[dlvorg] Moving along - Beginning the date discussion ...

In this mailing:

Org List
Moving along
JoAnn Sez
Administrative Committee nominations
Gina writes
Just a thought
Dates for DLV 2012
Administrivia
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Org List:

This is the DLV 2012 Organizational Mailing List (dlvorg_at_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 along:

Please continue the general comments regarding things to come
for DLV 2012 as we go through the date selection process. We'll
plan on beginning the actual programming phase once our dates
are set.

As far as the Group Photo, let's digest the comments which have
come in and circle back to the topic when we plan the schedule
and can envision where and when a photo could be taken, either
as a stand-alone activity or in conjunction with one of our
larger gatherings.

We would like to encourage new(er) volunteers to feel free to
add to the discussions on activities, dates, etc.
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JoAnn Sez:

We are suggesting three different DIVA Week choices to accommodate the
Diva Week.

These were present from a "practically factor". See the explanations
by Annie in this e-mail.

At the same time, Annie and I are very open to feedback for alternate
weeks.

Another item to bring to your attention: Now is the time to start
thinking of ideas for activities when we call for schedule thoughts!

Thanks to all for your attention to our "ramping up" !!

Hugs, Appreciations, Much thanks....JoAnn
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Administrative Committee nominations:

On July 19 we called for nominations for the Administrative
Committee vacancy. So far, no nominations have come in.

We'll leave the floor open for nominations for one more list
cycle, and if none come in, we'll make nominations "from the
bench" to fill the position.

There are several individuals who would be well-qualified for
this duty, and I'm sure most of you can as well. Please don't
be shy to nominate or self-nominate.

Serving on the Administrative Committee is not a high-maintenance
duty. :)

Self-nominations are quite appropriate.

Administrative Committee members must be volunteers of voting
status. If you want chapter and verse about what the Administrative
Committee is, surf here:

http://www.geekbabe.com/dlv/administ/admcom.html
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Gina writes:

Hi All,

Sorry I missed the group photo mailing, or I just ignored it.

Offer a group photo at a particular place at a particular time and
photograph whoever shows up.

Personally, been there done that, don't need any more evidence.

The Welcome celebration should either be for dinner (harder to arrange)
or later in the evening so people can go to dinner on their own and
gather later. Or for the newbies or whomever, offer a smaller meal
service at the welcome celebration, that the place can accommodate and
then have the Welcome deal later.
. . . . . . . . . .

Thanks, Gina.

Photos are a priority for some, specifically for the plurality of
those responding to the request for comments. Others, as you say,
don't want the evidence. :) However, I interpret the vast silence
from the majority of those reading the forums as a very loud Don't
Really Care vote.
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Just a thought:

Cynthia writes:

I was swirling in my usual delusional haze last night when I suddenly
came up with this bright idea, see what you think about it.

Say, instead of one pre DLV Opener we had two, they being in addition
to the official Opener on Monday ??

In example, say, early Saturday afternoon, we had an informal pre-
opener at Artisan for any and all who arrive early on Friday or
Saturday and would like to register early and come in for cocktails??

I could give an art tour here too and point out some of the more
interesting hangings, just to give it some added human interest.

Say we give the whole thing two hours, restaurant and bar would be
open, of course. anyone else wanting to have an event, buffet,
cocktail hour, theater, etc. around or after that would have plenty
of time and space to set something up.

Then, we might have a Sunday afternoon pre-opener at the new
restaurant at the Plaza, held on a more formal basis, upscale or
business casual dress required, perhaps Marisa could set this up.

Same reasons: early arrivals, registrations, and a spring board for
any other events anyone would like to hold that day?? Some will come
in from MCC church wanting to socialize, others will come from their
rooms on the strip for coffee or brunch.

Say we give it three to four hours.

Then, Monday, we could hold our big grand Opener at Artisan on Monday
evening, formal dress requested but not required, for everyone and all
who should be in town by then, and be ready to kick the week off to a
big start.

Thoughts??
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Thanks, Cynthia.

Comments, gang?

Let's discuss ...

Here are my comments and concerns:

We definitely need a quality general-interest informal day-before
gathering. We've had these most years, from DLV 1999 to the
present day, and usually they get a reasonably good turnout.

I'm really perplexed at why the pre-DLV gathering for 2011 had
such a low turnout. IIRC we had about 9, far fewer than we've
had in recent years. Was it the venue and the crowd? (We looked
for drive-bys but did not see any.) Was it the lack of interest?
I sure don't know!

Artisan is a venue which is comfortable for newbees, and does not
exude the "closet" vibe to those who insist upon mainstream.

One thing we do need to be very careful of is the re-use of any
venues, particularly within 1-2 days of each other. We certainly
don't want anyone skipping the "real" Welcome Celebration due to
a "been there, done that" condition. (Or worse, disliking a pre-DLV
thing and therefore choosing to skip the real opener.)

Yes, we could do a Sunday afternoon get-together at Oscar's or
any of several places. Historically, however, first-day afternoon
things do not attract large crowds. We should not count on that
attracting anything more than a mid-size group.

Oscar's might be good for a Sunday evening thing, assuming the
agreed-upon Sunday schedule supports it, but I don't think it's
wise to try to make it a single-track thing simply due to the cost
consideration. It ain't gonna be cheap! We'll need an upscale
dining option on Sunday, but we'll need something more reasonable
in cost as well.
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Dates for DLV 2012:

It's time to begin the date selection process for DLV 2012.

We (JoAnn and Annie) would like to follow these principles for
our date selection process unless there are highly-compelling
reasons to do otherwise:

1. Plan for a Sunday thru Friday timeframe. Option to expand by one
day under the appropriate circumstances. This particular span of
weekdays worked exceptionally well in 2010 and 2011.

2. A slate of vetted "candidate weeks" voted on by ORG members of
voting status during the first week of October, or when no further
date discussion has occurred for two consecutive ORG list cycles,
whichever comes first.

3. Other weeks or timeframes to be considered if and only if none
of the candidate weeks are deemed to be workable.
. . . . .

In our "vetting" process we examined all weeks between the last
part of March and the first part of May. Here's a run-down on all
of them, and reasons they were eliminated from consideration if
they were.

1. Week of Sunday, March 25. No obvious issues except for the
fact that it occurs during Lent. Acceptable candidate week.

2. Week of Sunday, April 1. Holy Week, leading to Easter on April
8th. Not workable.

3. Week of Sunday, April 8. Easter on April 8. Passover all week.
NAB starts April 14, high room rates toward end of week. Multiple
Obvious issues.

4. Week of Sunday, April 15: NAB Convention thru April 19. High
room rates. Not workable.

5. Week of Sunday, April 22. No obvious issues. Acceptable candidate
week.

6. Week of Sunday, April 29. No obvious issues. Acceptable candidate
week.

7. Week of Sunday, May 6. Friday, May 11 off limits as per Mothers
Day Rule.

8. Week of Sunday, May 13. Sunday, May 13 off limits as per Mothers
Day Rule.
. . . . .

This leaves three candidate weeks with no significant issues:

A. Week of March 25.

B. Week of April 22.

C. Week of April 29.

We've checked things over quite thoroughly, but if anyone can
show any reason why any of these three weeks would be bad, please
speak up, and the sooner the better. All of these appear to be
free from the usual suspects such as holidays, major conflicts,
crowds, room rate spikes, etc.

Another topic which comes up, one which we've had to work around
several times, is the availability of key players.

Yes, the availability of our more active volunteers is one factor
we need to consider when setting the dates for DLV. This cannot
trump all other factors, but needs to be taken into consideration.

If you are an active volunteer, or plan to be one for 2012, are
there any of these proposed timeframes which are especially bad
for you? If we have any serious conflicts, it's much better if we
know them in advance, and not at the 11th. hour.

Although this may sound unfair to some, if one or more of the
people who do the "heavy lifting" involved in making DLV happen
are not available, it can place a significant overload on the other
volunteers.

Therefore, if you are an active volunteer and you find that you are
ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY LOCKED OUT of any set of dates proposed
for DLV, please speak up PRIOR TO ANY VOTE BEING TAKEN on
those dates. And, (Can We Tawk?), please, we ask that you do not
exaggerate the level of difficulty. In countless cases we've had
volunteers state that they absolutely positively no way in
h-e-double-hockey-sticks could make it if DLV were held on certain
dates, only to find a way to be there.

>From a personal standpoint (Annie), all three candidate weeks
appear to be equally workable. My preference is to go for the
one which gives us the best turnout and the best overall
satisfaction.

The floor is now open for DLV 2012 date discussion!
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Administrivia:

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Diva Las Vegas 2012
Dates to be announced autumn of 2011
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Received on Wed Aug 24 2011 - 04:59:24 CDT