From: Diva Las Vegas organizers (dlvorg@geekbabe.com)
Date: Wed Jun 22 2005 - 08:20:10 CDT
In this mailing:
Org List
This mailing
Limo and stuff
Check-in
Hotels, dress, etc.
Activities
Comments on comments
Administrivia
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Org List:
This is the DLV 2006 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 the web at:
http://www.geekbabe.com/annie/org05arc/acts.html
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This mailing:
Again, lots of very good feedback and discussion.
I've made a few very frank and forceful comments. Please don't take
anything personally. I'm just putting things the way I see them.
. . . . .
Any comments or discussion on timeframe? The way our planning schedule
stands now we're due to take a vote on this in about a month.
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Limo and stuff:
Densie writes:
>>One idea I heard being tossed around was to have each person pay a bit
>>more and go 4 per limo instead of 6.
>I couldn't agree more, except that I would take it one step further and
>forget about trying to hold costs down. The problem is that we have too
>many people crammed into too many limos, so the easiest solution is to
>raise the cost of the limo tour so that fewer people will want to go.
>Somebody correct me if I'm wrong on this, but...AFAIK there is nothing
>(domestic) larger than the Town Car limos. Town Car is the largest RWD
>car made in America, so what else would you make them out of? You
>could find a longer one, but not wider. If you want larger, you have
>to go to the truck or Hummer(tm) chassis.
>Smaller people (or those who sat next to them) may not have noticed
>just how cramped a Town Car is with six people in it, or how lousy the
>seats are, but when you find that you can't get out of the door because
>you sat in the middle seat and it's still up your a$$, it's time to
>find something larger.
I remember the car we had back in 2001 was somewhat larger, with a
different seating arrangement, longitudinal and transverse. I don't
think it was wider, but it was longer. It would probably cost more per
person to get something like this, but it might be more comfortable.
Everybody keeps mentioning the Hummer<tm> limo thing. Is that what
we wanna try?
>Champagne, perhaps we could go to a more expensive sparkly and raise
>the price of the tour? People who bitch because they're paying for
>champagne and drinking soda could get an umbrella in their glass or
>something.
LOL.
>Maybe slip some Galiano into it.
And some people know what happens when I have Galiano {sic}. :)
>>Is the 4Q what we want to keep doing downtown?
>Since the Del-Mar was removed from the tour, the Four Queens has been
>the most entertaining stop.
. . . . .
>>2. Appointing a certain number of Sergeants At Arms, as was suggested
>>at the end of 2003, to enforce dress policy.
>Oooooh, Fashion Police! I'll bring the handcuffs.
And, some people would like that! :)
>>The current state is that Z's has become a house of ill feelings, and
>>there are a number of our people who will not go there.
>We were almost out of chairs there anyway, so screw 'em.
>>Do we want to look into a regular Dinner With(out) Densie type of
>>thing as an alternative to the Dinner Du Jour?
>That would never work. LWOWG works because most people are still in
>bed, or taking four hours to get ready for an evening activity.
>Despite that, it's still growing. We're almost taking up a whole wall
>sometimes. You're not going to get this group into anything but a
>rubber chicken banquet for dinner anymore...it's too large.
>>catering staff and ask them to serve half of the people cold entrees,
>>and some of the people 30 minutes before the others and
>Hamburger Mary's.
LOL! :)
>>However, many of our people who are active in planning things do like
>>the alternative dress things, so yes, I think there is an opening here
>>for one or more additional flashy-trashy dress activities.
>Rocky Horror?
That is a very good example of another activity where it's perfectly
fine to dress flashy/trashy.
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Check-in:
Yvonne writes:
>Hi Tootsye!
>Trying to do the Hostess part, I agree with you and how you feel, we
>need to get more people to help in this ...
>>those checking people in are the newcomers' first impression of DLV.
>Yes, we need to give a good impression to those newcomers... and help
>them with their questions on events too.
>>>I feel that I let the organization down with the registration. The
>>>larger crowd just overwhelmed me!
>Same here with the hostess part of registration.
>>>Also, the, fluid nature of the attendees makes it difficult for
>>>registration! Some come on Saturday, Some on Sunday, some on Monday,
>>>etc! With double tracked events, I could not be everywhere and I just
>>>kind of wore out!
>ditto.... also if there are going to be multi-tracked events... one
>person cannot be at more than one location. Doing this every day at all
>the events possible wore me out too.
>The distribution and certification of the dress code and other
>behaviour, is time consuming! While I heartily approve of the program,
>our girls do not like to stand in line to get registered! They, as you
>well know, would rather be drinking and talking or even eating! Some
>just gave up and went away!
The actual check-in is the most important part of the process, and we do
need to make it as convenient and speedy as possible. We need to
anticipate where and when the bulk of this will occur (the arrival dates
will get us some fairly accurate counts) and adjust staffing as needed.
. . .
>>>Your faithful, though inefficient registrar, was the last to get to
>>>eat or drink at several of the earlier activities! The box does
>>>become a bit of a pain to carry around and find a place to do the
>>>work, especially, if one is trying to carry her purse and a camera or
>>>a cover up! I do think the system needs to be streamlined a bit!
>Agreed here too.... informing attendess of last minute changes, handing
>out vendor items, collecting monies for events, keeping updated lists
>of events and descriptions, and trying to point attendees to the
>planner if that person was at that event...kept me quite busy... no
>time to anything else...and unable to enjoy that event at all. The
>same thing happened to me...and I agree the girls don't want to stand
>around and wait... and just gave up waiting.
>Carrying bags of stuff to deal with being a hostess was a pain to carry
>around. I too felt quite drained doing this at several events at the
>beginning of dlv...
Should we be schlepping around megapiles of hardcopy? Would it be better
to provide a URL to them and a list of Kinkos and hotel business centers
where they can go get a printout?
. . .
>>>I am not complaining! I enjoy the registration because I get to meet
>>>so many of the attendees! I just may need a little more help, if I am
>>>allowed to do it again in 2006.
>Same here....for the same reasons....
>>I think our check-in process will serve our needs, but it does need
>>some refinement. Just a tune-up, not an overhaul.
>Agreed, it will evolve as we solve the problems
>>In particular, with the DLV model, I think we need more opportunities
>>for an attendee to check in, and more people who are empowered to do
>>the check-in function. We don't want lines to form, and with our model
>>we can't require any hard and fast definite place and time for
>>check-in.
>Is it possible to have a table at the event for registration? Not only
>have registration and hostess people, but some planners that need to
>collect money or some organized way to answer some hard and detailed
>questions of particular events that can be only answered by the
>planner.
Maybe I'm missing something here. Where and when do you envision "that
table" to be. Our settings are extremely transient. We're not in any one
place for more than a few hours most.
Do we want to look into activities which allow such a table?
Or, going further, and playing my own devils advocate, do we want to
re-think the "office" or "Hospitality Suite" issue? I admit I have
fought it ever since the late 1950's when somebody first brought the
subject up. Oh, I think it would be a popular place for our people to
hang out ... so popular that some will choose to just hang out there
instead of doing the other things.
Who's gonna pay for it? <over>
. . .
>Also we need more people to rotate so everyone can enjoy part of the
>events, and not being doing this only thoughout dlv.
>I found that I couldn't answer many of the attendees questions which
>was outside the basic where to meet at what time, and what is the event
>type of questions.
>I found it difficult to point the attendee to the planner if I didn't
>see the planner in a crowded location or even know if the planner was
>at that event. Or even if the planner was there...somewhere moving in
>the crowd.... add to other attendees waiting for me to answer their
>questions in line...
Also, I don't think it's realistic to expect all coordinators of all
paid activities to all be in a certain place at a certain time. Our
people just have too many different personal schedules.
. . .
>>The more I think about it, having 3 or so people, each with a complete
>>check-in "kit" is something we should do. I also think that making the
>sounds like a workable idea... then those doing registration may not be
>able to do some of the multi-track events, for example skip golfing to
>do lunch with ginger, or not go to late night events just to be at
>lunch with ginger the next morning for the whole dlv?
We need to make things easy enough for the check-in volunteers that we
continue to get far more volunteers than we need, and yes, we do need to
be a bit choosy WRT who does this. They need to have the skill set that
is appropriate for this function, plus they need to present the image of
DLV that we want the attendee to see as a first impression.
As we look at these combined and separate items here, it looks like
there are three actual functions emerging ...
1. The actual check-in, which really is just issuing a name badge and
"Mirandizing" the attendee. This should only take a couple minutes at
most. IMAO, the check-in hostesses should defer any questions to those
whose job it is to answer, in order to keep the process moving. If a
line forms, it needs to be just like at the drug store, "stand-by
checker, please report to register 3" as the ingress rate into the
queue will not be consistent.
2. Activities review. Going over an attendee's schedule and making
adjustments if necessary. I don't think it's possible or necessary to
have all paid-activity coordinators present in one spot, but I think if
we could empower the activities hostess(es) to collect for them, it
would cure a lot of headaches. {wheels turning ...} It might be a good
idea to ask the coordinators of these paid activities to act in this
capacity on a rotational basis, covering for each other, so to speak.
3. General "information booth" or "help desk" functions. Questions and
answers. I think it's important to get this function away from those who
are checking in and reviewing activities.
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Hotels, dress, etc.:
Kate writes:
>Hi.
Hewwo :)
>Some ideas for the org to chew on over the next 10 months with
>reference to the last big e-mail.
{chomp - chomp}
>1. Suggested group Hotel.
>It seems that The Sahara is consistently the most popular Hotel for
>DLV'ers and if reserved early enough is quite reasonably priced too.
>So with that in mind I think if a previous guest would nominate a
>specific desirable favourite floor they have stayed on in the past,
>Easy access etc'. It is a simple thing to request Floor#xxxx. in the
>"Any preferences" box when booking over the net or asked for by phone
>over the 800 number. This would accomodate those who might want to be
>close to the main body and pulse of DLV during the week and also they'd
>have a friendly place to start their day off like lunch W or W/O Ginger
>without having to go exploring across town.
Having worked in hotels, and having stayed at the Sahara now for the
past 6 years of DLV, I don't know how realistic this is unless somebody
gets together with their group sales office and makes some special
arrangements.
Most of our people tend to check in on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday,
which are the three most hectic days at the LV hotels. Friday is the big
check-in day, Saturday is the most-full day, and Sunday is the big
check-out day with the housekeeping staff struggling to do the rooms as
the hung-over guests depart. :)
The desk people also struggle to get as many people checked in and in
rooms on the first trip to the desk as they possibly can. Sure, a note
may come up on their screen that the guest prefers floor 23 in the
Tangerine Tower, but if there ain't any clean rooms on 23, they're going
to place them anywhere they can. Last DLV when I checked in the desk
agent said to me "I can check you in now if you'll take a room on 5, if
you want higher you can come back in a few hours ..." I took the room on
5. :)
I **STILL** fail to see what the real advantage is to having our people
concentrated on one floor. Clue me in, please. Are they looking to have
that "dorm" feel, as is sometimes present at the t* conventions? Do they
plan on spending time socializing on the hotel floors as opposed to at
the activities?
Seriously, when I'm in a hotel room in Las Vegas, I'm either sleeping,
getting ready, changing, or want to be alone for some reason. When that
door is closed it doesn't really make any difference whether the others
are in the next room or the next county.
Help me understand this please.
Nonetheless, if there is a need or desire to have common hotel floors,
somebody is most likely going to have to do some legwork and some
coordination.
Now ... thinking back, that salesdroid from the Riviera did offer
something like that, but his prices were easily beatable. Would there be
enough of a demand to be together on the same floor to pay extra for it?
. . . . .
>2. Inapropriate dress. Draft 2 completely separate DLV standard,
>tactfull but firm letters to be sent to.
>A=New attendees who possibly misunderstood the required or suggested
>dress code for specific events.
IMAO, with the repetition we had last year, the only way they could have
misunderstood is if they were so smart that they skipped the grades in
school where they taught reading!
>B=previous offenders who ignore the repeated requests for protocol.
>"Strongly Suggest" is too meek and mild for the stubborn folks, So
>"Don't do it again" or nearest facimile would suffice I expect.
<bitchmode>
Ok, here's what's gonna happen this coming year ...
I'm tired of f*cking around on this. I don't know how else to put it.
We have 98+% of our people who are perfectly willing to go along with
the guidelines and many actually appreciate dress suggestions. We don't
want to burden them with unnecessary attention and enforcement. They
know how to dress and act, and they do it. They will start to see any
additional notes, admonitions, etc., as unnecessary bullsh*t, and I
might tend to agree with them.
We are not going to "suggest", we are going to insist on appropriate
dress and behavior.
Anybody who says "f*ck you" to the guidelines and shows up at a
mainstream activity in slutwear is gonna be sent back to change. Anybody
who gets confrontive when told to go change will most likely be
dismissed from DLV! That's the way it's gonna be.
The attendees who know how to dress and behave have made it perfectly
clear that they want to see dress and behavior guidelines enforced.
Sorry, but those who want to flout the guidelines can go bask in the
spotlight elsewhere!
</bitchmode>
>3. Enthusiasm for full week participation.
>The low attendance at beginning and especially the end of DLV due to 3
>or 4 day midweek only attendees might be solved with a medium to large
>event at each end of the week such as (Only an example no need to shoot
>me)!--Big Show, Small Show, or Dining out in style set for Tuesday
>night. IE:- Arrive Monday, attend kick off night @ Stephen Davids or
>David Stephens ....then dive right in Tuesday night etc', then another
>similar on Friday night to keep enthusiasm levels flowing for Huge
>Saturday finale.
I've been doing more and more thinking about the length of DLV and the
desires of the attendees. Many people want to see a long(er) DLV, and we
have quite a few who want to start it earlier and earlier, even if
informally.
Is this early start, although informal, contributing to the lack of
enthusiasm and participation toward the end of the week?
Yes, I know that our endings were weak the past 2 years, but we did
have things going on, and we could only account for a fraction of our
people (maybe 1/3 or so) at most. Where was everybody?
There is somewhat of a peak in attendance during midweek, but if you
look at arrivals and departures, both are fairly consistent over the
weekdays and final weekend.
. . . . .
>4. Dress Code.
>Maybe we need a colour code list such as.
>Yellow = Day wear/casual.(Art gallery)
>Red= tastefully glitzy but not over the top.
>Black = evening wear. (Dining out)
>Green = safe to sensible. (shopping etc')
>Pink = Wow! I didn't know you had it in you Nellie.
>To be tagged to the event description with a call up reference page for
>the colour codes.
I see something like this as simplifying the detailed dress suggestions
for those who really want to play by the rules. I don't see this as
helping control the abusers one iota, unfortunately.
Instead of a paragraph or two on each activity explaining what is ok
and un-cool to wear for it, maybe a tag or color code pointing to a
set of guidelines.
. . . . .
>5. Downtown Limo Stop.
>How about stopping at The Nugget or somewhere else down there and for
>those who want to. Go for a walk around the corner to the 4 Queens for
>the traditional photo shoot at the 4Q sign. This will give us a chance
>to forcibly wander Freemont St and mingle with the tourists.
. . . . .
>6. More Limo stuff.
>If our locals could researched the hotels on the limo stops and we knew
>where the unisex washrooms were it might ease some tension for new and
>improved amongst us. when natue insists "it's Time to go"
. . . . .
>7. Handouts.
>I don't really see the need for these. Too much information for too
>many people to see and permanent damage could be done.
>If it was received by e-mail in the first place then only what is
>needed can be printed out or, Heaven forbid --- Written down and put in
>the outside pouch which is present in all modern suitcases. If you have
>one without outside compartments like my dad used to lug around the
>world then it's time you bought a new one anyway.
>What think you ladies?
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Activities:
Michelle (NV) writes:
>I suggested and wanted to back a couple activities someone else
>mentioned-ie. mini golf, movie, mama mia. But i didnt persue those for
>two reasons.
>One) not enough positive feedback in the org or discussion group and
>Two) my finances became limited.
Why don't we open up the floor now for discussion regarding these
three activities.
There seems to be a demand for more shows, and we need some feedback
from the gang here as to whether they think Mama Mia would be a good
one for a small or large DLV gang.
Movies have been suggested, but for some reason the Teeming Millions
are not lining up at the ticket window.
Mini-golf keeps coming up as a suggestion in feedback, but again the
masses have not rallied around the flag so to speak.
>As it is i missed mot of the later activities because my fvinances
>became strained and i became somewhat burned out. (and my car broke
>down the next week. I probably shouldnt have done golf as i spent rent
>money i didnt have the nexxt week for my car.)
>Because bowling was a success this year and not a money bath, i
>defintely will feel better about persuing other activities next year.
>I definitly want to do a movie outing next year as well as bowling.
>(im currently bowling in a fun league in fem!)
I think that bowling, like golf, can easily become a yearly tradition at
DLV. IIRC, it was rated highly, so there should be no trouble getting a
good crowd for it next year.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Comments on comments:
Mindy writes:
>the reason we avoid friday and sat for golf is that the prices are
>higher.
Thank you. I really was not aware of this.
>this year we got considerabley less then other groups scheduling golf
>outtings. partly because of our loyality to the course and partly
>because of our entertainment value *lol*
Hey, whatever it takes. Firms do want our business, that's for sure.
(Well, most of them, anyway. <MEOW!>)
>many people come early and low key events starting as early as sat seem
>fine with me.. i rarely attend those but they seem well supported and
>orginized..
They always do draw a good crowd. We actually started doing this back
in 1999 with a pre-DLV get-together the night before DLV started. It's
happened most years since.
>in the past we have has informal events as late as the monday following
>the "official" end of diva with no problems.
>it does make sense to have the core events between monday and sat. as
>this is the time the majority of people attend.. but remeber annie its
>a vacation not a convention and people will come and go as thier own
>personal schedule permits.
That's true, and I'm aware that some people plan their arrival and
departure depending on what's going on what day.
We seem to have a consensus that we shouldn't have the main pre-paid
activities the first couple of days.
However, there seem to be differing opinions on whether to concentrate
the big guns toward the middle or toward the ending weekend.
>dress code.. ya its needed.. and the major offenders need to be taken
>to task or excluded if they wont follow along with the plan..
Oh, it's gonna happen. Some of the details are still yet to be decided
upon but we're not gonna let 3 or so people embarrass the whole group
again! :(
>perhaps we need to schedule a couple of more dress to thrill
>alternative events. i was happy with having NSD to dress over the top..
>but maybe some of the girls need a couple of more outlets..
I agree. NSD gave one outlet. RHPS gave another, although RHPS didn't
get that large a crowd of DLVers this year, and there can be others.
We've talked about a "Trash&Flash" or "Pimp-n-Ho" party, but nothing's
really happened.
>might even suggest to one or all of them the do the org work on some
>club dress activities. i might even be able to suggest a couple of
>places they could do this.
Why don't you suggest the places to the group here, since I don't think
those who abuse the rules are the type to commit to planning anything
for the others. :(
>dinners.. wow what a wide range of responses.. i agree a couple of the
>places had problems. i for one have never been 100% happy with HM even
>with small groups..
I admit I've never had a bad meal there, but I know people who do not
like it and will not eat there.
>i guess tradition sort of gets us there each year.
>if tradition rules i will attend HM if the group agrees..
I really think that Hamburger Marys, as well as Carluccios, would be
candidates for multi-track things such as Eating Out Night next year,
but with the complaints we got this year, I'm afraid that if we made
them single-track things, the turnout would be poor.
Now the bar at HM, I think would work for some of the QST we talk about
a few paragraphs down.
>Bahama Breeze.. we should talk to management and let them know our
>problems and see if they would consider provinding more staff in the
>future.. if they wont we can consider other resturants.. remember we
>can vote with our dollers too.
I don't remember hearing any complaints about the food at Bahama Breeze
(refresh my memory, did I hear any?) but I did about the service, in
particular the time it took to get and settle the checks. If they could
maybe get some back-up for that function I think things would go much
smoother.
>Paddies is a great place but dont plan on big dinner groups there..
>they have a great staff but its limited to on bartender, cook, and
>server at any one time and they dont serve after 9 pm.. the food is
>great.. its one of my fav places in las vegas.. its perfect for a
>mainstream cocktails and conversation.. but for dinner should be
>limited to smaller dining out groups.
And again, this would be a great option as one of the "safer" choices
for an Eating Out Night type of thing.
>also a couple of new places that us local girls will be checking out..
>will send info as we get it re those.. i even had a conversation with
>my fav local watering hole near my new home and they would love to see
>us include them in our approved list of places. again.. seems dollers
>get some attention.
Please let us know of any new places. It's been stated over and over
that we need to expand our portfolio of bars and restaurants. If you
want, please place them on the Big List (www.geekbabe.com/dlv/vendors)
as well.
>interesting feedback from the boardwalk (for those of you who dont know
>i work there) they noticed several girls stayed there and took advantage
>to a small extent of the gaming and resturants.. they wondered why we
>didnt schedule any social events there.
Here's one time where I will speak very freely.
They (still) have some unfinished business with one of our people in the
form of an apology for the way she was treated by security back in 2002.
A simple letter of apology would score some points here.
If they say they have no way of getting in touch with this individual,
let me know and I will put them in touch.
>next year will most likely be the last for the boardwalk.. it is going
>to be imploded sometime after may of 2006. i would like to see us do
>one last event next year there.. it could be a gaming night.. show.
The thing is, there are some people in our group who will not go there.
Boardwalk is not the only place where this is the case. We all know of
one other venue. No matter how we personally feel about what has
happened or who we want to side with, the fact is that when there has
been an upsetting event, one result is that a certain number of our
people will not go there. Like it or not, it does preclude an optimal
turnout for things held at these venues.
>one of the things i enjoyed most this year was the chance to go to some
>places where we could sit and talk without having to deal with all the
>noise usually associated with past diva venues..
The "Quality Social Time" (I think that's a Cat-ism) is one thing I
admit we lacked this year.
>i think we should keep on the schedule some alternative places several
>times during the week where those who want to can chat over cocktails..
>paddies was a perfect example this year.. we went there twice and had a
>wonderful time chatting without having to holler..
The daily Happy Hour does give a small dose of QST, but yes, we do need
to schedule a few maximum-turnout evening activities that are strictly
low-key social in nature.
>as for those who would like to see diva attendence limited. well all i
For next year I don't think we have to be concerned. I have a feeling
that for many reasons our return rate from 2005 to 2006 will be lower
than the past few years.
I don't want to make any special efforts to pump up the attendance to
compensate, rather I would like to make special efforts toward putting
on the best DLV we can for those who choose to attend.
>little sisters who s*** on big sisters shame on you.. i got a little
>sister by default and we had a grand time and are still in contact.. i
>suggest if you have never had a little sister get one.. you learn a lot
>helping them.
That was the first time I heard of a rude LS. I hope it's the only time.
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the address: dlvorg@geekbabe.com
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