In this mailing:
Org List
Hotels and strategy
JoAnn Sez
Overall DLV 2012 strategy
We have a winner
Hotel Discussion
Erotic Heritage Museum
Limo volunteer
Artisan and such
Rumor
Org discussion
Studio Lites and other open-houses
Raw votes
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.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hotels and strategy:
Somewhat large mailing this week, very high level of enthusiasm!
Thanks to those who have taken the initiative to move forward
on such things as hotels and various activities.
Please continue the brainstorming and discussion regarding the
hotels for DLV. We already have one new suggestion below and a
volunteer who will be checking out one, possibly two, which
sound promising for a true discount rate.
This week we're introducing the topic of overall strategy for
our big event next April, from a top-down "big picture" view.
One point of overall coordination here ...
While it's perfectly fine to discuss activities, and ideas for
activities and such on the Discussion Forum, when it comes to
the actual programming and scheduling, particularly the selection
of timeslots for activities, that discussion needs to occur here.
In the future we will be editing and/or moving items as needed
along these lines.
Please feel free to (continue to) discuss your activities over
on the Discussion Forum if that's where you believe it's more
appropriate, but for the actual scheduling, please bring it
up here. Thanks.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JoAnn Sez:
Yah!!, Welcome to the Administrative Committee, Bob and Sara. Be
careful what you have wished for, because you just received it. The
"fine print" ??? .... more later.
*Hotels*: Diva Week Hotels over the years have become a project
"in-progress". By that I mean, "tastes" have changed, locations may
not be as important, properties have been taken-off-line, and there is a
wider range of properties welcoming our "community". The word that
describes this on-going selection and recommendation process of hotels
is one size does not fit all ... so .... "options" is the required
response.
Finding new and special amenities is the challenge, so get out there,
verify, and report back with your recommendations.
JoAnn
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Overall DLV 2012 strategy:
Our past four events (2008-2011) have been amazingly successful
with 2010 and 2011 being particularly strong and well-liked.
We had strong big-bang beginnings in all four of those years,
and strong endings the last two years.
One key to the strong beginning is that maximum-attendance big
blow-out Welcome Celebration toward the beginning of the event.
This blasts things off on a high note and sets the stage for
the days to come.
One key to the strong ending -- that strong ending we searched
for over countless years and finally realized the past two -- is
to do the big-bang ending while the event is still going strong,
and not after a significant percentage of our attendees have
departed and the general energy of the event is on a downward
plunge. End on a high note!
One key to keeping up the strength of the event between the
strong beginning and strong ending is to have a full and rich
set of activities in the daytime and evening. In recent years
we have had no difficulty meeting this objective.
One successful exception to this STRONG-STRONG-STRONG
strategy is what JoAnn first suggested for DLV 2010, and that
was the slow-easy start for the very first evening.
. . . . .
In our planning for the 2011 event, we took a look at our past
years' events, particularly on how we planned the evenings. Our
evenings could be fairly easily divided into three broad classes.
1. Evenings with a single maximum-attendance feature activity,
with other less-featured activities after and perhaps before.
2. Evenings with one non-exclusive featured activity, with one
or more less prominent second-third track activities.
3. Evenings with several dining and activity options, none of
them to be featured above the others.
MAX, ANCHOR and MULTI were the terms we used for these evenings.
. . . . .
Dividing our six evenings into equal quantities of each of the
above three, considering our strategy of slow start, big bang
beginning, sustained level of enthusiasm, big bang ending, and
also some "dibs" which were called, we get a high-level evening
schedule that looks like this:
Sunday: MULTI - slow start evening
Monday: MAX - Welcome Celebration
Tuesday: MULTI - various evening activities
Wednesday: ANCHOR - feature activity, other options
Thursday: ANCHOR - feature activity, other options
Friday: MAX - Farewell Bash
For those who notice that yes, two ANCHORs occur on subsequent
evenings, please don't be concerned. The actual activities to
be planned on those evening will be significantly different,
and will avoid any perception of repetition.
. . . . .
That's for the evenng. How about daytime strategy?
Over the past few years we've had some very innovative and very
successful daytime activities, along with the recurring favorites
such as golf and Lunch Witn Ginger. Last year in particular,
several various mainstream makeover options were highly successful.
I think a good strategy for the daytime is to continue the daily
lunch, reinforced by a good mix of favorites such as golf and
makeovers, perhaps some repeats of some of the recent popular
items, and a few new and innovative daytime things.
. . . . .
Comments and ideas on any of these, gang?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
We have a winner:
Two, actually. :) Congratulations to both Bob and Sara!
The decision to handle the difficult-to-break tie by allowing
the two to fill the Odd-year Administrative Committee seat
jointly was sustained by a very significant majority with only
a few dissensions.
Here are the numbers:
1. Sustain the decision: 23
2. Reverse the decision: 3
3. Abstain: 1
Last vote was received Sat, 15 Oct 2011 08:56:41 -0700 (PDT) and
polls were closed Monday morning at that time.
JoAnn and I (Annie) would like to congratulate both Bob and
Sara, regarded by both of us as well-qualified for this position.
We also thank the ORG group for the "vote of confidence" on the
two new Admin. Committee members and our decision. We apologize
for the distraction of this issue.
The further comments on this issue have been noted, but we must
now close this topic and move on. We're asking all to please
respect the outcome of this vote as the final decision of the
group as a whole on this matter.
Raw votes appear below.
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Hotel Discussion:
Monica writes:
HI ALL....
I stayed at the Tuscany Hotel & Suits in 2011. The service was
impeccable! It is also GLTG friendly as I had no problem when I
was in grrl mode. The rooms are very spacious & quite comfy. I
found the price was very reasonable for the week. They are located
just a couple blocks off the strip but within easy walking distance
of public transit.
There is also plenty of parking on site that is well lit & secure.
I am definitely staying there again.
Maybe we could book as a group there?
. . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
Thanks, Monica. :)
If you would like to do some homework, please feel free to approach
the Tuscany on behalf of DLV and see what kind of deal they are
willing to offer our attendees.
A few notes and suggestions here:
I would suggest that you let them know at first that we are not
their typical convention customer. "Shared vacation" is the term
I used with the management of another property last year when
another volunteer asked me to get involved in discussion. Hotel
executives seem to have that "one size fits all" solution they
bring up unless they are steered away from it. :)
I'd also suggest to be straightforward with them as to the rates
they quote, meaning let them know that our people are net-savvy
and if they quote us "Special Group Rates" which can be beaten
with a few mouse clicks, they are wasting everyone's time. This
has been the case in all but a few of the "Special Group Rates"
we've been quoted over the past several years.
Please let the group know what you find out.
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Erotic Heritage Museum:
Sarah writes:
We had a great turnout and it seems everyone who went to the EHM last
DLV was both comfortable and entertained by the experience. They are
interested in having us return again this year and have tentatively
penciled in Wednesday evening, April 25th as DLV night. I am formally
submitting this as an option to our group and I'm offering to coordinate
if we return.
Is there still interest in using the venue again this year? If so, what
kinds of things would make it a fresh and better experience? There were
munchies and soft drinks last time, but if we plan now we could have
more types of refreshments, including adult beverages if desired. We
have months to plan, but the more complicated we get the sooner we need
to get started. Think about it and please respond.
. . . . . . . . . .
Thanks for the initiative, Sarah.
To answer a few of your questions, yes, I'm sure the interest will be
there, not just for a re-run, but for an expanded activity. I'm sure
that word of mouth and some well-placed hype will snowball this into
a very well attended mid-week activity.
As I mentioned in my initial response, the only thing "missing" for
maximum enjoyment might be a moderate amount of adult beverages. Not
to get the group totally gooned, but to add to the atmosphere. Maybe
some wine?
One concern which was brought up last year prior to this activity
was parking. I did not hear any complaints about the lack of it,
but again I know we encouraged those attending to carpool. We're
showing a headcount of approximately 45 for last year's EHM thing
and I'm sure we'll see at least a 25% increase over that with the
word of mouth and active promotion. Do you (Sarah or anyone)
foresee any transportation or parking issues with such an increase?
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Limo volunteer:
Walt writes:
Based upon the experience I had in 2010 as a limo-tour-participant,
yes, I will happily sign-on as a "limo-team-volunteer/'cat-herder'".
It will be nice to see you again!
. . . . . . . . . .
Joann responds:
WOW!! and YES !!!
This volunteer if helping on the Limo Tour will be the recipient of a
drink of their choice at the Charles's Bar paid for by JoAnn.
Thanks... Walter !!!
And a "kiss" and hug if you so choose!
Am I excited? "You'bet'cha ! "
JoAnn
. . . . .
Annie responds:
Thanks, Walt.
Although coordinating the Limo Tour is one of the activities of
DLV which requires a bit of "real work", it can be fun and very
rewarding! Welcome to the team.
A drink at the Charles Bar is an outstanding reward! People have
been known to take out a second mortgage to be able to afford
those! :)
If anyone else wants to volunteer in advance to work on the Limo
Tour, one of our very popular recurring activities, please let
us know. Yes, serving on the team which does the Limo Tour will
count toward voting status.
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Artisan and such:
Cynthia writes:
Hi Org Staff one and all,
Very well, I will approach Artisan guest services and see what
kind of group rates they've got for us.
This is really kind of a fun thing for me to do this year. Of course
I can't gaurentee anything at this point, I haven't talked to them
since last year, and Marisa stated that there's been some management
changes since then, so, I'll see what they can come up with for Sun.
Apr. 22nd thru Fri. Apr. 27th and get back to you all just as soon
as I can. Give me a week to ten days - I just live from check to
check - I'm wild, but I'm slow. Let me line up my ducks before I
start shooting.
It is possible that maybe a few of the girls in the higher income
brackets might want to bypass the group rate option and just call
Artisan and reserve their own room, which I'm sure would be OK with
everyone, but I won't mention this to Guest Services and they can
just handle it like they want to.
I also want to hold off on arranging a set date with Artisan for an
Opener until you give me the "go-ahead", or until we have a loose grip
on our schedule of events for the entire week, but I can move on this
whenever you say.
Are we still interested in their sister-property - Rumors - for
anything??
Is Marisa available to follow up on this option??
Looking forward to working with you again this year and wishing us
the best of luck for a grand and wonderful Diva 2012.
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
Thanks Cynthia. I know I speak for the whole group when I say we
do appreciated your initiative, enthusiasm, and your efforts.
Let's touch on a few of your questions, concerns, and talking
points ...
Yes, we do want to hold off making any definite arrangements for
any large gathering until the group here gives us a clear sense
of direction, but it won't hurt to do some preliminary looking
around and even some discussion with the properties regarding
what options they can give us.
As to Rumor, I would say that if you and/or Marisa have the time
to go check them out, please do so. The management of Artisan
has dropped their name to a number of us in various contexts,
so it might be worth looking into.
Please work with Marisa if she's agreeable. You two made a
dynamite tag-team last year WRT the Welcome Celebration! :)
. . . . . . . . . .
Cynthia continues:
I have just had a chat with Artisan Guest Services Manager, Rachael, and
she assures me that there is an excellent chance we can have a group
rate at Artisan in April. What she need from us now is a rough count of
how many of us stayed at Artisan this year and/or how many of us would
like to stay there next year.
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie continues:
I can give you some of the numbers you're asking for, but ...
Speaking very freely here, it appears to me that Racheel is thinking
INSIDE the box, and quite frankly, that ain't gonna sell very many
rooms! I think she's thinking of us as more of a typical C-word
group.
In order to attract a significant number of our attendees to their
hotel, they are gonna have to make the first move, and that is to
give us some black-and-white rates which we can announce to our
people. Our people tend to be very good customers, but they're
net-savvy, frugal, and know their options.
As far as to how many stayed at the Artisan last year, the survey
indicated that four respondees stayed at the Artisan. If we
extrapolate that number into the rough percentage of attendees
who answered the survey, we get about 7 rooms sold last year,
which is a very bad number to use since we did not have the
Artisan rates until 3 weeks before the event, long after many
had made their hotel arrangements.
Realistically, we won't have a clue as to how many DLV 2012
attendees will be staying there for some time, and we will
certainly never have any clue until we see some rates.
As to the ballpark they need to be playing in, the web rates
for Artisan for April look like $69 on the weekdays and $89
on the weekends. IMAO, a meaningful discount would begin at
about 10% off of these rates. Anything less than that is most
likely not worth pursuing.
A few more numbers here. Last year they offered our people rooms
at $45.00 weekday and 75.00 weekend. If we adjust for inflation,
it should be about $46.44 weekdays and $77.40 weekends. :)
As a comparison, the property "soon to be formerly known as the
Imperial Palace" :) is showing $45-ish on the weekdays and $112-ish
on the weekends in late April. This to-be-renamed hotel will most
likely get a good number of DLV 2012 attendees, as they have for
the past 15 years. That's the competition they are up against.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rumor:
Marisa writes:
Cynthia, Did you look at the Artisan's sister property? Courtney (a
waitress at Artisan) suggested that their Rumor Boutque Resort at 455 E.
Harmon(across from the Hard Rock casino) might work better for our
group. She also asked that we request for her to work if we are at
either location next year.
. . . . . . . . . .
Marisa, have you (or anyone) seen the inside of Rumor?
I've been by it, and seen the web site (which is very slick) but
never given it a close look.
This is a spiffed-up St. Tropez.
Anyone have any first-person experience here?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Org discussion:
Katie writes:
Hi.
As we now have an up and running discussion page in **My DLV** I
was wondering if we should not have a separate (Private access)
section for the Org Committee to air their views too? Or maybe
there is one already and I have missed it somehow.
If not then I think it would benefit the group as a whole to have
one as we could discuss sticky problems without revealing our in
house *squabbles for want of a better term* and it would be much
easier to go back and review the history without having to sift
through the org E-mails to find a subject then not finding it
then giving up and not sending in an idea or an opinion at all!
Having been involved slightly with Union / Management discussions
on contract issues I found that revealing a plan to the larger group
early just raised hopes and people leaped on board before we had
ironed things out and were disappointed when we didn't get the
juicy morsel we had been discussing. I know this is a roundabout
way to approach this subject but it compares quite well with some
things we have done in the past.
There is also the fact that we disagree quite a bit and it doesn't
look very good to the prospective DLVers who might get put off with
a quarrel here and there so we can't really discuss some things out
in the open. Having a private discussion page for org members with
separate topics where we can hear all the ideas and pitfalls without
wading through miles of org e-mails might be nice. And very convenient
too!
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
Thanks Katie. Let me address some of your talking points and
concerns here.
First, a new forum ...
If there is a demonstrated need for additional forums on MyDLV,
yes they can be added quite easily. The criteria I would use for
the creation of additional forums would include:
1. Is there a demonstrated need for the new forum?
2. Is there evidence that a new forum would be regularly and
actively used? (Dead and stale web forums are far too common!)
One thing I want to be VERY careful of, however, is anything
that facilitates something along the line of a pecking order
or status structure. When you say "private", that means that
some attendees will have access to it and some will be excluded.
The TG community can be very status-conscious, and we want to
be very cautious in setting up anything which reinforces this
tendency.
. . . . .
Next, the difficulty in finding and returning to items discussed
in the past.
The best and quickest way of going back in the ORG list archives
is a Google search. The ORG archives are reasonably well indexed
by Google. I do this fairly regularly.
As an example, the Google search on:
"restroom issue" site:www.geekbabe.com
.. immediately brings up an item from the Discussion Forum and
another from last year's ORG mailings.
. . . . .
Now the biggie. Yes, things get heated and discussions can get
out of hand. Anyone who survuved Fidonet or Usenet knows how
common this pattern is. The practice of moving heated discussions
to a private area has been tried over and over since the 1980s
and is seldom effective.
The best practice is to watch what is said in the first place.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Studio Lites and other open-houses:
Mardi writes:
I will do studio lites on monday the 23 about 11:00 am
. . . . . . . . . .
Thanks Mardi.
We haven't started the schedule yet, and probably won't for
at least another month or so, but please hold that thought and
when we do post the very first draft of the schedule, yell if
it's not in there. :)
For the two other long-standing commercial open-houses, Gabi
has "first refusal rights" to host(ess) the Glamour Boutique
one and Norma has said rights for Harmony Nail Spa. Please be
thinking ahead regarding these and when we begin the actual
schedule and select appropriate timeslots.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Raw votes:
(in no particular order)
Message-Id: <201110121117.p9CBHCH5031597@
> 1. Sustain the decision. Bob and Sara to hold the seat jointly.
Message-ID: <000c01cc88d3$050b5ed0$0f221c70$@
1. Sustain the decision. {comments}
Message-ID: <COL109-W4277A52AC1D6766538D1E4D7E30@
1. Sustain the decision. Bob and Sara to hold the seat jointly.
Message-ID: <CAP3r2cvqb5HqMfjeFm8Sk_ompQ4TL0L1q3-0y7GQtWZQU-1gLA@
> 1. Sustain the decision. Bob and Sara to hold the seat jointly.
Message-ID: <1318428969.448.
Measure 1 - C ...
[ Accepted as a vote of 3 (Abstain) on measure 1. ]
Message-ID: <7c3e2.1ff67845.3bc7028e@
2. Reverse the decision. Determine by run-off.
Message-ID: <000c01cc88ea$635ff6a0$2a1fe3e0$@
I vote to reverse the decision to allow Bob and Sara to jointly fill the
Message-ID: <CAOFnsGAM6R8PG2xFVKZRKGgwhceyNDRhrhVgoBjRjP_Vi6Tj3A@
1. Sustain the decision. Bob and Sara to hold the seat jointly.
Message-ID: <17e0a.5e3eb78a.3bc70a53@
Measure 1: I vote for 1, both holding the seat.
Message-ID: <1318437310.69392.
I vote 1 ...
Message-ID: <1318436442.99039.
Measure 1: Sustain the decision
Message-id: <E59902C5-D00E-4433-8121-5A18265F66F3@
On Measure 1: I vote to SUSTAIN the decision - let them fill the role jointly
Message-ID: <4E95D283.6060001@
On mesure 1, I vote for option 1
Message-ID: <BAY163-W40904C1575D2BE15978DE7B5E30@
I vote for (1.) both a. and b. office should be held jointly
[ Accepted as a vote of 1 on measure 1 ]
Message-ID: <COL124-DS7FCD296930753D20C7880CCE30@
I vote on measure 1 is 1
Message-ID: <BAY167-W106B52EC0F422D8E57C485CDE30@
measure1: 1
Message-ID: <1318459982.58563.
Measure 1: 2
Message-ID: <1318463056.12530.
Measure 1: Vote for #1 ...
Message-ID: <SNT111-W406918D1EF4E56B417A0BCDFE00@
I vote for Measure 1: #1 ...
Message-Id: <817EAE5C-9932-4E4F-AFCB-3AEF5D8CDF1E@
Measure 1 - 1
Message-ID: <SNT111-W56F949A6ECB13723B123DF8E00@
1. Sustain the decision
Message-ID: <4E9660DE.7060906@
Measure 1 - Sustain (1) --- Bob and Sara hold the position jointly.
Message-ID: <1318514092.35730.
Measure 1 - 1
Message-ID: <1318550590.12083.
Measure 1 - vote 1, sustain
Message-ID: <1318574710.41058.
1. sustain the decision. Bob and Sara hold the seat jointly.
Message-ID: <CAEoD6nGXDo7-HENeeb2cfzA7jzSD_h6Q96pXqjUO4eug_4GgBQ
measure 1 1
Message-ID: <1318694201.92705.
1. Allow both
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Diva Las Vegas 2012
Dates to be announced autumn of 2011
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Received on Wed Oct 19 2011 - 08:48:12 CDT
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