From: Diva Las Vegas organizers (dlvorg@geekbabe.com)
Date: Tue Nov 10 2009 - 06:03:39 CST
In this mailing:
Org List
Special Michelle edition
Michelle (NZ) writes
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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Special Michelle edition:
This ORG mailing has one item, a set of well-thought comments
from Michelle (NZ) on a variety of topics. It's presented
with very little editing.
Follow-up comments are welcome.
I'm asking all to please watch your inboxes over the next
few days, as quite a bit of material is coming in on a few
topics. Nothing is really of extreme urgency, but ...
We do owe a few people some timely preliminary answers on
some proposals. These will most likely end up as votes,
since we do not appear to be forming any kind of a strong
consensus on either proposal.
Anyway, here's Michelle's submission. Michelle's original
edited schedule has been replaced with the current working
schedule with Michelle's items added as specified.
Thanks, Michelle. :)
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Michelle (NZ) writes:
Pent up list of things to say from the last six months:
Hi
I've been following the various threads for some time now with no real
enthusiasm to comment, apart from a lack of time and opportunity. My
contract ended in mid August and then I went off overseas for 3-4 weeks
with family and the time since being back has been focussed on getting
one or more new contracts in place... thankfully now underway.
So the following somewhat long winded and extensive monologue covers a
number of issues going back to the start of the year.
. . . . .
Trevi
=====
Given the success and enjoyment of last years activity at Trevi I'm
happy to arrange this again for 2010. For those unaware there were a few
minor hiccups in the days and weeks leading up to this that we need to
be aware of. They are:
- Trevi can only successfully manage about 40 people for a single
sitting (time) where choice is off the normal dinner menu
- Trevi require a guarantee for bookings for substantial numbers
Another minor issue was the "tardiness" and "casual appearance" of
people at the dinner. As it turned out this was not an issue and due to
the flexibility of Trevi staff everyone was accommodated and fed.
If the Trevi diner is to be big one off then we either need to agree
that there will be two sitting (possibly 60??? Minutes apart) or we
simply limit the numbers. Equally we can go with a limit (eg 40) and
invite anyone on the waiting list to show up and let the Trevi people
handle it like last year. Since we had the upstairs area and we were the
only ones there and there were many spare tables I think this would
probably be OK.
The guarantee ended up on my Amex but was a non issue given the number
that showed up exceeded the booking anyway, although I had been assured
that nothing would be charged without consultation and I suspect that we
would have had to have had a complete "no show" for anything bad to
happen.
Looking at the current draft schedule either Tuesday or Wednesday night
would be OK, if Wednesday before the Limo tour then the single sitting
issue is more important.
. . . . .
Mainstream, On / Off strip
==========================
Some years , in the early days of DLV there most activities took place
in a range of off strip bars most gay or TG in theme but nevertheless
off-strip. Some of us began going more "main stream". There were calls
for more "mainstream" by many but also cautioned by others wanting to
retain the secluded / protected venues, specifically for new comers
those less certain of their new selves.
There is now (or recently) a tendency to refer to mainstream and and non
mainstream as though this adequately describes the characteristics of
the venues. I appreciate my comments are a generalisation and I have no
wish to upset anyone by that, simply defining a starting point for what
I want to say next.
When I first went to Las Vegas in the early 1980's the food in the
hotels was either adequate coffee shop style meals or crap from the so
called upmarket restaurants. I remember going off strip looking for
restaurants that were of better quality and service and successfully
finding quite a few. Things have changed today, with most of the newer
hotels having not one or two but sometimes many quality restaurants
serving great food, providing good service and being at least oblivious
if not not normally welcoming to the TG community.
Not forgetting that the many shopping precincts, malls or what have you
attached to these casino /hotels have an array of fine restaurants as
well.
The point is that I believe that many want to experience the on-strip
venues of Las Vegas as much as the off strip. Why go to Las Vegas and go
to the likes of "Bahama Breeze" when you can go tom one of 100 equally
good or better restaurants on the strip. Part of the attraction of DLV
is the glamour of the Las Vegas strip and nite life.
Now am I proposing we dump the Off strip venues? NO...repeating that for
those with a reading problem NO!!!!
What I am saying is that an adequate balance needs to be maintained between
four area:
ON Strip (Upmarket) OFF STRIP (Casual/Local)
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| | |
Non | | |
Mainstream | | |
| | |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| | |
| | |
Mainstream | | |
| | |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
I tried to populate the boxes with account based on the provisional
schedule below but there is still far to many items that are undefined.
It seems the easy ones to organise are in the Non Mainstream off-strip -
Such as anything at Glamour Boutique (an example only).
There aren't a great many non mainstream, on strip venue / activities.
This is probably expected given the lack of gay or TG night clubs in the
major hotels and casinos!
I would like to see that we adequately cover off each of the other
categories to have balanced set of activities.
Since I'm going to write about golf next I would actually classify this
as primarily NON mainstream and of course off strip.
I would also point out that I'm not necessarily saying that one type of
activity compared to another is necessarily good or bad or indeed
comparable.
. . . . .
Golf
====
Any day for golf is good. What ever day it goes on, because of its early
start, should not have a well attended late night activity on the
previous evening and not a popular early evening activity on the same
day as both of these severely impact the time pressure placed on the
golfers.
Secondly the current format of individual play should be retained
although (in my opinion):
- Groups should be organised to allow the good golfers to go out first
and not be held up (Yeah I know its not going to happen!!! :-) )
- Non golfers and those experiencing a problem hole really need to
understand golfing etiquette, specifically staying directly behind the
group in front not just in front of the group behind!
- If we went to stable ford scoring, we could limit all golfers to a
maximum of eight shots per hole. This also allows everyone to have one
or two bad holes and still be competitive.
. . . . .
Prepayment
==========
I welcome the initiative of those that have allowed prepayment through
Glamour boutique. I would make the following comments on prepayment
generally:
- Activities that require prepayment should not be scheduled in the
first two days where ever possible. If these type of activities are
scheduled early no-one gets a chance to prepay.
- Allowance or access to being able to pay remotely should be available.
Eg. sending credit card details to Glamour Boutique, so those arriving
later can still pre pay for activities without added stress and possible
missed or late payment.
- That Glamour actually have a proper recording mechanisms for all
payments that is transparent and available to any activity organiser who
needs to confirm who paid, when and what they paid.
Other than that I think this will be a great service for DLV and will
probably allow a greater array of activity options to be considered in
the future (ie one that need deposits or prepayments)
. . . . .
Activities (all-in versus A la carte)
=====================================
Generally I would prefer to see all activities have a minimal set charge
covering only entrance or the use of the venue and cost of drinks food
or other activities that may be optional or not for everyone paid for
directly. Certainly there have been a number of activities where despite
best efforts the food choices have been limited and some have paid but
not been able to get a satisfactory meal. By having a choice it it also
allows those that want to "pop in and say Hello" and then go on to
something else am opportunity.
. . . . .
Welcome Celebration
===================
By definition the Welcome Celebration should be as early in the week as
reasonable. It should provide and has historically provided one of the
most significant points of meeting to resolve last minutes issues,
ensure everyone is more or less on the same page as far as schedules etc
are concerned as well as the obvious opport8unities to meet and greet
old and new friends a like.
In my opinion the success of this activity is predicated on the following:
- Entrance has a minimal cost (less than $10.00 but ideally free)
- It is off strip with plenty of local parking that makes the venue easily
accessible, especially for those who are new comers
- Food, snacks and drinks are available
- The place is of a reasonable stand in a reasonable location that can
generally be considered to be safe
- Ambient sound (music, etc) is of a reasonable level...that is allows
for free conversation with excessive voice raising
- Is easy to find, not too far from the strip and specifically well
signed.
While I was not a great fan of the Blue Ox it was one of those places
that met the requirements very well. It is unfortunate that it is no
longer available. The same applies to other places such as Elvis Lounge
and the various incarnations of the Sashas etc
I trawled through the E-mail but I can't seem to find the original HRC
proposal. I assume we are talking about new HRC down near the MGM.
It probably meets about half of the attributes defined above. Not sure
it would meet Annies goals and objectives but then again if this was the
first evening activity of the week then I think it will probably get a
turnout from just about everyone who is in town. Without having been
there it's hard to determine what it would be like for new comers and
newbies?????
. . . . .
PROM
====
Like the idea of the PROM / FORMAL although in order for it to be
successful it needs to be more than just a drinking / eating / talking
activity. Kumiko's little fantasy evening description probably has some
merit generally in so much is that as having EON type dinners from say
5-8 and then going on to the PROM / Formal which can start at say 8:00pm
for non EON eaters? Not sure having the Limo tour in the middle would be
a good idea.
Location of the venue would probably determine how popular its going to
be.
. . . . .
Restrooms & Men dressed as women looking like men!!!
====================================================
I read there was a recent incident at the Gold Coast and the following
comments are unrelated to that. I have no idea of the circumstances
around that incident but I have the following to say generally.
There are far too many cross dressers that DO NOT PASS that use WOMEN's
restrooms. Some are so poorly presented that they have OBVIOUS beard
shadow, not properly attired and have a HUGE attitude problem. These
people are the ones that create issues in for others less likely to be
noticed.
This isn't necessarily a DLV issue and in my opinion will increasingly
be a factor in Las Vegas. LV is definitely an ideal destination for the
budding young, immature, perhaps semi passable Cder to go be "a girl" in
the real world. If they (plural) create enough issues then we can ONLY
expect that casinos, hotels and the other venues will be more on guard.
Its very simple, if something has happened previously the casino
security will be much more attuned to the issue and look to take
pre-emptive / proactive action to ensure they mitigate the possibility
of repetition.
We have seen it at DLV, when far too many Cders "rushed" the restrooms
at the Wynn. What happened? Doesn't matter the security reaction was to
stop anyone they thought was doubtful going in for the rest of the
evening.
BTW having said that about the Wynn, Mary Beth wrote a letter of
commendation for one of their bar maids after a group of "kiddies(early
20's)" made a fuss in a bar last year. While her actions, to call
security to ensure if anything happened they were on hand, it also says
that they have been trained to spot and take action with respect to
Tger's in general. I'm sure other casinos will have similar policies and
training in place.
. . . . .
Hotels and accommodation
========================
Not sure I'm happy with hostess idea. I didn't vote mainly because I
don't stay in hotels (usually a time share). It opens up the DLV
organisation to further criticisms if for what ever reasons the hostess
doesn't work out or do their thing properly.
One thing that has become very apparent in coming to DLV and the
community in general is that no matter how much information, warnings
and directions provided to some people they are so up tight, frightened,
scared, unsure, lacking confidence or whatever that they cling to a
vestige of hope... and now this will be the hotel hostess.
We saw examples of the this in the survey about the car pooling and
those that seemed unable to to get rides. While they probably couldn't
organise a ride the underlying problem was probably lack of confidence
or inability to articulate or get to the right person to make
arrangements.
The whole conversation around hotels, prime hotels and the like seemed a
bit irrelevant and I'm happy the voting for that went the way it did.
. . . . .
Working schedule:
I've added my contributions below:
Tuesday, April 20:
7:00pm: Eating Out Night (Various)
* 7:00pm: Joe's Crab and Steak - ms (MICHELLE - Limit 20)
Wednesday, April 21:
* 6:00pm: Happy Hour (Trevi) - ms (MICHELLE - Limit 40)
* 7:00pm: Dinner (Trevi) - ms (MICHELLE - Limit 40)
[ Moderator's note: These items have been rolled into the
master schedule. Thanks to Michelle for volunteering to
coordinate these items. ]
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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
2:00pm: Studio Lites Open House (Studio Lites) - mv
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
3:00pm: Beginner Open House (See notes) - sv
6:00pm: Happy Hour (TBA) - mv
7:00pm: Dinner (TBA) - mv
8:00pm: Welcome Meet and Greet (TBA) - mv
Tuesday, April 20:
8:00am: Diva Las Vegas Invitational Golf (Desert Rose) - ms
10:30am: Makeover Tips with Stacey (Bare Escentuals) - mv
1:00pm: Lunch With Mary Beth (TBA) - ms
3:00pm: Beginner Open House (See notes) - sv
7:00pm: Murder Mystery Interactive Theater (tba) - sv
7:00pm: Eating Out Night (Various)
7:00pm: Milano's option (Milano's) - mv
7:00pm: Joe's option (Joe's Crab and Steak) - ms
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
3:00pm: Beginner Open House (See notes) - sv
6:00pm: Quiet Evening At Home HH and Dinner (See notes) - sv
6:00pm: Happy Hour (Trevi) - ms
7:00pm: Dinner (Trevi) - ms
8:00pm: Pajama Party (See notes) - sv
9:30pm: Limousine Tour (TBA) - ms
Thursday, April 22:
2:00am: Charles Bar (Bellagio) - ms
11:00am: Glamour Boutique Open House (Glamour Boutique) - sv
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:
9:00am: Pistol/rifle shooting (TBA) - ms
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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Diva Las Vegas 2010
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