel is not highly
>recommended... but the criteria should tell why not. It also doesn't
>stop anyone from still staying their either.
>A comment section could also be helpful, and a place for
>recommendations if they have to be made based on the criteria that is
>presented on the list.
>... Or have I missed something of this discussion and am I saying
>something already in consideration/done (could be my post-blonde night
>effects)?
>... Then again, others may rather be told where to stay instead of
>looking at the list ... which makes the arguement above moot...
What I'm hearing from you is that you propose we don't limit the hotels
we suggest to any particular (voted upon) set, but we mention all that
have been nominated with enough details to let the people make an
informed choice.
<digression>
Going back into history, we really didn't have any officially suggested
hotels until DLV 2001. (I went back thru the mailings to confirm this.)
We just discussed what was available on the mailing list and didn't
do anything other than make personal suggestions.
Prior to 2001, it was more or less a free-for-all, with recommendations
being passed on line and in the mailings.
In January of 2001, the call was made to the general list (the ORG list
retired in December for the first years it existed) for comments about
one suggested hotel. Call for discussion was made in the mailing:
http://www.geekbabe.com/annie/dlv01arc/0008.html
... dated January 7, comments came in favoring both the Sahara and the
Imperial Palace and it looked like neither would make the cut as *the
one* official DLV hotel, but both would as a pair of suggested hotels.
That's how that came about. You can read comments in:
http://www.geekbabe.com/annie/dlv01arc/0009.html and
http://www.geekbabe.com/annie/dlv01arc/0010.html
In December of 2001 it was agreed in the ORG list that the duopoly of
the IP and Sahara worked, and to again suggest two. Mindy proposed the
Boardwalk as a third, and there were no objections to doing so.
In January of 2002, the three suggestions were announced to the masses,
and no objections were raised.
Just prior to DLV 2002 I was hearing rumblings that said three was
becoming confusing, and that we should-oughta limit to one.
</digression>
After DLV 2002 I heard two callings, one to concentrate more, another
to diversify.
The call to concentrate appeared (to me) to come from those who raised
transportation issues.
The call to diversify appeared (to me) to come from those who wished to
make us less obvious to any given hotel.
What I hear you proposing is that we do not really recommend, suggest,
or endorse, but give "just the facts, ma'am" and let the people decide
which is best.
>It seems that were already developing one anyway ... as a review:
>1. Price of room: High/luxurious - Medium - Low/basic - Del-Mar
>2. Location: Proximity to DLV events, traffic by car or foot, parking,
>Note: This doesn't affect transportation to and from DLV, for each
>person still needs a ride/way to and from DLV events.
>3. Being with or away from other DLV attendees
>4. Walk through or bypass the casino to get to room
>5. T-friendly (oblivious) or not: casino-hotel-resturant-buffet
>6. Personal favorite place to stay while in LV (for DLV or not)
>7. Hotel comps / Players comps
>8. OK with corporate travel
This will vary from company to company.
>9. Food: Exellent - Good - Lousy (This can be highly subjective, since
>some may like the food, others who eat at the same time can also hate
>it.)
>10. Quality of room: clean to dirty, no smell to smelly, smoking -
>non-smoking, well lit or dark and dingy, etc, lighted mirrors, vanity
>mirrors, window view, bugs, etc
>11. Quality of casino, favorite games, better odds, clean facilites,
>open bathrooms, friendly staff and dealers, easy access, etc
>Have I missed any points are there others? If so please add them! My
>apologies if I missed any!
>On other thoughts....
>I personally stay downtown, because mainly of travel costs from Hawaii,
>and my familiarity of the place I stay. I am not sure on how it would
>fare in the other catagories, of which some I never explored with the
>hotel.
It's interesting to note how Boyd Group has promoted the California and
Main Street Station to people in Hawaii, with packages that are often at
a deep discount. They (Boyd) even purchased the then-closed Main Street
Station and first used it as an overflow house for the California. I
don't know of any other niche-market in LV that has worked this well,
both for the promoter and for the consumer.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Densie writes:
>>>It's always OK to say anything on this list in the spirit of friendly
>>>debate, right?
>>Yes, to question is the answer! :)
>The hell it is!
>>Yes and no. Margeth has always stayed at the IP since 1997, and that's
>Margeth is coming next year, right? It's just not the same without
>her...
I agree, she was dearly missed in 2002! :(
>we don't meet nearly as many convicts.
LOL
>There's a {mumble} between Paradise and Swenson at Harmon. There's also
>I don't know how The Mumble is in LV, but we have one in Tucson that's
>really nice.
>>We've definitely outgrown Milano's for this. :)
>Yeah, but where else can you get rubber chicken on a bun ?
On a bun?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Monique writes:
>DLV Org Group Sisters,
>Sorry to be silent for a while....about 3 weeks ago the company I work
>for stated that the company was moving from Nashville to Denver by
>year's end.
>Some of the employees (including myself) were offered relocation
>packages and after alot of soul searching, I elected to leave behind
>family in Ohio and a ton of TG friends here in the SE USA. Not only do
>I have to move myself, but I'm pretty much in charge of logistics of
>moving the entire company and get them up and running with minimal
>business interruptions. So my mind and thoughts have gotten distracted
>from DLVorg'03 of recent, plus with a few things I'll be involved with
>at Southern Comfort 2002. Please accept my apologies for being so tardy
>in not being more proactive with the ORGgroup. After SCC is over, I'll
>be able to better focus on DLV'03 and the ORGgroup.
>But now onto business.......
>Hotels. I have to say that I do vote that we suggest 3-4 properties for
>DLV attendees to stay at. I would like to nominate the following, not
>in any specific order or preference:
>Saharah (that's where I'll be at again due to comfort level, fantastic
>level of service, value for the $, and the great 24 hour coffee shop;
>plus security knows me there now! LOL)
>Imperial Palace (call me nostalgic, though I've never stayed there, but
>I do know attendees from '01 and '02 stayed there and were comfortable)
>Bellagio for a more upscale place to stay, and
>San Remo for I was impressed with the smaller atmosphere there, a great
>staff, and a bit better of a location.
>Those are my votes, IMHO.
I would tend to agree with all of those suggestions. Assuming nothing
new and sexy jumps out and seduces me, I'll most likely be at the Sahara
again in 2003 as well.
>As for the venues I agreed to volunteer for, I still stick with those.
>I've just not had any time to think when it would be best to have the
>limo tour (Aiko privately emailed me and will help me with
>coordination, etc.), the Southern Belle Society Social (off the cuff
>thoughts are to tie that in with the Beliago buffett and afterwards
>for a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon - location yet to be
>determined - San Remo maybe?.
>I don't wish to see the SBS social be held during the same time as
>golf like last year as I'd like to see a larger turnout for the social
>and I think golf cut into that), and of course chieftress name badge
>hander-outer and name taker, greeter, etc. If any other ORG sister
>would like to help out with this like Rhianna did last year, I'd be
>happy to accept help here.
>For shuttles, this is really a coordination effort and requires one or
>more sisters to give up some of their own 'fun' time haul attendees to
>and from various venues.
>I can tell you from multiple personal experiences with SBS socials
>I've called and hosted in Nashville plus those I've attended in
>Atlanta, this does cut in on times out and about, for all attendees do
>not normally stick to a strict schedule.
>My personal view on shuttles is that 1.) we've not really needed them
>in the past and 2.) it requires a good deal of coordination and
>efforts for the drivers. Remember, we're all there to enjoy ourselves.
>While alot of us do work hard to be sure that DLV works well for all
>attending, we're also there to have an equally good time.
>Everything else I've read in the threads and emails I'm comfortable
>with. I'm really thrilled to hear that Tiny and the Showgirls of Magic
>are excited about us attending on Saturday evening. Belive me girls,
>this is a great show!
>That's all for now!
Thanks for the report, Monique, and we do hope you have an easy
transition to Denver.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Change of day and venue:
Michelle (NV) writes:
>Las Vegas ClubGirltalk is moving to a new place and time. ... From my
>poll Thursday night was the most popular and this just happened to be
>the night that we decided on. The new venue for CGT is Flex Lounge,
>which is spacious, has a dance area, pool tables for those of you who
>are so inclined, a large bar area, and a friendly staff who is
>enthusiastic about working with CGT.
Thanks for the note, Michelle.
This is one problem of scheduling activities this far out, <bfg> things
always seem to change. I've removed CGT from Wednesday.
Floor is now open to discuss the remaining Wednesday activities. Do we
wanna keep Sasha's for Wed.? Do we want to schedule CGT for Thursday?
Comments? Discussion? Suggestions?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nominated hotels:
This will be an ongoing item until the vote in November.
(In order of nomination)
Sahara
Imperial Palace
Bellagio
San Remo
Tropicana
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summary Schedule of Activities:
Date Day Time Activity
========== ========= =========
Apr 22 Tue
5:00pm Pre-DLV Happy Hour/dinner (Hamburger Mary's)
8:00pm Pre-DLV get-together
Apr 23 Wed
5:00pm Happy Hour (Sasha's)
6:30pm Dinner (Sasha's / Milano's)
???? Womens Improv (Greek Isles)
10:30pm Karaoke (Goodtimes)
Apr 24 Thu
Morn Air tours
Noonish Bellagio buffet lunch
Apr 25 Fri
Morn Air tours
Golf
5:00pm Happy Hour (Carluccio's)
6:00pm Carluccio's dinner
7:30pm Annual Mixer
after Dance Night
Apr 26 Sat
7:00pm Happy Hour (San Remo)
8:00pm Buffet dinner, San Remo
10:30pm Showgirls Of Magic
Apr 27 Sun
Aft High Tea
Eve Farewell Get-together
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Administrivia:
This is the Diva Las Vegas 2003 organizational list.
One address for all items regarding this list, additions, removals,
changes, submissions, questions, etc.:
dlvorg@geekbabe.com <--- NOTE: all lower case
Please do not send binary attachments (photos, etc.) directly to the
list, as the list processor will not properly handle them. If you want
to send photos and the like, mail to: annie@annie.net
Archives of this list appear on the web at:
http://www.geekbabe.com/annie/org03arc/
To unsubscribe: Simply reply to this message with the word UNSUBSCRIBE
in either the Subject: field or the first line of an OTHERWISE BLANK
message body. The word "unsubscribe" (case is insignificant) should be
the only item in the subject field or the first line of the message,
justified to the left.
NOTE: WHEN UNSUBSCRIBING, THE FROM: LINE OF YOUR UNSUBSCRIBE MESSAGE
>>MUST<< HAVE THE SAME ADDRESS AS WHAT WE USE TO SEND TO YOU. IF IT
DOES NOT, THE UNSUBSCRIBE WILL FAIL, AND YOU MAY NOT GET A FAILURE
NOTICE. SPELLING COUNTS.
Please pay attention to the above. Many automated unsubscribe requests
fail for this reason.
To send material to this list: Send submission as regular e-mail to
the address: dlvorg@geekbabe.com
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sun Sep 22 2002 - 00:15:16 CDT