In this mailing:
Org List
Welcome Celebration thoughts
Welcome Celebration survey
Sue writes
Kandi writes
Delaney writes
Katie writes
Asian buffet option
Cami writes
Annie writes
Administrivia
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Org List:
This is the DLV 2014 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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Welcome Celebration thoughts:
This mailing contains items regarding the Welcome Celebration only.
Other items received will appear in a subsequent mailing. Items which
were received by Tuesday morning appear here.
We're asking all to please read all comments thoroughly, as some of the
ideas being presented would involve some major changes to our current
plans.
Items here appear more or less in the order in which they were received.
Thanks to all who have provided valuable insight and feedback! Please
continue the discussion.
Marisa and Sherry: Please see the discussion about the EHM below and let
us know your thoughts on what is being discussed.
Again, thanks to Cami, Kandi, and team for their efforts in seeking out
our options and following up on them.
Further comments are most welcome.
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Welcome Celebration survey:
To get a better handle on which factors surrounding our Welcome
Celebration are important to our attendees, we'll be giving a brief
survey to the rank and file regarding which factors, those factors that
have been discussed here, are important to them and which factors would
make them more or less likely to participate in our Welcome Celebration.
We'll be launching this, and an associated special mailing, toward the
end of this week. Plans are to keep the survey active for about a week.
This will help us to further understand, and to quantify, which factors
such as food, exposure, costs, venue, etc., may influence the turnout at
our Welcome Celebration.
We're asking all, volunteers in particular, to please take this survey
when it comes out.
We'll report the results here when the survey closes.
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Sue writes:
I think one of the biggest challenges for the Opening Celebration is
having an easy to access area that people can get up and socialize in.
Sometimes the food is secondary although we don't want to overlook it.
The makes some restaurants tough as the layout may only accommodate
socializing with those at your own table. I know each year, I have made
new friends on the first night and scheduled activities with them during
the week. So either an open area around a bar or a private dining area
becomes key to me when trying to reach this goal.
I know we want to avoid it if it all possible. But if we end up with a
location that requires some level of walking through the masses, maybe
we have an extension of the Big Sister program. This could be for anyone
who doesn't neccessarily need a big sister, but finds that first arrival
is tough at the first location. Then others can throw their name in the
hat for the one time effort to meet-up in the parking lot and be company
on that first walk. How many have we had that turned away at that first
event and then how many have we seen flourish after getting that first
exposure out of their system?
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Kandi writes:
First, I want to thank Annie for her patience in working with this
diverse group. If I collect some of the concerns, it seems that our
group has growing pains at this size (80-100 people). Finding another
restaurant to accommodate our size, yet ad-hoc nature will be
challenging.
One option I didn't explore was a buffet-style dining experience. A
Buffet is setup for pay-at-the-door and large groups. I recently ate
with a large group of friends at an Oriental Buffet that suited this
situation. Maybe someone knows of a Vegas buffet like this.
[Moderator's note: See additional item below.]
As for Buca & Firefly, I will follow-up with them and let them know
about our concerns. It's worth another try, but I wouldn't hold up the
group's decision. These two options might work some where else in the
DLV schedule with a smaller group size.
I also encourage everyone to voice their concerns now, so these can be
addressed before DLV 2014. Thanks to everyone for their comments, thus
far. My $0.02 worth,
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Delaney writes:
Between the two current choices, I would go with Buca. For opening night,
I think a less public venue is a better choice, as there will be
newbies.
The other consideration is if Trevi is placed on the final schedule this
year, it is normally heavily attended and would be largely the same
venue and bill of fare choices as Carmine's. However, for me personally,
I'm good with either location.
The one advantage we have had the past two years is a venue where those
who did not want to purchase dinner were not required to do so. I'm not
a Vegas resident, but I expect we would have better luck finding that
sort of arrangement to the west of Rte 15. Inasmuch as the Strip is a
draw, it tough to find a Strip / near Strip location which is both
private and inexpensive. If needed, I would be happy to aid in the
search, but I do not have any specific place in mind at the moment.
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Katie writes:
Hi Gang.
I too loved the Firefly night we had on Fremont and Main. There were
several reasons for this and not all pertaining to food. First off it
was a great location for arrival and after dinner activities too,being
just across the street from all Downtown fun and photo options and easy
for new folks to find and the parking was also a big part of it too.
I agree that Buca and Firefly Paradise have their drawbacks and The
Caesars mall option would be fine for me! I Do suspect though that we
would lose a large amount of our newer people come Monday night after
they had thought about the walk in heavy traffic through the glitz of
the Forum mall.
I am a member of the (Anthony Curtis Las Vegas Advisor) and have found
some really nice dining options through their extremely informative web
pages for many years although I have never searched options for 100
people, but it is a great tool to search out any Vegas activities or
more specifically, The dining options.
If you call up the title in brackets above and go to **Dining** then to
*Restaurants* it will show all styles of restaurants as opposed to
Buffets etc' Then call up a style you want and it will show (Italian,
American, French, Chinese etc' etc'). When you arrive at this point you
can pick an individual restaurant, This takes you to the Buca Di peppo
let's say! and their individual web page where you can see dining
options they offer and room capacities etc'.and obviously the telephone
number of the joint. . which is handy too!
I wish I could help more but I only drop in to Vegas every 6 months or
so.
One more thought If I may. How would the Erotic Heritage people handle
our opening night event? We don't necessarily need to have the E H M Mid
Week! We could kick off our whole event there if they can handle that
many people and from what I hear they have decent parking and probably
would welcome us with open arms. It is only a short cab ride from the
Strip hotels and most of all it is an easy fix for new girls who might
otherwise be too shy to attend public places. These are the folks I
think a lot about as I was so scared when I went to my first DLV and
would never have started my week in a high profile place.
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Asian buffet option:
Kandi writes:
Do you like Chinese food?
Here's an option we need to check out; Lee's Buffet, 1510 E Flamingo
Road Las Vegas NV 89119 702-866-0788 Open Daily 10:30am - 10:00pm
http://www.leesbuffetlasvegas.com/
The cost for dinner is just $12.99 plus tax & tip. This includes all
soft drinks.
They have a private room that holds up to 100 people.
I spoke with Jimmy, the Manager. He says they will book the room for us
at no charge! This is an all-you-can-eat buffet. They have the usual
Chinese, Thai and Japanese style cuisine. There is plenty of free and
convenient parking off the strip.
I asked about alcohol. Jimmy says they have applied for a liquor license
and it should be ready by April. If not, we can bring our own wine along
with a proof of purchase and they will uncork it for no charge. They
just want you to bring a receipt for legal purposes.
Is anyone going to Vegas and can visit this place?
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Cami writes:
Good recap to the group. I thought I would express my thoughts on your
comments.
1. I would pick Carmine's over Bucca, despite the mall issue. As I said,
there is a back valet service that is about 100 yards from the entry of
Carmine's to minimize the walk. If people choose to self park, then
obviously it will be a longer, more visible walk. Let's make our folks a
"captive audience", so they want to come regardless, by making it a
special evening with a theme. Let's have a talent/fashion show, a DJ or
something. There is plenty of room and privacy.
2. I agree that the price points are higher then what we are use to, but
I think the days of finding an acceptable venue that meets most of the
collective groups needs, is getting difficult. What compromise is there
from those that don't want to spend $32 to those that have no problem
with it, such as me? In trying to meet their needs, aren't we
discriminating against us? Or, in other words, why do we have to
compromise? Make them find venues that meet their pocketbook and all the
other criteria and propose them. Set a date for venues to be submitted.
We would then take all options to a vote.
3. I think that the Welcome Celebration should be in one place, not
eating at different restaurants prior to getting together for cocktails.
A cocktail hour usually preceeds dinner. I say that knowing full well
that the WC party in 2012, which I organized, was after dinner at other
restaurants, but I believe it was an odd situation due to the venue
being a nightclub.
4. Based on the group decision, I would propose hosting a dinner at
Carmine's another night. Not sure what night would be best at this
point.
[Moderator's note: Cami's non-WC related item will appear in the next
regular ORG mailing.]
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Annie writes:
For six years (2008 - 2013) we've had very successful well-attended and
highly-rated Welcome Celebrations!
The interaction and enthusiasm of a strong beginning has set the scene
for the rest of the event and has been crucial to the overall success of
our last several annual events.
I want this trend to continue for our event in 2014!
The comments which have come in so far contain no raves about any of the
proposed options, and I'm seeing no jumping aboard any bandwagons. The
comments outline many concerns and issues with every option.
We've identified a number of factors which will influence, to one degree
or another, the participation in a Welcome Celebration. We have not,
however, been able to zero in on how much each of the issues will impact
our turnout. The survey discussed above will help us to do so.
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Now, responding to some of the talking points ...
The topic of the Erotic Heritage Museum as a possible venue for the
Welcome Celebration keeps coming up both on line and off line. Several
variations on the theme have been speculated upon.
So far, I've been pushing back against this option, mainly due to two
concerns.
1. The required entrance fee. The cost per person just to walk through
the door. Yes, we may be able to get this reduced, but I'm very sure
that it is highly unlikely that we can eliminate it.
2. The disruption to the planned EHM Fantasy Ball for Thursday. If I am
correct, the EHM has a very limited liquor license, which would preclude
them having two activities at which adult beverages are served within
one week. (Marisa and team, please correct me if I am wrong on this.)
The survey will help us sort out the importance of some of the factors
surrounding this and other options.
Do we want to put all of our EHM eggs in one basket? I don't know, I am
asking.
Do we want to have two significant activities (Opener and Fantasy Ball)
at one location (EHM), one sans alcohol?
Marisa? Sherry? (and all) What are your thoughts on this?
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Another option that has been discussed off line is to use the Bahama
Breeze for the opener and one of the venues that's been discussed for
our opener for the closing major gathering.
Bahama Breeze is indeed a hardcore mainstream public location, and may
be a bit scary for a first night out, but I don't see it as being nearly
as scary as a 100 yard trek through Forum Shops.
For four years (2010 - 2013) we've had very strong endings centered
around Bahama Breeze. This falls into the "Ain't broke, don't fix it"
category, but if there's a better overall fit for Bahama Breeze, I am
all for it. I currently envision Buca/Firefly/Carmines as a better fit
for a closing evening than for an opening evening.
If it comes down to a choice between a strong beginning or a strong
ending, I think the strong beginning is more important.
This was reinforced with some experiences this year at our "sister
event", Pinkfest. Two years ago in 2011 we had a very rocky beginning
and a strong ending. This year we had a strong beginning and a rocky
ending.
It was evident that the overall mood at this year's Pinkfest was much
better than it was in 2011. The strong beginning really sets the stage!
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Delaney brings up a good point about venues being too similar. We need
to have variety. We may or may not be doing anything at Trevi this year,
but yes, Trevi and Carmine's are both Italian joints (although with
different themes) in the same complex.
Reflecting again on this year's Pinkfest, we learned the hard way to
not schedule two very similar dining venues on subsequent evenings.
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Of all of the options presented, I think that the Asian buffet noted by
Kandi offers the best opportunity to sell the most dinners. I'm trying
to envision this place, I know I've driven by the location countless
times. It may be that relatively new place that opened across from
Blueberry Hill.
The iffy situation regarding adult beverages is a concern, however.
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Cami expresses the desire to have things all in one location. The
desires of the Teeming Millions on the "single/split" Welcome
Celebration will be clarified by two of the questions on the survey.
Historically, we've always had fallout from any mass move from one
location to another. Not everyone departing A will end up at B.
Further thoughts, gang? :) TIA! :)
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Received on Wed Nov 20 2013 - 07:32:14 CST
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