From: Diva Las Vegas organizers (dlvorg@geekbabe.com)
Date: Sat Nov 14 2009 - 08:00:32 CST
In this mailing:
Org List
Continuing planning
Hotel scoreboard
Activities and volunteers
Prom/Formal terminology
Prom-Formal clarification
Open House, Pity-Prom
Prom thoughts
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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Continuing planning:
This mailing covers just about everything except the Hard
Rock Welcome Celebration proposal. We'll most likely have
another special mailing on the HRC thing tomorrow.
All: Please read the "Activities and Volunteers" item
carefully, and please respond in one way or another if
your name is called. :)
Ladies? (Gentlemen?) We need to deficate or abdicate on
Amy/Nora's formal proposal. I do not see a consensus
forming on this, nor am I feeling such vibes that would
indicate a vote on this would carry.
One option we have is to belay any formal motion/vote on
this issue and go back to Amy, stating our requested
adjustments to her proposal. However, to do this we do
need a clear consensus of what it is we want.
We do have some good discussion below on clarifying the
scope and the title of the activity. Let's continue,
please, working toward a conclusion.
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Hotel scoreboard:
(in order of nomination)
Sahara: Nominated, seconded.
Paris: Nominated, seconded.
MGM Grand: Nominated, pending second.
Any others?
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Activities and volunteers:
First ...
Let's circle back to some of the activities proposed by
you over the past several months. I would like everyone
to please reconfirm your intent to host(ess) these, and
to state your preference of timeslot(s) if appropriate.
In some cases I'm going to suggest some timeslots.
As of now, there are still a number of clear open daytime
and evening timeslots available. Those who act first get
more options!
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Vivian Wells:
Fremont Street Experience? You mentioned Saturday in your
original note, but as we know, this year's schedule is off
by one day as compared to last year's.
I can envision either Friday after the ending bash or
Tuesday working well for this, possibly Wednesday or
Thursday.
Your call.
. . . . .
Bob:
SO activity? "SO And Partners" activity?
Any further thoughts? Timeslot preference?
. . . . .
Kimberly Kael:
Dancing at Paris? We discussed this as a "more than once"
later-evening activity. Any preferences as to evening(s)?
. . . . .
Mary Beth, Sarah, JoAnn, Marisa, Randi (others?):
Erotic Heritage Museum? Art Tour? Time preferences?
. . . . .
Ginger:
Theater Night? I kind of assume this is the Big Show on
the calendar.
SBS Social? Any timeslot preferences? Maybe even Sunday?
. . . . .
Norma:
Rocky Horror screening? Any further thoughts on this?
We have not had a volunteer to host(ess) the actual
screening. Do you want to carry on with your idea for
a private screening?
. . . . .
Speaking of Rocky Horror:
It looks like the midnight performance, Saturday
evening to Sunday morning, is still on. It's up for
grabs. Anyone? I do think that if we put this on the
schedule at the beginning, we do need one or more
DLV people there, at minimum, to welcome the others.
Volunteers?
. . . . .
Bob, Susan R.:
Hike? Any preferences as to day/time?
. . . . .
Kimberly Kael:
Walk Off Your Lunch? You had mentioned wanting to resurrect
this one. Want to move forward with it?
. . . . .
Tracy:
M Resort? Any further thoughts? I can see this fitting well
in several evening timeslots, even as early as Sunday. It
could be a second/third track option against the Limo Tour
or NSD. It would also work as a combined dinner and after-
dinner activity on Tuesday. Maybe even an after-bash activity
on the final Friday.
. . . . .
Kat:
Makeup sessions? I would suggest any day(s) other than
Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday to avoid redundancy.
. . . . .
Did I miss anybody's proposed activity?
. . . . . . . . . .
Next, for some of the traditional recurring items:
Harmony Nail Spa Open House. Norma, you have first refusal
rights to hostess this one. Interested?
Boat Tour (and Breakfast). Britney, you have first refusal
rights for the pre-tour breakfast. Diane, you have first
refusal rights for the tour. Interested?
English High Tea. This is now officially an "orphan", since
Jamie will not be with us in 2010. :( It's up for grabs.
Anybody feel like grabbing this one?
Acoustic Jam Session: Susan? Interested?
Any others that I missed?
There's nothing that says these recurring activities
have to be repeated, but I do think that we should
at least consider about anything that occurred with
some degree of success and enjoyment.
Of course, we're also open to new and different
ideas for additional daytime and evening activities.
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Prom/Formal terminology:
Nora writes (first-person, no quoting):
There has been a number of criticisms of having a "Prom'
The word prom does bring up certain aspects in ones mind
such as romance, dancing, dating etc.
Maybe we should not use the word prom in our dialogue. It
seems that a more correct term would be a banquet.
Banquets are held in virtually all CD weekends and get
togethers. Many support groups around the country have an
annual Banquet.
Banquets can be attended by couples or singles. The end
result will be that we can still wear our formals, dress
in our best clothing or even if one wishes come in daily
attire and still be comfortable.
A banquet is normally held at the end of a function. It
would fit in perfectly with the DLV and if does not work
we can try something new next year.
. . . . .
Thanks, Nora.
Here are my thoughts on this, and I do apologize if this
is not what you want to hear. :) :) :)
And, we do need feedback on this item from all of you!
Yes, YOU! :)
In thinking about this very personally, meaning what I
think would appeal to me in particular. As far as something
I would want to do, the term "Prom" sounds a lot more
appealing than the term "Banquet", by far!
The term "Prom" just sounds like fun! A party! Yes!
The term "Banquet" just rings of the stereotypical TG
convention and the oh-so-uninspired banquet, yes, the
type I sometimes refer to as the "Us And Them Banquet"
or "Rubber Chicken Banquet". There have been some various
other concerns about this proposal being a bit too close
to the C-word, and that was when we were using the P-word
(Prom) to refer to it. :)
Having a unique activity, formal, prom, or whatever we call
it, is a direction in which I think it's appropriate for
DLV to venture.
However, having an activity which replicates the banquets
you see at TG conventions is not in any way appealing to me,
personally, and I don't think it's in DLV's best interest
to have one. We need something more unique, something that
is appealing to our attendees, and something they will not
get at {fill in a mainline TG convention}.
Now I'm not everyone, and we do need to hear thoughts about
this from the rest of the gang here.
Is a banquet something that you, personally, would want to
see at DLV?
Comments?
. . . . .
Let's go back to the original suggestion and see if we can
examine the intent of the original poster ...
+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.
I can't imagine that the original poster of this comments
had ANYTHING along the line of the ubiquitous Rubber
Chicken Banquet in mind for this.
Maybe "Formal" might be a better name for this. When I was
in college, our Student Activity Committee considered
"Prom" to be a very "high-schoolish" term and always used
the term "Spring Formal" as the big spring dance opposite
Homecoming.
"Spring Formal" as an activity title may just work. It
describes the activity plus the suggested style of dress.
Other dance names I recall are such things as "Snow Ball",
(nee' "Christmas Prom"); "Military Ball" for the ROTC
crowd; "Turkey Trot" for a Thanksgiving weekend dance.
I don't think any of those would work for us. :) :) Hey,
we could do "Enchantment Under The Sea" for a BTTF
theme! :) :)
"Now make like a tree -- and gedoutahere!" :) :) :)
And then there's the Sadie Hawkins/Vice-versa theme, nope,
scratch that! Ain't gonna work!
Thoughts?
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Prom-Formal clarification:
Kumiko writes:
>Hi Annie,
Hewwo :)
>On the prom/formal event can we clarify the following:
Kumiko brings up some important questions which are along
the line of what a few of my concerns have been about this
activity.
Please comment, so we can move closer to a consensus of
what we want here.
. . . . .
>1. What kind of Prom/Formal are we considering or want to do?
>a. Formal Dining/Dinner
>b. More traditional only Social and Dance with some sort
> of recognition awards presentation (similar to a
> convention)?
>c. Both
I think the original poster had something like b., without
the awards and such, in mind.
I was the one who brought up combining that theme with that
of the Pity Party, and although I was brainstorming with
many options, that's the only one which caught any traction.
Nora and Amy have proposed just that, but with an added
dinner.
. . . . .
>2. What was the cost for the GB Halloween Event at the
>Italian Club per person? and what will be the cost for
>this event - close estimate?
>a. Above $100
>b. Below $100
>c. $100
I don't know what Amy's H'ween party was, $$$-wise, but
the one I attended, which I think was similar, was $35 in
advance, $40 at the door. My guess is that they priced
this right at the break-even point.
The price that's been bouncing around for the proposed DLV
activity is $50-60.
I think that the $50-60 price point would be a major
deterrent to an optimal turnout. Anything $100 or over
would certainly reduce the turnout to a handful or so
at best.
. . . . .
>Also what is the minimum attendance required if we use
>this Italian American club? What exactly is included in
>this price?
Referring to the Amy/Nora proposal, It's my impression that
it would include the venue, dinner, and entertainment.
I don't know if Amy has any minimum in mind, but I would
say that to make things worthwhile for a DLV ending thing,
we would want at least 70 or so, or the same ballpark
number that we've been seeing at Bahama Breeze the last
few years.
. . . . .
3. What does the majority want?
>a. sequestered - banquet room?
>b. mainstream location - restaurant or hotel or casino
> banquet room?
To try to get a handle on what the Teeming Millions actually
want, I went back over the activity suggestions from the
surveys from the last five DLV events.
The term "banquet" only appears once, in the context of:
+If possible to have a formal event with a banquet style
+meal and entertainment.
>From this comment, I envisioned something along the line
of what we had at Sasha's in 2002, with the Michael Cagle
Show and dinner, but perhaps a little more upscale.
I really don't think our people would prefer any kind of
a well-sequestered "big closet" type of affair. I know we
have a number of attendees who would skip such a thing.
. . . . .
>4. Singular event or combined events?:
>a. Only the Prom
>b. Combination Prom and Pity Party
>c. Combination Prom and Limo Tour
Amy/Nora's current proposal is for a Pity-Prom (b), and
although it was originally my thought during some
brainstorming, I really think that your option c. might
be more workable, if we would just simply adopt a "prom"
theme for the HH and dinner at Trevi. Then it would all
fit as an elegant dress-up evening.
Of course, Michelle would have to sign off on that one,
and I have no clue where she stands on this.
(What do they call a "Prom" in Kiwi-land anyway?) :)
. . . . .
>For those attending and are out of state - airline travelers
>bringing in gowns will need to consider luggage requirements
>to bring a formal gown. This item may take special care in
>traveling:
>a. Mail it - due to gowns taking alot of room with
>everything else one brings to DLV and the cost of
>two or more luggage items.
>b. Buy it in LV - another cost - also how to bring it home
>with you
>c. Need cleaning/dry cleaning or pressed/ironed to get the
>wrinkles and folds out.
>d. Hand carry-on - and on plane storage.
Many - I daresay most - DLV attendees bring all kinds of
outfits, long and short, plain and fancy, to DLV. I'm
very sure that many of our people are used to it.
Over the year I've carried such things as long dresses
and ballgowns in check-in garment bags. I do have one of
those garment steamers but often times it's not really
necessary. A quick once-over with the iron in the room
is easy to do.
The difficulty of dealing with a long dress or gown is
a consideration, but I don't think it's gonna be a
show-stopper for most of our people.
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Open House, Pity-Prom:
Sarona writes:
>Hello from Sarona
And hello to Sarona. :)
>Thanks for adding my begginer's open house to the schedule.
>Of course we all know the timeshare is also available for
>non-beginners who just need a place to change clothes.
>And thanks for saying nice things about a GG host for it,
>too. I agree that shy people can meet up there and go
>to the Hard Rock together if that is where we will be
>having our kick-off meet and greet.
Thanks, Sarona. I'll make the notes on the final schedule,
including the fact that non-beginners will be welcome
too. :)
. . . . .
>I also like the idea of a prom and pity party at the end
>because it is like a big party that the other events of
>the week lead up to. Especially if you can find a way to
>make it possible for people to participate from a variety
>of economic levels.
>Those who want to celebrate and can afford new dresses,
>fancy dinner, etc may do so, while also creating a "door
>only" option for those who cannot afford so much.
This is a good point, and I think that it applies to all
of our maximum-attendance functions, plus countless
smaller ones. We do have attendees from all over the
socioeconomic spectrum, and in our principle of inclusion,
we do need to consider one's economic situation.
>like a sliding scale with different ammenities depending
>on where you are individually on the scale. that is what
>i think will be best but i don't know if the rental hall
>will be happy with that arrangement.
If I'm hearing what you're saying, this would involve
"unbundling" such things as dinner.
>I've driven by the Italian American club and it seems to
>be a good location.
>I think it is possible to talk up the big final bash through
>the other events of the week such that everyone or almost
>everyone is really looking forward to it.
This is also a very good point. Make it the activity that
everyone can't miss! :)
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Prom thoughts:
JoAnn writes (first-person, no quoting):
If it were a "perfect Prom night" that I would wish ---
(1) Have dinner with a small group of my friend before
the Prom just as I remember--- somewhere other than the
Prom site.
(2) The Prom --
(a) It could be at a Hall [Italian-American (almost as
good as the Irish Cultural Center] so long as it had a Bar
(b) The evening would include a show [Pity Program],
dancing to include dances that are fun folk for
everyone to join in
(c) Have a dessert bar included in the admission ticket..
(d)There would be Group pictures, "recognitions", and
individual 'Prom' pictures
(e) The all-inclusive price might be two drinks, the
evening program, and dessert for $35. Pre-pay at a $35
fee through GB, and at the door for $45
(f) The lights go out at 11am. [sic] This lets the
"cruising group" hit the other LV spots.
You may want to have a Chinese auction -- stuff the box
for your favor item.
Just some thoughts for discussion..... JoAnn
. . . . .
Thanks, JoAnn.
First, I assume you meant to say 11:00pm as the lights-out
time.
Of all of the brainstorming and suggestions here, you and
Sarona appear to be converging upon something similar,
in your case a "pity-Prom" which does not include a main
meal.
Personally, I like this concept far more than I do that
of a banquet theme. I also think that $35 is a much more
attractive price point than the $50-60 which has been
bounced around.
Comments, gang?
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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:
This is the Diva Las Vegas 2010 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 2010
Dates to be announced
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