[dlvorg] Opening, EHM, Dates, nomination ...

In this mailing:

Org List
This mailing
JoAnn Sez
Nomination
Acronyms, and Welcome Celebration
EHM Thoughts
Dates and Dinner
Date comments
Opening thoughts
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
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This mailing:

Lots of good discussion this week. Please continue!

We're planning on doing a general mailing this weekend, listing
the three candidate timeframes and calling for comments. We'll
gather comments through the remainder of September, summarize
them here, and then vote in early October.

We're also holding the floor open for one more list cycle for
Administrative Committee nominations. See below.
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JoAnn Sez:

I can see that this Group is on the "on-ramps". Great!

The suggestions are all good, now the challenge is implementing them.
It can be done!!

Keep the responses coming. We just need to take them "under advisement",
then get your feedback, and and make sure implementation is feasible.

Give us a little time and I'm sure we can integrate all of the ideas.

Thanks... You all are "beautiful"...JoAnn
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Nomination:

Bob writes:

I would like to nominate myself for the position in the
Administrative Committee. I have a problem filling other
peoples shoes as I wear a size 13. So, I guess I'll have
to do the best I can.
. . . . . . . . . .

Thanks Bob.

I (Annie) will second your nomination, as I believe you are a
very well qualified candidate for this position.

To all: We now have two nominated and seconded candidates for
this position. We'll keep the floor open for nominations for
one more list cycle, then close the nominations and go to a
vote.

Personally, I'm very happy that there's enough interest in
this position to have multiple candidates and a vote. It shows
that both candidates care about the DLV program as a whole and
want to provide further input.

Both candidates have been eager and enthusiastic volunteers. If
anyone wants to research the two candidates' backgrounds, you
can go to the ORG list archives and review the significant
contributions of both of the candidates.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what the Administrative
Committee is, please surf here:

http://www.geekbabe.com/dlv/administ/admcom.html
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Acronyms, and Welcome Celebration:

Sue writes:

Marisa, wow! I might need to ask for a glossary at the end of the
announcement. :-) Must be the curse of the newbie. Let me try my
hand.

QST - Quality Social Time (thanks to Annie's reply)
HH - Happy Hour
FF - Firefly?
FSE - Fremont St Experience
BB - Bahama Breeze
PH - ?
EHM - Erotic Heritage Museum
WC - Welcome Celebration

Did I at least get a C?

But I like Marisa's thought as a possibility. As someone who just
experienced DLV this year, I like having a long run at one location
so that I could get around and find people I have known on-line or
just introduce myself.

**If** the dining portion is going to be a problem as we grow (or
even maintain) our numbers, then let's get everyone together for
the possible group photo, rekindling friendships, and some catch-up
time. Then break up for dinner and clubbing.

But..... we will need a plan for the new people.

I wouldn't want to have someone show up, be a little shy, and when
everyone starts to leave for dining, they are left lost.

So Annie, do you still have those key indicator numbers for those
years that there wasn't food at the Welcome Celebration?

And I second the nomination for Sarah's EHM.That was a blast and EHM is
looking to be a great supporter.
. . . . . . . . . .

JoAnn responds:

Sue-

Thanks so much for completing the Glossary!!
I was lost, now I know where I am lost.

And your feedback is really helpful. I'm sure there will be more dialog
on the Opening and some of the ideas can also be used at other events
during the week, i.e., central socialize location with several close by
post-eating venues.

Thanks for keeping the conversation flowing.

JoAnn
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Annie responds:

This following list was originally compiled somewhat tongue in
cheek, but it does show some of the acronyms you're likely to see
on this list.

Common DLV acronyms:

AM - Annual Mixer
BDR - Behavior Dress and Restroom
COP - Conditions Of Participation
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
RCB - Rubber Chicken Banquet
SBS - Southern Belle Society
SO - Significant Other
SV - Safe Venue
TLA - Three Letter Acronym
WC - Welcome Celebration
DLG - Densie Loves Galiano [sic]

PH? Could it be Planet Hollywood or pantyhose? :)
. . . . .

As to a difference in ratings between Welcome Celebrations with
and without food, we have survey data going back to 2002 on this
and here are the numbers:

Without food:

2003: Welcome Celebration, Flex: 4.41 (36 responses)
2004: Welcome Celebration, Flex: 4.31 (35 responses)
2005: Welcome Celebration, Zingers: 3.85 (27 responses)

With food:

2002: WC, Hamb. Mary: 4.31 (29 responses)
2006: Suede HH, WC and dinner, Suede: 4.31 (32 responses)
2007: Dinner and Welcome Celebration, Suede, Monday: 3.81 (60 responses)
2008: Dinner/Welcome Celebration, Blue Ox: 4.49 (53 responses)
2009: Dinner and Welcome Celebration, Blue Ox, Monday: 4.52 (57 responses)
2010: HH, Dinner, Welcome, Firefly, Monday: 4.53 (66 responses)
2011: HH, Dinner, Welcome, Artisan, Monday: 4.51 (78 responses)

There are a few conclusions I might draw from this, one being
that if we throw out the two out-of-cluster values for known
reasons, the WC, with or without food, has very consistently
placed between 4.31 and 4.53 on the enjoyment scale.

Numbers are slightly higher for the past four WCs, all which drew
very nice crowds and all which included food as an option.

Although the numbers are quite respectable in most cases, the
WCs, even though they are often cited by individuals as
favorites, don't ever seem to get those "5.0 or just under"
marks as we typically see for some activities each year.

The two out-of-cluster WCs have "there's a reason for that"
excuses. In 2005 there were some issues between DLV and the
venue hosting the WC and the WC was poorly attended and the
atmosphere was somewhat tense and not conducive to QST.

In 2007, let's see, how do I put this? The food sucked!
Poorly-prepared overpriced buffet. Some went next door to
eat, others left early to eat elsewhere. Both of the venues
for the two out-of-cluster WCs have since closed.

(Actually, 3.8-something is not necessarily bad. Anything over
3.0 indicates that the majority enjoyed the activity. We're
just used to seeing 4.0 or above for most successful activities.)

My (Annie's) personal thoughts and feelings about food or no
food at the Welcome Celebration is that if the goals (maximum
turnout, participation, enjoyment, satisfaction) and the
objective of at least 2-3 hours of QST can be met, food can
be a secondary consideration.

For the WCs at which there was no food, we sometimes had a
dinner before. This required that dreaded "move", and in most
cases, particularly in 2005, not everyone who departed A
showed up at B. Other years, in particular before we started
doing these surveys, we had an implied dinner on one's own
prior to the WC.

I'm thinking that it might be better, if we were to have a
food-less WC, that dinner after the WC would be better than
before. The WC is typically on our first full weekday, and
we will have a number of attendees who either are too shy to
comfortably dine alone, or have not established a circle of
friends with whom to dine.

Yes, serving an enjoyable dinner to 100-ish folks can be a
challenge. Throughout our history we've rejected the typical
mass-produced banquet meal, and we've received complaints when
we've had the limited "party menu" forced upon us. Those are not
what our people want.

Firms such as Bahama Breeze, the old Firefly, and Trevi have shown
us that yes, it is possible to serve a larger group from a regular
menu and do it well.

The now-defunct Blue Ox Central did a buffet as their featured
offering, but if someone insisted, they would let them order
from the menu.

Artisan gave it a good try, but they were approaching some hard
bandwidth limits. As Marisa noted, perhaps Rumor might be a
better-equipped place to handle our group.

Further thoughts, gang?
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EHM Thoughts:

Annie writes:

There have been a number of recent comments, both on and off
line, all highly positive, about this past DLV's Erotic Heritage
Museum reception and tour.

Yes, if there were a "New Activity Of The Year" award, the EHM
would most likely win it hands down.

The EHM appears to hit that "sweet spot" in that it's comfortable
to those just coming out while not being claustrophobia-inducing
for the mainstream afficianados among us.

The relaxed dress code further adds to the drawing power of this
activity.

The success of the activity, plus the resulting chit-chat, makes
this a great candidate for not only a repetition, but expansion.

However (comma) ...

I might suggest avoiding the temptation to throw many more eggs
into the EHM basket, such as trying a combined Welcome Celebration
and EHM tour. The EHM appears to have enough strength to stand
alone as one of the larger featured activities of DLV.

With the inertia given to EHM by last year's tour, some aggressive
promotion, and the word of mouth, there should be no reason why
we could not capture 50% or more of our in-town attendees for a
peak-mid-week EHM reception and tour. If we assume a number of
150 in-town DLVers at the peak, this would be a turnout of 75
or more, and I think that number is realistic and do-able.

The only "improvement" I might suggest is to somehow arrange for
the availability of adult beverages, either by having their bar
open, or allowing us to bring in something like a moderate
quantity of wine. The idea here is not to get everybody totally
gooned, but to use it as a social lubricant, to add to the occasion
and to help deal with any "been there, done that" reluctance to
attend again in 2012.

We have several other activities which deserve mention and
recognition as well. I might assert that DLV 2011 wins the
"Most Successful New Activities" award in general. Those activities
which come to mind immediately include Shiloh Horse Rescue, Neon
Boneyard, Madame Tussaud, Margaritaville and others. If I didn't
mention yours, please do not feel snubbed! We had very few things
in 2011 which did not meet expectations.

We also had several newer volunteers take on various things in
2011, the most I remember over the recent past! I would name
names, but I'm afraid I would forget and leave somebody out. :)
Thanks again for everybody's efforts to make DLV 2011 the
success it was!
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Dates and Dinner:

Delaney writes:

All of the dates work for me, although I prefer the April slots.

I also favor a large group opening celebration, I think it adds
cohesiveness and makes DLV an event, rather than a series of smaller
gatherings.

In my ideal world, I would probably do a second larger group semi-formal
to formal gathering later in the week as well, although pragmatically I
don't know where you could do that in Vegas with any sort of sane cost
structure.

I'm still willing to do a dinner at Paris/Eiffel Tower, or some similar
place, earlier in the week. Based on my discussions with Paris last
year, it would have to be early in the week, and probably on the early
side of the dinner hour, to be able to reserve any significant table
space - they are touchy about cancellations as well. They didn't bat an
eye at the gender issue.

If that doesn't seem to have interest (and may not, due to cost) I can
do Fremont again.

{...} or the piano bar suggestion - Baccarat or Palazzo sort of venue.
. . . . . . . . . .

Thanks Delaney. :)

Assuming our strategy for the first evening is similar to that of
last year, a Paris dinner thing at the Eiffel Tower would be a good
fit on Sunday. Otherwise, it would make a great Eating Out Night
option, should we do that, or even a larger dining option before
a featured activity.
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Date comments:

Michelle (NZ) writes:

Hi

> This leaves three candidate weeks with no significant issues:

> A. Week of March 25.
> B. Week of April 22.
> C. Week of April 29.

I agree with the analysis and couldn't immediately find any issues with
choice of the 3 possible dates.

My preference are the April dates in particular the 29th over the 22nd
by a small margin but that's both for personal reasons; the further out
it is the more likely I'll be able to come and the fact its after our
local school holidays which has an impact on the cost of airfares.

Hugs

Michelle
. . . . .

Vanessa writes:

Lots of good comments...the March dates don't work for me but the April
dates will be fine for me.

Will be happy to schedule the shooting event again and also help arrange
another activity or event.

Love the Vegas event and will be doing Pink in October as well.
. . . . .

Sue writes:

I waited too long after the first announcement, but I don't see
any problem with any of the dates.
. . . . .

Kate writes:

Hi.

The weeks of march 25 and April 22 are good for me, The 29th would be
really difficult. Early weeks in May would be ok too if they come up as
a suggested week.
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Opening thoughts:

Cynthia writes:

I'm following Marisa's thoughts here.

> I visited Artisan a month ago and Courtney suggested that
> the restaurant at their (Artisan's) sister property (Rumor)
> could possibly accomodate a large group better.

I must admit that when I first saw the website views of Rumor,
I flipped. It is totally ultramodern and elegant beyond belief
and would make a perfectly wonderful venue for us anytime.

I have not visited it in person yet but will investigate it as
Diva approaches and we have a better idea of what we want to do
for an opener, that is if Marisa doesn't get the jump on me and
plan something before I get hold of it, which she is more than
welcome to do, by the way. :)

I'm not surprised to hear that Artisan has changed management;
hotel management and staff come and go around here faster than
farts in a window fan.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was under new ownership too.
Vegas commercial property - big and small - seems to be more the
speculative venture type these days rather than for any serious
long term investment. At any rate I'm not afraid to confront it
for a potential venue and I don't think Marisa is either.

Under those conditions I can pretty much gaurantee you that we
will have a grand and elegant opener somewhere in this town.
. . . . .

Rosada writes:

To Ginger: How about calling them Pre DLV Week Warm-up I (Sat
lunch) and Pre DLV Week Warm-Up II (Sun lunch). Attendees can
choose which one they want to attend.
. . . . . . . . . .

Annie responds:

Thanks Cynthia and Rosada.

I've seen the Rumor web site. It's slick! Very slick! The decor
is upbeat, and quite a contrast to that at the Artisan. There
is quite a it of creative lighting (and creative photoshopping?)
used for those photos and the effect is attractive and very
impressive I must admit. If the photos of the roo^H^H^Hsuites
are in any way accurate, they've done a bang-up job of doing
over the old St. Tropez!

According to the Artisan web site, Artisan is still operated by
The Siegel Group, along with Rumor. They have a third featured
hotel, the Gold Spike downtown, which they are trying like heck
to raise the reputation of, from that of a skid-row wino hangout
to that of a boutique hotel such as Artisan or Rumor. They have
invested boatloads-o-bucks in the Gold Spike, but only have been
marginally successful at best in upping the reputation.

And then there's Siegel Suites. We won't talk about that. :) :)

It's really hard to tell the size of the restaurant ("Addiction")
at Rumor from the web site. It appears to be bright and cheery,
as opposed to dark and intimate ala Artisan. If Courtney says it
may be a better venue for a WC and dinner, it very well may be.

What I might suggest is this, assuming you (Cynthia) and/or Marisa
have the time, right after our dates are final, touch base with
the current management of both Artisan and Rumor and let the
group here know of your thoughts and feelings. I can envision
two purposes here, the first being the venue for our Welcome
Celebration (or other large gathering) and second as a suggested
hotel. I get the feeling that this company will be more aggressive
in giving us true black-and-white discounted room rates that are
indeed cheaper than street rates.

Cliff, the (current? former?) GM of Artisan hinted to me about a
buy-out of the Artisan rooms, but I told him I did not think such
an arrangement would be practical.
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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 Sep 07 2011 - 05:57:41 CDT