From: Diva Las Vegas organizers (dlvorg@geekbabe.com)
Date: Wed Aug 06 2008 - 07:09:57 CDT
In this mailing:
Org List
Moving right along
Activity proposals
Golf comments
Restarting the schedule
But wait, there's more
Date discussion
Administrivia
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Org List:
This is the DLV 2009 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.
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Moving right along:
During this Call For Comments period, we need to utilize this
time to think strategically of what we want to present to the
attendees this coming year, regardless of what timeframe will
eventually be finalized. Michelle has some good thoughts on
one particular evening thing below.
A good example of a strategy that has really paid off is one
that we started a few years ago, to multi-track a number of
the evenings to increase overall participation, and thus
overall satisfaction. It seems to be working nicely.
One strategy I would like to see is that of variety, not just
shuffling the days of the week on which activities occur, but
the introduction of variety, new twists, into our long-standing
activities to keep them fresh. Very good example is what was
done with Night Of The Soiled Doves last year, We're getting
feedback that much of DLV is becoming same-old-same-old, so
we do have to work on the variety factor.
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Activity proposals:
This note came in some time ago, but it was delayed since it
got caught in the crossfire of the date issue.
Michelle (NZ) writes:
>As for possible activities I would like to propose the following:
>Upmarket, dress up evening starting with dinner and possibly
>a show within the same casino or close by. I am thinking of
>approaching Trevi and arranging this with them.
>The cost of meals is a la carte but probably average $40-50.00
>per person (if anyone remembers what they paid this year or
>last, then let me know as my meal always ends up with a bottle
>of wine on it :-) so it usually inflated) Given the 3-4 year
>history of of EON there and the excellent service they provided
>last year I think they'd be happy for a bigger group but this
>would need to be on one of their quieter nights (Mon, Tue
>Wed???) so we could book something without having to impact
>there other business. Most likely we would use the upstairs
>area.
>We had 18 or so there this year and apart from a small wedding
>group we were the only ones upstairs. The area could easily
>hold 50 with being crowded and the wait staff were all set for
>individual orders and bills.
>Depending on what's on we could do a late show that night
>either in Caesars or at a nearby casino.
>I would propose this to be a dressy activity, that smart
>business or evening wear so that every one could dress up.
>This is probably not something that can act as a welcome
>celebration (scary for first timers) or farewell (too late
>in week). It may only have limited appeal if the cost is too
>high.
>Given the proposed schedule:
> Sunday: Welcome Celebration
> Monday: Eating Out Night, multi-track activities
> Tuesday: Big show, Pity Party, Limo Tour
> Wednesday: Night Of The Soiled Doves, alternate local activities.
> Thursday: Larger multi-track dining and activities.
> Friday: Big bash of some kind.
>Maybe Tuesday night BEFORE the LIMO tour? This might work well
>with a trail of well dressed ladies going to / through Caesars
>for pickup at the front of the casino????
>If this goes ahead then for EON I would proposed Joes Crab and
>Steakhouse at the front of the Forum shops as a venue. I had a
>great meal there this year and the service was excellent. If
>the Trevi option is adopted for TUESDAY than maybe EON might
>be better on Thursday???
Well, with all things pointing to a Monday-Saturday DLV, we'll
need to rework the scratchpad schedule.
I really think that for this coming year we need some fresh
venues (Joe's Crab and Steak is a good example) as well as
some new twists on our recurring things.
Maybe a dinner/social thing at Trevi might replace a show for
the pre-Limo thing as you say. It might also work well as an
option on our larger-activity multi-track evening. A show could
be a postprandial option for those not opting for the Limo Tour.
I agree that Trevi might not be the best for either of our max
attendance things. Some will gripe at the price, and some will
be scared sh*tless by the environment. (IIRC, Trevi is right
out in the open in the middle of the Forum Shops.)
This might be a good year to promote Trevi from an EON venue
to more of a mid-level attendance thing and substitute such
a place as Joe's Crab and Steak for EON.
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Golf comments:
Michelle (NZ) writes:
>And just a comment on the golf.
>The current format is fine, the problem with this activity is that
>there are some of the group that don't play golf that often and
>play very slowly. This year the group that I was in finished two
>(or was it three) clear holes ahead of the next group meaning we
>were probably 30-40 minutes quicker. Maybe we need to have our
>own marshal to hurry these people along? If we go to a scramble
>format I don't think this would be as popular.
Speaking of golf, Mindy, I'm planning to re-run your golf
questions in a brief general mailing which will go out about
a week before the Call For Comments period ends.
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Restarting the schedule:
Even though our timeframe is not in stone, none of the Sunday
thru Friday timeframes made it into the last round of votes,
so I think it's safe to say that we will have a Monday thru
Saturday DLV this coming year.
Let's look at a new hypothetical slate of the evenings:
Monday: Welcome Celebration
Tuesday: Eating Out Night, multi-track activities
Wednesday: Big show, Pity Party, Limo Tour
Thursday: Night Of The Soiled Doves, alternate local activities.
Friday: Larger multi-track dining and activities.
Saturday: Big bash of some kind.
I realize that three of the six evenings are substantially the
same as in 2008 under this model. I think we need a Welcome
Celebration type of thing, single-track, on the first evening,
for example, and mixing that one up just for the sake of
variety would be counter-productive.
I think we need two max-turnout evening gatherings, one toward
the first of the week, one toward the end. I think we need one
of them to be on the first evening, as I said, and another
either on the last evening or next to last evening. My gut
feeling is that it would work out better on the last evening.
We need a Welcome Celebration on the first evening, one that is
single-tracked and facilitates mingling, you know, that Quality
Social Time<tm>. IMAO, Blue Ox was perfect for this. I'm not
married to the concept of using it for the WC in 2009, but I do
think we need to consider it.
I also think we need to designate two of the evenings for
multi-tracking, with none of our usual "big guns" on those
nights. I can't think of any of the semi-portable big guns
that's a good fit on Friday, so it's probably best to do a
multi-track thing then. I'm trying to think of a catchy name
for this.
Now for daytime.
Assuming we stay with the May 11-16 timeframe, I would suggest
nothing substantial on Monday during the day due to the late
arrival we would be anticipating for some of the gang due to
Mothers Day. We would want to go for a strong start that
evening, and not push major daytime things that afternoon.
We will have five daytimes left, and five significant daytime
activities. Throwing the activities randomly in the direction
of days we get:
Tuesday: Diva Las Vegas Invitational Golf
Wednesday: Lake Mead Boat Tour
Thursday: English High Tea
Friday: Art Tour
Saturday: SBS Social
I think it would be a Good Thing<tm> to avoid scheduling any two
or more of the major daytime things concurrently.
There are, however, three commercial activities which have evolved
over the recent years:
Studio Lites Open House
Harmony Nail Spa Open House
Glamour Boutique Open House
I suggest we let the vendors pick the days, FCFS, with no two
being the same day.
Comments?
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But wait, there's more:
>Word on the street is that the Star Trek exhibit and related
>items at the Las Vegas Hilton will be closing in September.
>The Big Burning Question is "To be replaced with ..." :)
One speculated Big Burning Answer is Michael Jackson, who has
supposedly been living in the LV Hilton for a while now. The
Powers That Be are not confirming this, but they are not
denying it either. Developing ...
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Date discussion:
Susan writes:
>You have either misunderstood or incorrectly characterized
>my remarks concerning the dates by calling them an obvious
>orchestration.
Susan, please understand that I'm not trying to fight you or
accuse you of anything. I'm trying to do all I can to make
sure that we have all of the information we need, should we
have to make a hard decision at the end of the month.
I want to be sure we have uncovered any issues that there may
be, and that the information we get on those issues is first-
hand, sincere, informed, and accurate.
I'm not accusing you of orchestration. An orchestrated response
is what I'm trying to avoid.
Also, please believe me when I say I DO want you to be able to
attend DLV this coming year. The way this cookie crumbles this
year, unfortunately, somebody is going to get left out. :(
I want the set of dates that will be best for all DLV people,
and if there's something major that we don't know, we need to
know it.
>I speak to my friends regularly and those that have been to
>DLV, I told of the date dilemma. I am telling you what 6 of
>them said.
I want everyone who has something to say on this issue to
have their say.
If we have six people who have significant issues with the
proposed dates, we need to hear it, but we need to hear it
directly, in their own words, from them.
If there are some issues we don't know about, we do need to
know them, and we need these issues to be directly attributable.
>They have gotten the e-mail and some people just don't get as
>involved as others. I'm sure that you know that.
Some don't get involved. Most of them just go with the flow.
Silence can mean a lot of things. Silence on this issue can
mean that they really don't have a strong preference, or don't
care that much about attending DLV or about DLV in general. I
do think that many of the Silent Majority would prefer other
dates, but they are willing to bend and don't consider it to
be enough of an issue to make a big deal of.
>If there is another vote on the dates, I will abstain.
There's no need for you to abstain, unless you really have no
preference. I think everyone here wants what will work best for
the event as a whole.
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Ginger (TN) writes:
>I'm one of those who has a conflict with just about every date.
>Regardless of which date is chosen I'm going to be happy with
>it and plan to either come early or leave late and enjoy being
>with the group all I can.
>As for the late date and temperatures, remember that it's
>"dry heat," but that may be a joke only someone from the
>deep south can understand.
>Also, and I'm sure this won't be of much reassurance for many
>who are concerned about shaving legs and other body parts so
>close to the "shorts" season, but years ago I got over being
>concerned about that. The only comment I've had about it in
>over eight years was the nurse who came in to shave me for
>an EKG and remarked, "Good I don't have to shave you!" Funny
>thing is now I find myself wearing pants more when I'm out
>so shaved legs matter less all of the time. Regardless, I've
>been shaving so long I have to have them bare.
The come-back I remember best about the "Dry heat" remark was
in the context of Arizona, not Nevada, but ...
"But it's a dry heat."
"Yeah, and so's a blast furnace!"
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Mary Beth writes:
>Is a late February/first week of March time frame an option? Or
>is it just too cold at that time of year?
>Curious,
I would suggest this. If we do have a motion to reschedule raised
in early September, and such a motion carries, you may nominate
such a timeframe and see how much support it gets.
For every week there is, there will always be a certain number
of personal conflicts, and personal preferences for and against
that timeframe. We don't have anything that says it can't be
that early, but I think that the farther we move away from the
traditional DLV home on the calendar, the more opposition
there will be, both from the volunteers and the Teeming Millions.
As for weather, it will be cool, but not cold. It runs in the
60s, typically, in early March in the daytime.
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Administrivia:
This is the Diva Las Vegas 2009 organizational list.
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changes, submissions, questions, etc.:
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Diva Las Vegas 2009
May 11 - 16, 2009 (tentative)
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
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