From: Diva Las Vegas organizers (dlvorg@geekbabe.com)
Date: Wed Jan 14 2009 - 03:52:14 CST
In this mailing:
Org List
This mailing
Laundry list
Opening evening and ending evening
Pajama Party
Pin project
Pity Party and Costume Party
High Tea
Paris concerns
Some sad news
Photos and acronyms
Acronyms
Dancing on Friday
Murder Mystery update
Working schedule
Administrivia
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This mailing:
This week's mailing is again quite long, seems to be growing longer
every hour, :) as there are many things happening. Thanks to all
who have moved forward with plans.
The reason it's so long, is that there's lots of interest and
energy in planning this year's event, and I hope this will
continue! :)
I know this is very long, but please, read it thoroughly, as
there's a lot of very important information, from the beginning
to the end.
. . .
As far as numbers, we have 89 validated attendees on the rolls as
of this time. In just over two weeks the floodgates will be open
for the list-member newcomers, at which time we can get a better
handle on what our projected turnout will be. As I've said before,
the chance of a poor turnout this year, for any reason, is minimal.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Laundry list:
As you can see, this list is far shorter than it was, thanks
to all who responded for clearing up several of these items.
Please read over this list, if your name and/or activity are
mentioned, please give us some kind of a status report, even
if it's a "hold on, I'm thinking about it" response.
. . . . .
* Final evening.
We need discussion on this, everyone. This has to be our number-one
priority at this time!
We have some decisions to make.
In particular, see Nora's notes below!
. . .
* SO activity?
This one does not have to be settled or planned now, but I do
think we want at least one activity along this line.
Those who are SOs, and those whose SOs will be attending, please
be thinking of this.
. . .
* Monday opening night dinner and Welcome Celebration.
Again, we need ideas and discussion on this. Everyone!
Do we want to do Blue Ox for the Welcome Celebration again?
See discussion below.
. . .
* We need two additional volunteers to assist with the Limo Tour.
This would be a very good one for new volunteers, to get your
feet wet doing things and to get voting status.
If you wish to volunteer, please reply to this mailing.
. . .
* Ginger, Lori, Mary Beth, others.
Lunch locations? What we have on the schedule below are strictly
place holders. Please confirm days you wish to hostess and
locations.
Others: We have five lunches and we're open to having those who
have not hostessed these take a turn at it. This will meet the
requirement for voting status. Again, those who act first have
the most options!
. . .
* Dinner options for Tuesday and Friday.
We still need 1-2 more volunteers, each evening, to host(ess)
additional dining options.
. . .
* Gaming option for Friday.
Very easy one. Pick a place and agree to be there. Just welcome
the others, hang out, have fun. This is probably the easiest
ticket to voting status there is! Volunteers?
. . .
* Other options for Friday evening? Ditto for Tuesday.
We're open for new ideas here.
. . .
* Social event (SBS substitute) for Saturday noon?
Ginger?
. . .
* Fashion show?
Rosada?
Going once ...
. . .
* Biggest Loser contest?
Gina?
. . .
* Boat tour.
Diane would like some assistance on this. Volunteering to help
will meet the requirements for voting status.
Also, Diane or anyone, please let me know if you want to have a
breakfast or lunch in conjunction with this as was done last
year.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Opening evening and ending evening:
These are two of our most important activities. We get countless
requests for (more) maximum-attendance gatherings.
We really need some discussion regarding the generalities of
these two activities, and the specifics.
Although we do have Nora, who can be like the Energizer Bunny,
available to do some legwork for us and some arranging of the
facilities, the overall job of planning these things lies upon
all of us, including me, and yes, you.
I have ideas of what might and might not work, but we need
input from all on both of these.
What I >>DON'T<< want to see is members of the gang here remain
silent on these activities, let plans be made by others, and then
not attend or leave early because they don't like the food, think
it's too same-old-same-old, or whatever.
Let's discuss both of these ...
Opening evening:
Do we want to do Blue Ox again for this. Personally, I think it
worked quite well last year, and I'm sure they would be willing
to do a similar thing for us this year.
I admit at first that I thought the menu was a hodge-podge with
no theme, but it worked, and had enough variety that everybody
would find something to their liking. It was also at a very
reasonable price.
Whatever the venue, I think the opening evening needs to focus
on Quality Social Time<tm> with no significant entertainment
or theme.
. . .
Final evening:
Big Burning Question! Do we want to do the Bahama Breeze for the
final evening?
As Nora writes:
>Before I look into what is available and who can accommodate a group
>our size I need to know what our plans are regarding the Bahama
>Breeze.
>We have gone to the Bahama Breeze for the past 4-5 years and it has
>been one of the highlights of the week. Some of us have expressed
>the desire to try something new while most seem very satisfied to
>go there again.
>I am ready to contact the management of the Bahama Breeze but need
>to know what our feelings are. Remember there are very few places
>that can accommodate a group our size. Of these even fewer that
>will provide us with separate checks and selections off the menu.
>Many are not available on a Friday or Saturday night evening.
>Some even require an advance down payment.
>On the other hand there are some of us that are hesitant about going
>to a large public place. The Bahama breeze is and has been an
>exception to this.
>I need to know how the consensus feels.
We need feedback on this from YOU, please, particularly from
those who have any significant feelings, positive or negative,
regarding the Bahama Breeze.
Bahama Breeze is probably our "easiest" option for the ending
evening, and would be a "drop-in" option with little hassle and
minimal additional planning or work. From a purely personal
standpoint, I like it, but we have had comments that it's getting
repetitive and some do not care for the food.
As Nora said, they have been one of the most accommodating of any
of the venues we've used for large functions. They don't do the
limited menu thing and they allow separate checks.
It's also mainstream with a capital M! I haven't heard, however,
about any of our people being uneasy in there. In feedback last
year we heard a chorus of "Mainstream Mainstream Mainstream" and
nobody can argue that Bahama Breeze is not about as mainstream as
we can get.
Comments, gang?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pajama Party:
Sarona writes:
>Yes, put me down on Tuesday for a LG or Pajama/lingerie ruffles
>party, however you want to word it. I don't have a hotel resv
>yet (I am overseas at present) but do plan to get that wrapped
>up when I get back to the USA in late February.
>Tuesday is likely to be better for me than Friday.
Thanks, Sarona.
I'll get this down on Tuesday. Let's call it "Pajama Party" for
the time being at least. :)
In the past, you've done an informal dinner with these things.
Something like order-in Chinese or something like that. Please
let me know if you want to repeat this, and I'll get it on the
schedule as a EON option for those attending the Pajama Party.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pin project:
Kumiko writes:
>Yes we will have pins for 2009...
Thanks for the updates. I do think this is a very worthwhile
project and does need to be continued.
>I would like to have the pins used as in the past, which is
>initially as the marker/token for those that paid to go to
>NSD, and later available for purchase to anyone, and for
>org/admin use.
>The main question to the org, now that they've seen a few
>different styles of pins, which style to use and what color
>to use for 2009.
>The design will be the same, unless the org wants to change
>it, but if we decide to change the design, I would need the
>design to submit to the pin company via jpeg or similar that
>can be sent via email.
Well, I am fond of the "Jellomold" logo design, but you might
say that I am biased. :) This is now becoming readily associated
with DLV in the TG community and is easily recognized as a
symbol of our event.
>I could use some help from the org in deciding the color for
>2009... either by discussion or vote, but some input in what
>color to use this year.
What I might suggest is that you select the color of your
choice, have the company prepare a sample .jpg, we post it
and then open this up for discussion amongst the ORG group.
>Keep in mind that more than one color will increase the unit
>price of each pin made.
>We've had black, silver/pewter, red, and purple colors in the
>past years.
>The colors has had glitter in the background, and has to be
>a different or contrasting color from the color of the metal
>outline of the design, or all you will see is a one color
>outline of the edges of pin and no detail of the design on the
>pin.
>Yeah, I can decide on the color, but I would like to hear what
>other colors people would like or want to see.
Actually, looking at all of them, I actually like last year's
design (metallic) the best, but that's just my personal
preference. It, and the black (2005?) one are the most neutral
of the bunch, and the more I think about it, the more neutral
they are, the better.
I actually wore the 2008 one to a big fancy local too-doo
before the holidays and it got a few compliments. :)
>It takes at the most three weeks from purchase to making and
>then delivery of the pins, so we have time to decide the design
>and color of the pin. Pins are actually made in Hong Kong.
>Since NSD is thursday, and DLV ends on Sat, it won't give much
>time for those that just want a pin.
>I know that several past attendees have requested past years
>pins, and we have a few. I just haven't figured a way to do
>this via postal mail. I was also thinking of bringing them
>all to DLV for those that requested them.
Hmmmm ... {wheels turning} this might be a good item to use
as an incentive to get people to show up at the ending bash.
This also makes sense, as it's the most obvious and most
convenient large gathering following NSD this year. You could
then sell off any remaining pins from all years.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pity Party and Costume Party:
Lisa writes:
>I Missed some of the email of Mindy leaving Vegas.
>Is she going to be there for the pity party. If she not who would
>run this. Myself I like to see the costume party with pity party.
>That is why I ask who going to run the pity party. It would need
>to be planed together
Here's what I understand, and Mindy, please correct me if I am
wrong. Mindy is relocating to Indiana, but has committed to doing
at least the Diva Las Vegas Invitational Golf for DLV 2009.
I'm not sure about the Pity Party, but since that has been one
of her babies, so to speak, if she's in town that evening, I
expect her to be involved, if not taking the lead.
What I might suggest is that you get in contact with Mindy and
the two of you come up with some preliminary plans, Looking
back in the mailings, Mindy spoke in favor of merging the
Costume Party and the Pity Party in a previous mailing.
One big unanswered question for this year is when the Pity Party
will fit on the schedule. We've broken up the Big Show and the
Limo Tour this year. I can envision the Pity Party fitting well
as an after-dinner option on Tuesday, combined with dinner on
Tuesday, opposite the Limo Tour on Wednesday, or even as an
after-dinner or dinner-party on Friday.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
High Tea:
Jamie Renae writes:
>I have one change to the schedule.
>I was able to book the Tea, at 4 Seasons, for Friday afternoon from
>2:00 - 4:00 pm. That eliminates the conflict with Soiled Doves.
>That should still give people time to plan for the evening.
Thanks, Jamie, It's updated on the schedule.
. . .
To all: This makes three daytime activities of some significance
on Friday. Unless it's something that absolutely, positively
will not fit on any other day, we need to close Friday for any
more daytime activities and distribute them among other days.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday still have room for more
daytime activities. Saturday is wide open during the day so
far.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Paris concerns:
Kimberly Kael writes:
>I see that the write-up for the Paris includes the following
>statement: "The Paris is the first major Strip hotel to actively
>invite GLBT business (note that they have included the T) so this
>will most likely be the "safest" hotel for beginners that we
>suggest this year."
>While this is literally true I would recommend pointing out
>that in order to get from your room to anywhere (front door,
>parking, etc.) you have to walk through the middle of a crowded
>casino.
>This may be disconcerting for first-timers who are looking to
>minimize contact with the general public. I loved the experience,
>but it may not be for everyone.
I think you have a valid concern here.
I've reworded the web page to state just this, plus this will
be included in the general mailing going out this weekend.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Some sad news:
We will address the duties that need to be covered in a subsequent
mailing.
. . .
Tootsye writes:
(First person, no quoting)
My dear friends,
After much anguished soul searching, and internal debate with myself, I
have come to the sad conclusion that I will not be able to attend DLV
2009. I thought it only fair to let you know of my decision early.
I have so enjoyed being on the registration team for the four or five
years that I have done it. Despite having to wag that box of name tags,
and lists around all the time, I did sincerely enjoy it. In my opinion
it is one of the most fun jobs at Diva. It gave me a chance to meet so
many wonderful people over the years. My heart cries at not being able
to do that this year.
I have reached the age that I do not have the energy to participate in
the manner in which I have in the past. Last year, I had to take a day
or more off, just to rest. In addition, some of my investments matured,
and I no longer have the income that I once enjoyed. I must now be more
careful with my expenditures. The combination of these two factors, has
compelled me to stay at home this year!
I will miss you so much, and will think of you and hope that you have a
wonderful Diva Las Vegas 2009.
Hugs,
Tootsye
. . . . .
Tootsye, I'm so sorry to hear this, and it goes without saying that
you will be dearly missed. :(
This leaves some major vacancies, and we will discuss them in some
of the subequent mailings.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Photos and acronyms:
Kimberly Kael writes:
>>* Photos?
>>Kimberly, any more thoughts about this? When? Where? How?
>I do not see this as an event unto itself. I'd want to combine
>this with another event, and the most obvious possibilities are
>the big gatherings at the opening and closing dinners.
>I was thinking about a setup that might take a little space
>(flash umbrellas, tripod, and possibly a backdrop) so it would
>depend a lot on the venue.
>I'd like to just put the offer on the table for other volunteers:
>if you're organizing one of these event where you think this
>would be a good idea (and would fit with the venue) please
>suggest it and I'll happily coordinate on the details.
Looking over the schedule and speculating some about the venues,
as you say, the two big gatherings appear to be the best for
something like this. There are still some big ifs here.
If we do the Welcome Celebration at Blue Ox again, I'm sure they
could give you a corner to set up and do your thing.
If we do Bahama Breeze for the ending gathering, if we can get
the big room we had in 2007, there would be room. If we got the
room we had last year, probably not.
A third option might be the Pity Party, which will most likely
be the third-most-attended activity this year which happens in
a fixed location. There are still a lot of ifs on this one at
this time.
>I'd plan on getting email addresses and delivering the results
>electronically. These would be "private" portraits that could
>be shared at the recipient's discretion. Britney Joelle has
>suggested doing prints and if she's up for researching that
>aspect we could do that as well (I believe she'll be driving
>to DLV and has offered to bring the backdrop as well.)
One option for quick prints might be to send the files to one
of the local Walgreens. The one at Flamingo and Maryland has a
late-model Fuji Frontier which actually does a very decent job
on larger prints up to 8x10 and their turn-around time is only
a couple of hours at most.
I've used this Walgreens for some quick business-related prints
at times and they have always done an impressive job for a
streetcorner operation.
That might be better than something like bringing a printer and
schlepping it around all week.
. . . . .
>On an unrelated topic:
>Could we please avoid using acronyms in the mailings without
>defining them or providing a link to a glossary? As a newcomer
>I always have to figure out from context what BDR refers to,
>and the schedule updates include annotations that require similar
>puzzling through (ms = mainstream? mv = mainstream venue?
>sv = ???)
Yes, I tend to write fast and abbreviate quite a bit.
I went back through the ORG mailings and made a list of the
more common acronyms. They appear in the following list:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acronyms:
Common DLV acronyms:
BDR - Behavior Dress and Restroom
EON - Eating Out Night
FCFS - First Come First Served
HH - Happy Hour
HT - High Tea
IMAO - In My Arrogant Opinion
LFM - Large Final Mailing
LT - Limo Tour
LWG - Lunch With Ginger
MCC - Metropolitan Community Church
MS - MainStream (venue)
MV - Major Venue
ND - Non-DLV (venue)
NSD - Night of the Soiled Doves
ORG - DLV Organizers Group
PP - Pity Party
QST - Quality Social Time
SBS - Southern Belle Society
SO - Significant Other
SV - Safe Venue
TLA - Three Letter Acronym
WC - Welcome Celebration
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dancing on Friday:
Joan writes:
> * Dancing option for Friday.
>I am proposing this at this time. I have a good friend who works
>at the Company American Bistro at Luxor. I am proposing a 9pm
>gathering for drinks and appetizers. She will take good care of
>us.
>After that I have a dancing option at LAX, the Nightclub. Club
>opens at 10:30 pm. ID required. LAX strictly enforces their
>dress code. I am not proposing any bottle service arrangements.
>This is a general admission event.
>From a personal experience. LAX has absolutely no problem, I
>repeat, no problem with transgenders. I have been to LAX
>several times. No problems. Everyone from the bar staff to
>security, etc always treats me very well. All they ask is
>good behavior, and buying drinks, of course.
>I'll be in contact with my people on this and provide more
>details. For now, I'll call it my placeholder. That's where
>I plan to be on Friday night.
Thanks, Joan.
This sounds good. I'll get this on the schedule.
One thing you might also want to consider is doing a Friday
dinner somewhere in the general vicinity of the Luxor. If
you want to do this, please let us known.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Murder Mystery update:
Holly writes:
>> * Murder Mystery interactive?
>>Holly, any further thoughts on this?
>As a matter of fact, yes! I was up in Las Vegas last weekend
>and finalized a location to hold the acticity.
>Amy at Glamour Boutique has consented to having it at her new
>shop. She has also volunteered to provide a prize for the winner.
>I'm in the process of gathering things to put in little gift bags
>for those who participate in the event (just like in an actual
>pagent... just as a reminder, the the mystery is about a beauty
>pagent contestant who is murdered).
>OMG, the new store is wonderful and there is pleny of room to
>do what we need to do. I have also contacted a caterer about
>food for the event and I hope to have a few sample menus by the
>end of this week. In keeping with the theme, I have asked for
>a menu similar to what ladies partipating in an event of this
>nature might have. I have also requested menus for both a sit
>down dinner and a buffet.
>This brings me to a request... I would like to move the time up
>from 9PM to 7PM since we will be having dinner as well. The role
>playing for the mystery itself takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours according
>to the literature and starting at 9PM as currently shown on the
>working schedule would have this activity going to around midnight.
>Still to be worked out are the logistics of getting the parts to
>people who sign up and collecting money to cover the expenses of
>the event/ My goal is to keep it in the $35-45 range, including
>the cost of the meal. As always, any suggestions and comments
>are welcome.
Thanks, Holly! This will most certainly be one of the more unique
activities in the history of DLV and it looks like you're on the
way toward getting all of the details worked out.
Thanks also to Amy for providing the facilities.
I'll adjust the schedule to combine both the dinner and the
interactive theater into one activity. I currently have it as
placeholders of "Interactive Option" for dinner and then the
"Murder Mystery" as an evening activity. I'll combine them.
It's probably not too early to start thinking of the logistics
of this activity, such as the sign-up and the payment.
The plans are to start activity sign-up around April 15, but
this date is not set in stone. I think it's probably best for
you to make direct contact by e-mail with those who sign up
for an actual part in the play. We can have the sign-up
screen launch an e-mail to both you and to the participant
if they check this option.
As I (think I've) said before, please plan to very liberally
overbook with understudies. Our show-up rate for returnees is
over 90%, but for newcomers it varies between 50% and 70%
depending on a number of factors. Local Las Vegas newcomers,
in particular, have a very low show-up rate, around 50%. We
can include the status of those who sign up (newcomer,
returnee, etc.) in the e-mails to you.
Now, as far as payment is concerned, our people absolutely
DETEST prepayment! The follow-through rate on prepayment, even
from our multi-year returnees, is abysmally low. I would
suggest that if there's any way you can handle it, make it
so you can accept payment in person at DLV.
This one is bound to be a very popular activity! :) Thanks.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Working schedule:
Diva Las Vegas 2009 schedule
Tentative and subject to change
All times Pacific Daylight Time
Monday, May 11:
11:00am: Studio Lites Open House (Studio Lites) - mv
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (Palace Station Buffet) - ms
2:30pm: Roundtable Discussion (TBA) - sv
6:00pm: Happy Hour (TBA)
7:00pm: Dinner (TBA)
8:00pm: Welcome Meet and Greet (TBA)
9:45pm: Rock Star Karaoke (House Of Blues, Mandalay Bay) - ms
Tuesday, May 12:
8:00am: Diva Las Vegas Invitational Golf (Desert Rose) - ms
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (Orleans buffet) - ms
6:00pm: Happy Hour (various)
7:00pm: Eating Out Night (various)
7:00pm: Milanos option (Milanos) - ms
7:00pm: Buffet option (TBA) - ms
7:00pm: Nora's choice (TBA) - ms
9:00pm: Activity options (various)
9:00pm: Pub Crawl (various) - sv
9:00pm: Night At The Movies (TBA) - ms
9:00pm: Pajama Party (TBA) - sv
9:30pm: Theater Night (Venetian) - ms
Wednesday, May 13:
10:00am: Art Tour, morning session (tba) - ms
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (Bellagio buffet) - ms
2:00pm: Art Tour, afternoon session (tba) - ms
6:00pm: Happy Hour (TBA)
7:00pm: Dinner (Trevi) - ms
9:00pm: Limousine Tour (Caesars) - ms
Thursday, May 14:
2:00am: Charles Bar (Bellagio) - ms
11:00am: Glamour Boutique Open House (Glamour Boutique) - sv
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (Gold Coast buffet) - ms
5:00pm: Night Of The Soiled Doves (CR) - mv
6:00pm: Local Happy Hour (Bellagio - Petrossian Bar) - ms
7:00pm: Local dinner (Bellagio) - ms
Friday, May 15:
9:00am: Pistol/rifle shooting (Desert Lakes) - ms
12:00n: Lake Mead Boat Tour (Lake Mead) - sv
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (Sahara buffet) - ms
2:00pm: High Tea (Four Seasons) - ms
6:00pm: Happy Hour (various)
7:00pm: Dining options (various)
7:00pm: Affordable option (TBA) - ms
7:00pm: Alternative option (TBA) - sv
7:00pm: Nora's choice (TBA) - ms
7:00pm: Upscale option (Roy's) - ms
7:00pm: Murder Mystery interactive option (Glamour Boutique) - sv
7:00pm: Do your own thing option (You tell me)
9:00pm: Activity options (various)
9:00pm: Gaming option (TBA) - ms
9:00pm: Socializing option (TBA) - sv
9:00pm: Dancing option (Luxor - LAX) - ms
9:00pm: Do your own thing option (You tell me)
Saturday, May 16:
6:00pm: Happy Hour (TBA)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Administrivia:
This is the Diva Las Vegas 2009 organizational list.
One address for all items regarding this list, additions, removals,
changes, submissions, questions, etc.:
dlvorg@geekbabe.com <--- NOTE: all lower case
Diva Las Vegas 2009
May 11 - 16, 2009
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Archives of this list appear on the web at:
http://www.geekbabe.com/annie/org09arc/
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.
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 : Wed Jun 03 2009 - 07:12:05 CDT