In this mailing:
Org List
Moving forward with DLV 2013
JoAnn Sez
Some numbers and some speculation
Golf and Studio Lites
Pole dancing
Pawn Stars and such
Shooting and images
Working schedule
Administrivia
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Org List:
This is the DLV 2013 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 forward with DLV 2013:
Welcome back! Hope everyone survived (and enjoyed) the holidays. :)
Here is where things stand, and what we need to be doing to move
forward with the planning of April's big event.
As of this minute and second, we have 95 individuals signed up to
attend. Registrations are now coming in at about one per day on
average and list joins are coming in 1-2 per day. More on numbers
(and expectations) below.
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For those who are new volunteers, what we ask of all volunteers
is to coordinate or make a meaningful contribution to one DLV
activity. If you have no clue of what to do, please let us know
and we'll give you some suggestions. If you have ideas of something
you think the DLV gang would enjoy doing, even though it may appear
to be very far out, please let us know.
We've established some Ground Rules and formalized them over the past
few years. These are mostly common sense and best practices.
They're on line here and if you're not familiar with them, please
look them over.
http://www.geekbabe.com/dlv/administ/gr6.html
There should be no surprises in there for veteran volunteers, and
new volunteers should plan to keep them in mind when proposing or
planning activities.
Procedurally, there are a few things we ask of new and veteran
volunteers to help make the planning run smoothly.
1. If your "name is called" in these mailings, please give us the
courtesy of some kind of response within the next list cycle, which
will usually be one week. We ask that every volunteer read the ORG
mailings promptly and actively participate.
2. If anyone sees anything in our plans which you know will not
happen or will not work for any reason, please let us know, and
the sooner the better!
A very good example of this is if you become aware of an impending
major change or closure of a venue which appears on our schedule.
Short-notice venue closings have been problematic for us, ever since
the early days of DLV.
3. It's perfectly fine to discuss potential activities in the DLV
Discussion Forum, including such things as trial balloons, asking
for opinions, gauging demand, etc. However, the actual planning
of your activities including such things as selecting the timeslot,
needs to happen here in the ORG mailings.
4. If you have an idea for an activity of major significance,
please let us know your thoughts sooner rather than later. If it's
something which can attract a significant number of our attendees,
let's discuss it and select a timeslot before the schedule gets too
full.
. . . . .
Now is the time to plan the activities which make up the event as
a whole.
We are just over 90 days out from the big event. We're fortunate
that our two major gatherings as well as a couple of our recurring
"anchor" activities are solid.
If you are planning an activity which is in any way constrained by
day/time, please get it on the schedule sooner rather than later!
One important drop-dead deadline will be sometime during the last
week of March. This is when we start activity sign-up, and as of
that time, any activity which requires some kind of a headcount,
sign-up, hoop-jump, or similar items will need to be solid as to
day/time and cost.
As to what we will be needing to fill our schedule, there are many
possibilities. Please look over this list and see what matches your
interests:
* Touristy, outdoorsy, recreational, and "art tour" activities.
* Dining activities, small and medium in size.
* Show and theater type activities.
* Strictly social activities.
We've seeded the schedule with the activities which have been
planned (or in some cases mentioned) so far.
We'll review the schedule in depth next mailing.
. . . . . . . . . .
If anyone has the "need to know" the registration data, please write
in for the access information.
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Our Big Sister Team has been discussing ways to make the Big Sister
(and now Big Brother) Program more effective. All of you can help
by volunteering some time to act in the role of a Big Sister (or
Big Brother) to the attendees who may be new and unsure.
To volunteer to be a Big Sister, simply go to the main registration
screen (that link you got in e-mail when you registered - yell if
you need a re-send) and click on the Big Sister button.
To volunteer as a Big Brother, please e-mail: bigbrother_at_geekbabe.com
and we'll get you on the volunteer list.
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JoAnn Sez:
This mailing already presents a couple of new ideas for our planning
schedule.
The key to keeping our event vital and fun is how our schedule
continually provides our people with new experiences. A friend of mine
often will greet me with --- " So what is the 'excitement program this
evening, JoAnn?" You all as volunteers are that "excitement element",
it is so important for the success of the Diva Gathering. So I look
forward in the coming weeks communicating with you and Annie to making
our activity schedule the reason we know the attendance will be as good
as ever.
So keep the thoughts coming.... JoAnn
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Some numbers and some speculation:
One of the most anticipated facets of our yearly event has been
the projections of the number of individuals attending.
This year, thing are not as certain as they have been in the past,
and predicting and projecting our final turnout will not be as
precise and as accurate as it has been in the past.
Please don't be discouraged because we can't predict record-setting
attendance this year! We're going to have a good turnout and a very
enjoyable event, although we most likely will not break any records.
We don't want anyone to consider skipping this year's event "because
nobody else will be there", which will definitely not be the case!
Re-registration e-mails went out last Thursday. Response has been
very good so far, but not as brisk as we've seen it in some previous
years.
As of this minute and second we have 95 individuals registered to
attend. The Magic Machine says, using the long-standing fudge
factors and algorithms, that 84 of those signed up so far will show.
These numbers are about where we should be for one week into active
registration. Last year we had 98 individuals signed up at the 10 day
mark.
Predicting the turnout this year may be difficult. Last year our
methods over-predicted by a very significant margin. We did not
expect such a run of cancellations in the two weeks leading up to
the event. We had 84 cancellations last year, higher than any year
previously. For comparison, we had 54 cancellations for DLV 2011.
As for some other indicators that we might use to help us to
predict what we should expect, we can compare what other TG events
are seeing and what other events in Las Vegas are seeing.
The numbers from the LVCVA show that visitor and convention
attendance is essentially flat. Not really good news, but not
particularly bad either.
One of the largest of the other TG events has been cancelled, at
least for 2013, due to projections of low revenue driven by low
turnout projections. Another of the largest TG events saw a modest
decrease in turnout with particular attention paid to minimizing
the impact of unpaid attendees.
Fortunately with our model we do not have these issue!
Another issue this year is air fare. It's up, sharply, from 2-4
years ago or so.
If you need to fly to DLV and have not booked your air travel yet,
please do not procrastinate in the hope that fares will drop in the
next few months. All signs say that ain't gonna happen! Planes are
close to full at the current price points and there is little or no
incentive for the airlines to reduce fares. Please don't get caught
in a high-fare crunch as the date approaches!
We do have a few people who have snagged bargains in airfare, but
many of our folks procrastinate (as they did last year) and they
may find the cheapest air travel beyond their affordability
limits if they continue to hold off booking their air travel.
We can expect few, if any, from overseas, and domestically, fewer
from the east and southeast. Those who live in the midwest,
mountain states, and southwest who "are on the cusp" of whether
travel by air or car is more affordable will most likely be
driving.
Hotel rooms are still surprisingly affordable. I (Annie) am paying
less than 1/4 of what I paid for my room last October at Pinkfest
in Chicago.
We may indeed pick up some people from the cancelled event, as it
normally follows us shortly in the yearly cycle.
The bottom line is that we need to be cautiously optimistic over
this year's anticipated turnout. We will most likely not set a
record for attendance, but we'll still have a good showing and
it will be a great time for those who are able to attend.
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Golf and Studio Lites:
Danielle writes:
You can put me down for Golf again. I'll call my friends at Desert Rose,
and schedule it for Tuesday am. I assume there are no issues with that.
I can also talk to Studio Lights about an open house Monday, like
they've done in the past.
. . . . . . . . . .
Thanks, Danielle.
Golf is set for Tuesday and Studio Lites is set for Monday. Please do
a sanity check on the schedule to be sure all is in order.
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Pole dancing:
Valorie writes:
Doing my homework and would like to suggest a new activity for 2013:
pole dancing classes. Most pole dance studios offer private lessons
for groups up to 14. I have taken one of these classes in LA and it's
a blast. It is a great chance to learn some sexy dance moves and get
a great workout.
Typically classes cost around $30 for public lessons, $40 for private
lessons. There are also often groupon discounts. For example the Pole
Fitness Studio in Vegas is currently offering both individual and group
discounts:
http://www.groupon.com/deals/pole-fitness-studio-las-vegas-5
Would anyone else be interested? I can help organize though I haven't
yet booked my DLV travel.
p.s I also really liked last year's photo scavenger hunt. Lets do it
again but even bigger and crazier
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Thanks Valorie.
Please continue with your plans.
The Groupon referred to above appears to expire in March, but these
types of promotions are often recurring.
The best way to get a handle on the amount of interest in an activity
such as this is to post a note in the DLV Discussion Forum asking if
there is interest. That's what is suggested for you as a next step.
We can most likely assume that this will be a daytime activity, and
the schedule is still wide open for something like this, almost any
day of the week.
As to the "Photo Scavenger Hunt", officially known as Diva Mystery
Evening for last year, all it takes is for someone to volunteer to
do something like this again. There are a few evenings which would
be very conducive to such an activity.
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Pawn Stars and such:
Katie writes:
Hi Gang.
I just want to throw out there to see if anyone else might think it was
a good idea. How about a late afternoon trip before a dining out event
maybe to the Pawn stars store? It might be a fun new option which could
gather interest as our 2013 event nears.
I would be willing to coordinate it but the logistics of getting
everyone together at a marshaling yard / parking lot somewhere central
so that we all arrive together might need some serious thought and some
extra help too! If this is thought to be a good one, then I will post it
in MY DLV Discussion for further perusal by the rest of the gang. I
could enlarge this into **An afternoon out event** if we can get some
interest in it. We have plenty of time to work on stuff like this.
. . . . . . . . . .
Thanks, Katie.
According to lvfaq.com, the best times to visit the Pawn Stars shop
to avoid a line are early-mid morning and evening.
A recent detailed report appears here:
http://lasvegasoffstrip.com/?p=48
Afternoon will probably work if everyone understands that there
may be a line to get in. Just about every afternoon is clear on
the schedule now, so you have your pick.
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Shooting and images:
Vanessa here and looking forward to being in Vegas in April.
I'll be happy to chair or co-chair the shooting event... saw some
mention of moving it back to Thursday morning to avoid hangovers from
the Limo Tour with the normal Friday morning spot... also willing to
explore mixing it up this year and trying trap or skeet shooting as the
shooting activity. Is Joni going to make it this year as we have worked
together on this before.
Also wondering if there would be any interest in either a free standing
event/session/class or something associated with the morning coffee that
would offer some instruction/advice on digital photography and video and
storing/editing such on your computer. Any computer/photo whizes could
put on a workshop and I sure would like to learn how to do more with my
photos and laptop...just an idea.
. . . . . . . . . .
Thanks Vanessa.
Shooting is penciled in on Thursday, so that it will not follow the
Limo Tour. If you want to expand this, there will probably be no
objections to doing so.
We don't have a Joni signed up this year. We did have someone by
that name last year, but nothing so far this year.
As to a small workshop on photo editing and such, I (Annie) have
done these for a local user group and I have the material (handouts
and sample images) available for two sessions, Basic Photo Editing
and Preparing Images for Presentation-quality Printing. I was then
asked to re-run the first for some local geneaology buffs with some
emphasis on scanning and restoring vintage photos.
If there's interest and if we can find an adequate place to do it,
I'm willing to do such a session.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that laptops usually do not do justice to quality
image editing. The typical projectors that you see in such places
as meeting rooms are worse! They are for Powerpoint decks and not
for image editing. For the sessions mentioned above, we were lucky
to have a "high-tech classroom" at a local university to use.
To do it right, we would need a very dark room, a true commercial
grade video projector, and everyone participating equipped with a
computer with at least semi-accurate video and color and an arguably
legal copy of That Favorite Photo Editing Software<tm>. :) The
common laptops often show dim and compressed highlights with shadow
detail lost down in the mud! :(
As to video, I'm not the one for that. :)
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Working schedule:
Diva Las Vegas 2013 schedule
Tentative and subject to change
All times Pacific Daylight Time
Sunday, April 14:
10:00am: Religious services (Metropolitan Community Church) - sv
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (Harrah's Buffet) - ms
5:00pm: Beginner Open House (Artisan) - ms
Monday, April 15:
11:00am: Studio Lites Open House (Studio Lites) - sv
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (Stratosphere Buffet) - ms
4:00pm: Beginner Open House (Artisan) - ms
6:00pm: Happy Hour (Artisan) - ms
7:00pm: Dinner (Artisan) - ms
7:30pm: Welcome Celebration (Artisan) - ms
Tuesday, April 16:
9:30am: Diva Las Vegas Invitational Golf (Desert Rose) - ms
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (LV Hotel Buffet) - ms
5:00pm: Beginner Open House (Artisan) - ms
Wednesday, April 17:
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (tbd) - ms
Thursday, April 18:
9:00am: Pistol and Rifle Shooting (Discount Firearms) - ms
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (Paris Buffet) - ms
9:30pm: Limousine Tour (tbd) - ms
Friday, April 19:
1:00pm: Lunch With Ginger (Gold Coast Buffet) - ms
6:00pm: Happy Hour (Bahama Breeze) - mv
7:00pm: Farewell Dinner (Bahama Breeze) - mv
8:00pm: Farewell Celebration (Bahama Breeze) - mv
8:30pm: Official Group Photo (Bahama Breeze) - mv
9:30pm: Dancing at Paris (Paris) - ms
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Administrivia:
This is the Diva Las Vegas 2013 organizational list.
This mailing was addressed to: annie_at_annie.net
One address for all items regarding this list, additions, removals,
changes, submissions, questions, etc.:
dlvorg_at_geekbabe.com <--- NOTE: all lower case
Diva Las Vegas 2013
April 14 - 19, 2013
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
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Received on Fri Jan 11 2013 - 20:01:26 CST
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