From: Diva Las Vegas organizers (dlvorg@geekbabe.com)
Date: Fri Oct 30 2009 - 07:57:05 CDT
In this mailing:
Org List
Items to cover
Makeover sessions
Prom/Formal for DLV 2010
Opening night
Welcome Celebration venue
Scheduling
Working schedule
Administrivia
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Org List:
This is the DLV 2010 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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Items to cover:
This is going out a bit sooner than planned, since we do have
quite a bit of information here and a few areas on which we
must concentrate.
As we move along we have a number of topics to discuss,
including the Welcome Celebration, which was kind of derailed
by the closing of the Blue Ox on Valley View, Nora's proposal
for a formal affair, and some general scheduling and strategic
items.
Your feedback is greatly needed on the two major items below,
those being the Welcome Celebration and Nora's Prom/Formal
affair proposal.
If there are to be any major changes to our overall strategy
or schedule, it's far better to make those changes soon, as
in before the schedule gets fully populated, as opposed to
later, when all kinds of things need to be adjusted. Please
look over the schedule carefully and call attention to
anything you don't think will work to our best advantage.
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Makeover sessions:
Ginger writes:
>Go ahead and put me down to host "Makeover Tips with Stacey"
>at the Bare Escentuals store in the Fashion Show Mall at
>10:30 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday; use a limit of eight (10)
>and if these dates fill up then we can likely add more.
Gotcha! Done. Thanks.
I have each session with a capacity of 10, sign-up is
required. I'm putting "varies" for cost.
I would suggest that you overbook somewhat, since there
will always be no-shows.
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Prom/Formal for DLV 2010:
I'm asking everyone to please read this item carefully even
though it is somewhat lengthy. Please be thinking of the
scale of this particular activity, an in particular if we
want to go this direction for the final evening.
A recurring theme in feedback is along the line of a large
dress-up formal affair. There are some challenges and some
logistics involved if this is to happen. Nora is beginning
the discussion, both internally and externally, toward such
an activity.
>From last event's feedback:
+A Prom, for those of us to relive, where we had to once
+wear a suit or tux, let's now dress the way we really
+wanted to back then.
Many similar items have been received over the years.
. . . . .
Nora writes (from a conversation):
n>Hi Annie:
a>Hewwo. :)
n>For years there has been numerous requests for an event
n>where we can go formal. It has not gone past the discussion
n>change for several reasons. Coordination difficulties,
n>location of proper facility etc.
a>Yes, I'm aware of the recurring requests for some kind of a
a>big dress-up activity. It's been a recurring theme in the
a>annual survey.
n>Amy (Glamour Boutique) has been hosting a Halloween party
n>for the past several years. Each year it has become more
n>successful. This year was the best yet with approximately
n>70 attending. What was also noteworthy was that there were
n>almost as many SO's as there were CDs.
a>This sounds very similar to the affair I attended last
a>Saturday evening with the Pinkfest gang. It was sponsored
a>by Rori's (local Chicago area transformation artist) and
a>my guess is that the headcount was 80 or so. I ran into
a>a couple other DLVers as well.
a>They had a small buffet, actually quite good for a hotel
a>catered affair, brief entertainment, costume contest,
a>and door prizes. They had a deejay, but the sound was at
a>a level that allowed easy conversation.
n>I spoke to Amy about her willingness to hold a similar
n>event for the DLV. Without hesitation she expressed
n>willingness.
n>How do you feel about this?
a>I'm all for it.
a>It's obvious that there is at least some degree of
a>support for something like this from the Teeming Millions
a>since it's been a recurring theme in feedback for several
a>years.
a>The only opposition I would think of would be from some
a>who would think that it's "not mainstream enough" but
a>that could be dealt with by having a second track option
a>in the same timeslot.
n>Obviously we would need a good turnout.
a>Thinking out loud here ... If we assume a total turnout
a>of about 150 for DLV 2010, if an activity such as this
a>would capture 50% of the in-town people on one of our
a>mid-week evenings, that would put us at about 70 or so,
a>which I think would be quite realistic.
n>I would think that advance payment would also be required.
a>Yes, our people abhor prepay, but this could be at least
a>partly mitigated by the fact that Amy has volunteered to
a>be a clearing-house for prepayments for multiple activities
a>this coming year.
a>For Rori's party, it was $35 in advance, $40 at the door,
a>so there was an incentive to pay in advance but walk-ins
a>were allowed. Maybe a discount would encourage prepayment.
a>Anyway, I think this is worth moving forward!
n>Your description of the Pinkfest event was very similar to
n>Amy's Halloween party. There was about 70 who attended.
a>Actually, it wasn't really a Pinkfest activity. We included
a>it on the Pinkfest schedule since it was a big TG too-doo
a>that weekend and a number of Pinkfesters wanted to attend.
n>The price was a bit higher. It was held in the Italian
n>American club on East Sahara. If you are not familiar
n>with the place it is basically a catering hall which can
n>house several events.
a>No, I'm not familiar with it at all. I've driven by it
a>countless times, but never been in the place.
n>Amy charged 100 dollars.
a>Ch-Ching! :)
a>IMAO, a price of $100 will probably dissuade many DLVers
a>from attending. My guess is that something like $49.95-ish
a>would be the point at which the "knee" of the curve of
a>diminishing returns occurs. :) That's just my guess, knowing
a>how the DLV people behave.
n>The food selection was excellent. Four or five main courses
n>with only one pasta choice. Salmon, a chicken dish and meat
n>dish was available with salads and vegetable as sides.
a>Rori's affair had only one main dish, Chicken Somethingorother,
a>with tossed salad, green beans, mixed vegetables, and potatoes
a>which were kind of like enormous steak fries, but I'm sure
a>they were done in an oven. They did have desserts, but I was
a>totally stuffed.
n>Amy also had a DJ and had a few entertainers.
a>Paid entertainment will always add significantly to the cost.
n>Do you want to throw out a general notice and see what
n>the feedback would be.
a>The next general mailing is planned for early December. That's
a>just over a month from now. Is that soon enough?
n>We have plenty of time.
a>We can also bounce it off the ORG folks in the meantime.
n>Good idea.
n>I would not mention price as yet as it would have to be
n>determined depending on what would be provided.
a>I won't mention it. :)
a>I'm wondering (wheels turning) if the "entertainment"
a>portion of a DLV formal gathering could be merged with
a>something like Pity Party show or jam session.
n>Excellent idea. The pity party would be a perfect fit but
n>one problem, If I am correct one of the reasons for having
n>the Pity party was for those who could not or would not
n>spend the money on the limo ride. But it is certainly worth
n>while letting the attendees decide.
Yes, you are correct. The Pity Party was originally to be
a lower cost alternative to the big show and Limo Tour,
which until last year were done sequentially on the same
evening. We "divorced" the Limo Tour and the big show
last year, and the Pity Party actually ended up being
the feature activity of its timeslot.
In order to move ahead with something like this, I think
we need to define the purpose and scope of such an activity.
Do we want this to be a stand-alone affair, or combined
with some other activity?
Do we want to perhaps use this as a theme for our closing
evening?
. . . . .
And Nora continues:
n>I spoke to Amy today about the formal.
n>She believes there will be no problem scheduling the
n>event. The Italian American club where the Halloween
n>party was held was very pleased with the group and
n>expressed willingness to work with her in the future.
n>Pricing----- Amy believes that the final cost of the
n>Formal will be between 50 and 60 per person. This will
n>include a top grade buffet consisting of salad, Bread,
n>salmon dish, Chicken Marsala, a beef dish as well as the
n>perquisite pasta dish. Dessert (probably a sheet cake)
n>will be provided.
n>Not sure about soft drinks but hard drinks will be from
n>a cash bar.
n>Also included will be a DJ. Probably the same one that we
n>had at the Halloween party who was very good.
n>The Formal (prom) could not be on Thursday as that is
n>probably the date that the Murder Mystery is most likely
n>and will be held at the GB. Since Tuesday will be show
n>night the would not be a good night for the event. This
n>leaves Wednesday or Friday.
n>We could have the formal on the final night (Friday) which
n>may be a good match or if on Wednesday it would be the same
n>night as the Limo ride.
n>As you suggested the Pity party could be included in the
n>event. Since we have the services of a DJ it would fit in
n>nicely.
Holly has (tentatively) requested Tuesday for the Murder
Mystery (see below) but I do think the MM would be a good
fit Wednesday or Thursday as well.
The disadvantages of the Prom/Formal against the Limo Tour
is that both are "dress-up" affairs and are not inexpensive
so we would have some redundancy there (and a double-whammy
on the pocketbook). However, one is very mainstream (Limo)
and the other will probably be safe venue (Prom/Formal) so
there may be the desire for both.
A Prom/Formal may work as a local option against NSD, but
again, both of them will be not so cheap.
Of course, using the Formal as our ending gathering would
result in a significantly greater turnout.
To all: At this time, our greatest need, in order to move
forward with this, is feedback from you. (Yes, you!) :)
Pity Party fans? Would you like to see the Pity Party rolled
into something like this?
All? Would a Prom/Formal theme be what we want as a big closing
affair? If we do this for a single-track closing night affair,
we would most likely have to do "black tie optional" and then
encourage, but not require, formal dress.
("Excellent! Under the circumstances, formal dress is to
be OPTIONAL!") :)
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Opening night:
Nora writes:
>The Italian American club may also be an option for opening
>night.
>Amy informed me that they have a restaurant that is open to
>the public and may be able to accommodate us.
>The question here is will they be willing and able to handle
>a group our size in the restaurant or only allow us to use the
>catering facilities at a higher cost. Amy will check and let
>me know.
>Some other suggestions brought to my attention is the PT pub
>on Sahara and Decatur. I have not been there but others that
>have said it can accommodate us -- Follow needed on this.
>The new Hard Rock cafe on the Strip reportedly is also very
>accommodating and is said to have ample space for us. Again,
>this needs to be checked out. I have not been to this venue
>either.
>Even if it does not bear out for opening night it may be a
>good venue for a EON night.
Thanks, Nora.
Of all of these, I'm leaning in the direction of thinking
that the larger PTs may be the best option for our opening
Meet And Greet.
I'm thinking in terms of a maximum turnout, and a venue
conducive to "meeting and greeting", where all, from the
shyest newbee to the mainstream aficionado, will be very
comfortable.
The restaurant of the Italian-American Club may also meet
these criteria, but I'm very hesitant to go in the direction
of a catering hall, as I think we'd lose some turnout from
our avowedly-mainstream contingent.
(The new) Hard Rock may also be an option, but HRC tends to
be loud and zooey, maybe a bit scary for newbees, and not
as favorable to that Quality Social Time<tm> that we need
for the opening mixer. I know that Suzanne is planning on
something (EON or larger) at the new Hard Rock. The new HRC
may also be an option for our large closing gathering.
Comments, gang?
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Welcome Celebration venue:
Holly writes:
>I have taken the liberty of contacting a catering professional
>in Las Vegas to see about venues. She worked at the Blue Ox
>on west Sahara until recently. She was let go because the
>owner wanted to "go in a different direction." Maureen is too
>professional to say anything derogatory but when I hear
>statements like that, it sends up a red flag to me.
>My wife and I had eaten at the Blue Ox on W. Sahara while
>Maureen was working there and the food she put out was
>very good. (Note- I hear that the food is not so good now).
>She is the caterer who did the food for my Murder Mystery
>this past DLV and earlier in the year she catered my wife's
>and my 40th wedding anniversary vow renewal. The food in
>both cases was spectacular. Maureen is looking for a venue
>that can handle a group of our size and provide food service
>as well, OR a hall we could secure where she could provide
>the food service. I don't know what she will come up with but
>I thought we could use all the resources we can come up with.
First of all, thanks for taking the initiative. Now that we
have lost our intended WC venue, we need to consider our
options, and this is, of course, one of them.
The big burning question for our Welcome Celebration is: "Where?"
Nora has presented some options above and in prior mailings,
but we're still nowhere close to a decision.
If your friend Maureen has some specific venues in mind, by
all means please let us know.
An ideal venue would be something that's in the mainstream,
yet non-intimidating to those who are still shy of the
general public.
Blue Ox (on Valley View) was close to this ideal, but as we
all know, it's no longer.
>Another avenue to possibly explore would be to see if one of
>our suggest hotels might be willing to donate a room for us
>if we use their food service. I have some contacts at the
>Sahara (assuming they are one of the recommended hotels) and
>would be happy to contact them when the time is right (when
>the recommended hotels have been made official).
>I can't imagine a property turning down 100+ bodies on a
>Monday night.
I can't imagine a property turning down 100+ bodies on a slow
night either, but what I can imagine is quite a few DLVers
turning down our Welcome Celebration if it in any way
reminiscent of the stereotypical opening of the mainline TG
conventions. :(
I'm not everyone, but I think that such an affair in one of
our suggested hotels is coming very close to that slippery
slope!
I don't mean to be poo-poo-ing your idea here, but I think
that a rented space in a host hotel may be a recipe for a
suboptimal turnout. :(
Comments on this, gang?
>Heck, we might even be able to talk them into doing a
>mini promotional thing like a mini-slot tournament or
>the like.
Throw-ins could be nice. However, I don't think they are
necessary for the opening mixer. What we want is Quality
Social Time in an atmosphere that's comfortable to all.
As we discussed last spring, a deejay is not necessary
(actually, not desirable) for our opening mixer. A slot
tournament would only work if people are not into
socializing.
>Just a thought.
Please keep those thoughts coming, you and everyone on the
list. We do have a few more months before we have to put
anything in stone, but we need to continue to brainstorm
and discuss workable ideas.
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Scheduling:
Holly writes:
>I got to tell you I'm not in love with the Sunday-Friday
>format (and no, I didn't vote for it :o)).
First of all, and sorry to butt in so soon, but the way our
schedule sits today, very little is in stone. What you see
here is a first draft of a first draft. :)
If you think a re-arrangement of the "anchor" evening things
is in order, please feel free to propose it.
>Monday is the Welcome Gathering (going by the working
>schedule).
>Tuesday is the Big Show and Affordable Show. Wednesday is
>the Limo Tour. Thursday is the Soiled Doves. Friday is the
>Final Dinner. That pretty much only leaves Sunday with nothing
>major planned. And IMO, Sunday is going to be pretty much a
>non-starter for anything substantial. The point of going to a
>Sunday-Friday format was to make things more affordable by
>not having to book rooms during the more expensive weekend.
>That means people won't be getting into their rooms until
>2-4PM Sunday afternoon. For many, that's not a lot of time
>to unpack, clean-up, dress-up, & make-up.
>I don't think it is in the best interests to put competing
>activities up against the Welcome and Goodbye as we are
>attempting to get maximum participation for these.
>So with great reluctance I am asking to place this year's
>Murder Mystery on the schedule for Tuesday evening, 7-10PM.
>Reluctant because I think it's a shame for fledgling or new
>activities to have to compete head-to-head with old, established
>(and admittedly popular) activities.
>Sooooooooooo, more out of the box thinking from Holly (be
>afraid, be verrrrrrrrry afraid)... why not put one of the
>established activities on the shelf in those years when new
>or nearly new activities are trying to compete for placement
>on the schedule (specifically I'm talking about NSD & the Limo
>Tour for now).
>This would do a couple of things; it would help reduce the
>feeling of redundancy or sameness year after year. We've
>been talking about this for the last couple of years now,
>wanting new experiences and such. Yet if we force them to
>compete with the "old guard" we cripple them and make success
>less likely. And by rotating the popular activities in and
>out from year-to-year we keep interest high in them (wasn't
>it PT Barnum that said, "Always leaving them wanting more?"
>I know the argument is that someone has to step up to the
>plate and put something together. Well, has anyone ever
>considered that maybe the reluctance in the past has at
>least been due in part to people not wanting to take on
>giants?
Holly, if I remember correctly, the Murder Mystery has a
capacity limit of something like 20-25. Is this correct?
(I show a count of 21 on last year's turnout summary.)
If so, then I honestly think that Tuesday would be a good
fit for the MM, with Wednesday or Thursday possibly being
even better for you, even up against the LT and NSD.
IIRC the MM was one of the first activities to "sell out"
for DLV 2009, so I doubt if you will have any trouble
filling it to capacity no matter what else is against
it in its timeslot.
If our schedule is not going to work as it is, now is the
time to bring the problems forward and act upon them. We
certainly want to make any necessary major changes sooner
rather than later.
As for the need to "mothball" one or more of our recurring
activities in order to allow new things a chance to thrive,
actually, I would be tickled pink if the gang here came up
with so many activity proposals that we had to belay some.
There's no law that says we MUST do the Limo Tour and NSD
this coming year, but I really don't foresee any excess of
evening activities.
The two specific recurring activities that you mention (NSD
and Limo Tour) both have some hard capacity limits. NSD has
a hard cut-off around 40. We tried expanding it one year,
but if just didn't work! The Limo Tour has a similar limit,
which is easy to scale down, but awkward to scale upward by
any significant degree.
In any case, neither the Limo Tour nor NSD will accommodate
anywhere close to our total contingent. At most, they can
accommodate only around 1/3 of our expected in-town crowd.
We do have the need to have other options against both of
them.
Neither the Limo Tour nor NSD has the ability to exhaust
the pool of potential participants for the Murder Mystery,
should they go in the same timeslot. If anything, I think
the MM, due to its uniqueness, freshness, and high ratings,
would have a drawing power equal to or exceeding either of
the above.
Assuming we have 120 in-town people for Tuesday through
Thursday, and the LT/NSD captures 40 of them on their
respective evenings, that's still 80 potentially available
for the MM, or about 3-4 times the capacity you can
handle.
For Tuesday, assuming no additional activities pop up on
the schedule, we might estimate the Big Show as drawing 10
or so, the Affordable Show maybe 25, and the Bar Crawl at
20 or so, that leaves 65. Fewer than you would have potentially
available on Wednesday or Thursday, but still 2-3 times the
capacity you can handle. I am, however, expecting to see at
least one more after-dinner activity in there on Tuesday.
We also need to balance things. The Murder Mystery is a
"safe venue" activity, assuming it's in GB again, so it
would work well against something very mainstream. Limo Tour
is just that, but both MM and LT are $35-ish or higher.
On Tuesday, there would be both inexpensive and mainstream
options. In fact, on Tuesday, the Murder Mystery might be
the "giant" against which all others would compete. ("They
Might Be Giants.") :)
It's your call, and now is the time to make it. You have all
of the options, but as we move on, others will plug things
into the timeslots, so if you're going to move it, it would
be better to do it soon.
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Working schedule:
Diva Las Vegas 2010 schedule
Tentative and subject to change
All times Pacific Daylight Time
Sunday, April 18:
10:00am: Religious services (Metropolitan Community Church) - sv
7:00pm: Dinner options (Various)
9:00pm: After-dinner common gathering (TBA) - mv
Monday, April 19:
10:30am: Makeover Tips with Stacey (Bare Escentuals) - mv
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (TBA) - ms
6:00pm: Happy Hour (TBA) - mv
7:00pm: Dinner (TBA) - mv
8:00pm: Welcome Meet and Greet (TBA) - mv
Tuesday, April 20:
10:30am: Makeover Tips with Stacey (Bare Escentuals) - mv
1:00pm: Lunch With Mary Beth (TBA) - ms
7:00pm: Murder Mystery Interactive Theater (tba) - sv
7:00pm: Eating Out Night (Various)
7:00pm: Milano's option (Milano's) - mv
8:30pm: Mainstream-Alternative Night (Various)
8:30pm: Big Show (TBA) - ms
8:30pm: Affordable Show (TBA) - ms
8:30pm: Pub Crawl (TBA) - sv
Wednesday, April 21:
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (TBA) - ms
6:00pm: Happy Hour (TBA) - ms
7:00pm: Dinner (TBA) - ms
9:30pm: Limousine Tour (TBA) - ms
Thursday, April 22:
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (TBA) - ms
5:00pm: Night Of The Soiled Doves (CR) - mv
6:00pm: Local Happy Hour (TBA) - ms
7:00pm: Local Dinner (TBA) - ms
Friday, April 23:
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (TBA) - ms
6:00pm: Happy Hour (TBA) - ms
7:00pm: Final Dinner (TBA) - ms
9:00pm: After-dinner options (Various)
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Administrivia:
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