In this mailing:
Org List
Setting the stage for DLV 2016
Dates for DLV 2016
Administrative Committee vote
New Volunteer
Check Splitting
Date concerns
Pay-at-the-table
Volunteer Appreciation and Artisan
Various discussion items
Blue Ox and dining venues
Administrivia
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Org List:
This is the DLV 20156 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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Setting the stage for DLV 2016:
This mailing contains everything received through Monday evening. Items
received Tuesday will appear in the next mailing.
This has become another rather long mailing. Please be sure to read it
thoroughly as there are many important items.
. . . . .
A vote will be coming up shortly. See below. Those of voting status
should please watch inboxes carefully over the next few days.
. . . . .
We have a note below from one new volunteer who is excited about the
planning of our event. We would sure love to hear from some of you
others as to what you would want to see happen, or want to do to make
our event the best we can! :)
. . . . .
Behind the scenes, Beverly has started the wheels moving forward toward
some negotiated rates at the Flamingo or one of the other CET
properties. Beverly reports that we should have some ballpark rates by
the next ORG mailing.
Also behind the scenes, the Proofread Team is currently going over the
DLV 2015 follow-up pages and an early August roll-out is still on
target.
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Dates for DLV 2016:
One of our next jobs is to select the dates for DLV 2016.
We're not in a great hurry, but our people have stated over and over
that they like to have the dates as early in the cycle as is possible.
Our target is to announce the tentative dates by the beginning of
September at the latest.
We always announce the tentative dates to all and allow a one-month call
for comments before considering them to be final.
The dates, of course, are selected by the members of the ORG group here
who are of voting status. Those not yet of voting status can contribute
to the discussion regarding the dates.
Over the past several years, the PM team has examined each potential
week between late March and early May, looking for the "usual suspects"
such as family conflicts, high room rates, etc., and presenting the
findings here as a set of candidate weeks. This is what we're doing
right now. :)
First, here are the major conflicts found:
Easter is Sunday, March 27
Passover begins Friday, April 22 and ends Saturday, April 30
NAB is Saturday, April 16 through Thursday, April 21
Mothers Day is Sunday, May 8
Another possible conflict mentioned, on line (below) and off, is the
basketball finals, most specifically the two final games happening
Saturday, April 2, and Monday, April 4.
A circle-back was done, checking the rates of CET properties
specifically on the dates of Saturday, April 2, Sunday, April 3, and
Monday, April 4. No significant increase of prices was observed on these
dates when compared to other S/S/M days with no other known conflicts.
The college basketball season hard-stops on April 4.
Passover is probably not that significant WRT most our attendees'
conflicts but this year it's disjoint from western Easter.
So, examining every week between late March and early May, we get:
Week beginning Sunday March 20: Holy Week, significant religious and
family conflicts.
Week beginning Sunday March 27: Easter. Significant religious and
family conflicts.
Week beginning Sunday April 3: No significant issues.
Week beginning Sunday April 10: Room rates begin to spike toward end of
week due to NAB. Posted rates for CET properties are quite higher than
the previous week.
Week beginning Sunday April 17: NAB. High room rates.
Week beginning Sunday April 24: Passover, may have some religious and
family conflicts. Otherwise no significant issues.
Week beginning Sunday May 1: Friday, May 6 and Saturday, May 7 are
off limits due to Mothers Day.
Week beginning Sunday May 8: Mothers Day is May 8. Off limits.
Week beginning Sunday May 15: No significant issues.
. . . . .
The good news is that we have several weeks from which to choose. We
have two which are free of conflicts for a Sunday to Friday event, one
other week which is workable with possible conflicts for some, and two
additional weeks which would work for a Monday thru Saturday or Saturday
thru Thursday event.
This leaves the following as workable for our event:
Timespan 1: Monday March 28 thru Saturday, April 2. Easter is March 27.
We have previously started DLV on a Monday following Easter before with
no reported issues.
Timespan 2: Sunday April 3 thru Friday, April 8.
Timespan 3: Sunday April 24 thru Friday, April 29.
Timespan 4: Saturday, April 30 thru Thursday, May 5. (Mothers Day is
Sunday, May 8, and our standing rules restrict us from scheduling
anything on that Sunday or the previous two days (Friday and Saturday).
Timespan 5: Sunday, May 15 thru Friday, may 20.
. . . . .
The floor is now open for discussion on any of the above timespans.
At this time we are most interested in determining any unforeseen issues
with any of the above timespans.
One consideration that we do make is the availability of active
volunteers. If you are an active volunteer and are ABSOLUTELY
LOCKED OUT of any of the above timespans, please say so.
We ask that you be fair and please do not exaggerate your degree of
difficulty in making any of the above. We also ask that if you have any
issues with any of the dates, you please let them be known during the
discussion period (as in now) rather than after the dates have been
decided upon.
Comments on dates?
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Administrative Committee vote:
Katie writes:
>> I would like to nominate Katie for the odd year AC position....
> I (Annie) will second both of these
Ok I accept! and will give it a try if the girls think I am the right
choice.
Thanks.
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie writes:
No additional Administrative Committee nominations have come in.
Those of voting status can expect to receive a special "ballot" mailing
within the next day or so. If you are of voting status, please let us
know if you do not receive this by Friday morning or so at the latest.
The candidates, in order of nomination, are:
1. Bob/Sara, position held jointly (incumbents)
2. Katie
For those new to the voting process, here's the way we do it.
Everyone of voting status gets a special ballot mailing. This is then
replied to with the vote.
We keep the voting open until no further votes are received for a 48
hour period. We usually announce the results in the next ORG mailing,
but occasionally a special mailing is sent.
We always post the raw votes along with enough of the Message-ID: of the
response so everyone can be sure their vote was counted, while keeping
the voting secret. This also prevents any "ballot box stuffing" since if
any irregularities are suspected, each vote can be traced back to an
actual person of voting status.
It's for the above reason that we suggest doing a CC: or BCC: to
yourself to be sure you have an as-sent copy of your vote.
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New Volunteer:
Sandy writes:
As a new Volunteer I am impressed by the amount of time and effort all
you put into this I have really enjoyed the last 3 years at Diva and am
so looking forward to contributing to next years event!
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
Thanks, Sandy. I'm glad that you enjoyed the last few events and I'm
very happy you've decided to volunteer. Please feel free to jump right
in to the conversation and let your ideas be known.
Yes, it is a lot of work, but we try to share the load so nobody is
burdened to the point of not being able to enjoy the event.
Your volunteer response said that you're most interested in doing some
kind of social activity, and there are countless opportunities for
those, both day and evening.
If you need some specific suggestions on what you can do, please ask.
You can use your imagination, and new and different ideas for things
that our people would enjoy doing.
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Check Splitting:
Delaney writes:
Some of this is an abbreviated repeat from a few months ago ..., but I
did find a few places that indicated they would do individual checks.
However other than The Border Grill, I'm not sure they would draw
attendance, i.e. the FatBurger in Vegas is nice, not at all like the
fast food locations it generally has, but I don't know that girls would
come, as it is a little further down the Strip and is still basically a
burger joint. I'm willing to change the type of place I normally book
for something less expensive if it is needed.
Otherwise, wrt check-splitting: coordinators my want to consider asking
the venue (in advance) to break it down by groups of 4 or 6 rather then
a dozen. This may alleviate some of the issue.
. . . . .
Vera writes:
> What particularly puzzles me about this issue is why our people
> remained almost totally silent on it for many years and all of
> sudden in 2015 it gained such significance.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was only aware of ONE person making a big
stink over this issue... and maybe she's screamed the loudest now that's
why you think others have spoken up.
I think this issue needs to be brought up in a way that will give you a
clear picture of how the entire group feels about it. It should be
raised "Does check splitting or the absence of individual checks have an
affect on whether you attend an event or not?" or something to that
nature.
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
Border Grill is definitely a viable option for a dining activity, and
actually, so is Fatburger (my vote for the all-time second-worst name
for a restaurant!) for a more informal and less expensive option.
One simple idea I (Annie) had for splitting checks (actually inspired by
a survey comment) is that if I'm the Coordinator of a dining activity
where they do not split checks, I'll do the grunt work (it's not rocket
surgery, it's grade school math on keys) and split out the check for
those who gripe. I would much rather choose a dining venue by such
things as if I and my guests would enjoy the food rather than by a
single factor of how they do their checks.
Vera does raise a very valid question and I'm curious about it too.
As I think back to this year's DLV, I don't remember hearing any
specific complaints about check splitting before the big blow-up
occurred on Thursday. The first I was aware of it was as I was coming
back to life on Friday morning and catching up on e-mail.
I heard one complaint about checks on Friday evening, and I checked
and that person was not signed up for the activity at which the big
blow-up occurred, so we can assume it was an independent item.
On the yearly survey we had a total of seven comments about check
splitting. Five of them were most definitely complaints. One I would
consider neutral, but coming from someone well aware of the situation,
and one was a complaint about the complaining.
I do agree that we really do not have a good handle on the degree to
which the issue would actually affect an attendee's choice of attending
or not attending an activity.
We could indeed raise the question you proposed on a special survey in
conjunction with our next general mailing, which will be coming out when
the dates are tentatively decided upon. We've had good luck with
responses to special surveys over the years.
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Date concerns:
Aejaie writes:
Las Vegas is a very expensive place in the month of March and early
April.
The West Coast Conference host its Basketball Championships leading to
the NCAA National Tournament - March Madness - both of these events
bring many gamblers into town to gamble and bet on the games. Most of
the these gambles stay for a week, covering two weekends.
I would suggestions late February - Vegas is slow after Valentine's and
dies again after April 7th.
. . . . . . . . . .
Thanks Aejaie.
The March Madness period really does not affect any of the proposed DLV
weeks for DLV 2016. The final two games are April 4 and April 6, and a
double-check of hotel rates for those dates shows room rates to be
within the normal range.
If we're going to do a major "relocation" of our event to a different
place on the calendar, such as February, it's going to take a
significant amount of consideration and evaluation, as the late March to
early May range has worked out very well for us for the past 19 years.
If there are any serious proponents of moving our event to another spot
on the calendar, please do your homework. Please gather evidence of why
another timeframe (September has been a well-intended suggestion in the
past) would result in such things as a greater turnout, greater
enjoyment and satisfaction, etc.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pay-at-the-table:
Dionne writes:
> The most significant issue reported this past year ... appeared to
> be that of splitting checks at meals,
Some restaurants have adopted a new system by Ziosk. It places a small
self-pay kiosk on every table where you can pay, individually along with
your tip amount. Look for this system as pay-at-the-table convenience.
Visit their website to find their installations:
http://www.ziosk.com/
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
Two local companies (local to me, not to LV), which happen to both be
clients of mine, are trying to break into the Pay At The Table business.
There are MANY others who hope to as well.
One of them, let's just call them "Company P" for short :) :) hopes to
leverage their (vast!) existing customer base by allowing them to pay
bar/restaurant tabs as conveniently as they pay for on-line auctions. :)
The other company, let's call them "Company F" for short :) :) is going
about it kind of the other way, and hopes to leverage the countless
merchants (bars and restaurants) for whom they already process payment
card receipts.
I have not seen working demos of either of the systems, just chit-chat
about how they hope to work.
Company P's system would not, as I understand it, allow check splitting.
It would only charge an existing customer's account for the total tab.
Company F's system, again the way I understand it, would allow for the
splitting of checks (I asked specifically) as long as all payments were
via the payment cards their merchant account supported. In other words,
no (partial) payment in cash or check.
Nobody appears to be jumping on the bandwagon of either system.
Others are trying to get in on it as well. Open Table is (was? will?)
trying to set up their own system using pay by phone technology. The
company you cited above had a well-known roll-out with Chili's, or
rather with one large Chili's franchise holder.
Now, circling back to DLV, :) does anyone know of any restaurants in
the LV area, specifically those which would appeal to our people, that
currently use a pay-at-table system which supports the splitting of
checks? Please keep your eyes and ears open! :)
We need to start/keep looking for dining venues which allow convenient
payment whether it's manual or electronic.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Volunteer Appreciation and Artisan:
Dionne writes:
> I would like to propose that we return the Volunteers Appreciation
> Luncheon.... I thought the Artisan was just right for this
I attended the VAL in 2012 as one of my first events.
I watched and listened to the ceremony. I learned about how this ORG
works and most importantly, who was running it. My first impression was
so favorable, I decided to get involved right away.
I visited the Ladies room at the Artisan and loved the decor. I still
return to 'visit' when I'm in Vegas for a quick 'pit-stop' when nearby.
When I visited the Artisan this year, they have closed the restaurant.
The bar has a limited menu of chicken wings & things. I hope we can find
another venue for this traditional event to happen in 2016 and
acknowledge seasoned volunteers, as well.
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
Thanks for the report, Dionne.
The bar at Artisan may be a viable venue for something like a Volunteer
Appreciation Social some afternoon. I was also thinking of a place such
as Chayo at the Linq (or is it the Quad?) :) :) for something like this.
Ideas, ladies? (Gentlemen?) :)
. . . . .
JoAnn responds:
We might think of an "informal tea/dessert" mid-afternoon at the Wynn,
the restaurant at the pool fountains, maybe Wednesday.
It is a great venue and not crowded.
Just a suggestion.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Various discussion items:
Delaney writes:
I think roommate share is a good idea. I can coordinate it if you do not
find anyone else, but I'm not lobbying for the job :-).
So far as the greying goes, I think a contributor is the "been there,
done that" issue - I was going to various events years ago when I could
much less afford it, as were many others in my then-age cadre.
Girls a dozen years younger than I are generally not attending now,
partially because the environment in their home cities has changed, but
partially because they are looking at the cost v. event schedule and
deciding it's not worth the investment.
I don't have a pat answer, but looking at Vegas itself, think about how
the offerings have changed, now that gambling is available most
everywhere - they've pushed off into all sorts of other entertainment,
and are much more Disneyworld-ish, albeit they try to hold onto the
naughty reputation (i.e. MGM beat out the mob).
Much of the current target market for Vegas is the 20 and 30 somethings,
and the hotels targeting them are often pricey and full. I know several
millennials and 40 somethings with regular jobs, who go to Vegas
regularly, and spend considerably more than I do. The 20 somethings may
sleep four to a room, but otherwise they spend like there is no
tomorrow. So it may all not be going to a less expensive model, but to
find new things to do.
However, this is all just a thought, I don't want to set-off a bunch of
unpleasantness. Personally, I'm comfortable with the age group we have,
my concern is more for there longer term future - but perhaps that's not
really useful, or addressable now.
. . . . . . . . . .
JoAnn responds:
Delaney, I believe has an astute on point observation--
The DIVA activities need to address changing attendee needs and
generational preferences.
This is a real scheduling challenge for 2016. Are we ready ??
. . . . .
Annie responds:
Thanks for your efforts and thoughts, Delaney.
You have the Roommate Coordinator job if you want it. We could,
actually, give that job to the Big Sister Team if you say so.
You are very correct that the TG community is changing and Las Vegas is
changing. Individuals are coming out earlier in life and are much more
open about it. Society is becoming more and more accepting of TGs. There
is less and less of a demand for organized opportunities to dress.
One point that was brought up in some off-line discussion is that fewer
of the younger set are identifying as "crossdresser", which is the
demographic which has made up the plurality of our attendees for most of
our years.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Blue Ox and dining venues:
Dionne writes:
>... and the buffet ala Sashas/Tramps/Suede (or whatever they were
> calling it that day) and Blue Ox.
My guess is the reference to Blue Ox, above was many years ago or at the
now closed former location.
For DLV 2014 & 15 the luncheon at Blue Ox, {...} was well received with
everyone ordering separately off the regular menu and paying
individually. There was no extra charge for reserving and using the
semi-private dining room area. The average entree cost is ~ $10.
Nothing needs to be said about how easy Ron Arohnsen is to work with.
The only drawback is this place is not near to the strip. This place
seems to satisfy the needs of the group.
. . . . . . . . . .
Annie responds:
I assume we're both talking about the Blue Ox on Sahara.
If you (or anyone) can convince the Blue Ox staff to let us have a major
gathering there, I'm very sure it could work. We had planned a previous
Welcome Celebration thing there. Ron first agreed, but then backed off
after discussing it with the staff, saying that they did not have the
capacity. I told Ron "up to 100 total with 60-70% wanting to eat" when
we were discussing this.
Even if they don't want to serve a meal to that large a group, I could
see it working as a social-only common gathering place after dining
elsewhere in smaller groups.
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Administrivia:
This is the Diva Las Vegas 2016 organizational list.
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 2016
(Dates to be announced)
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
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Received on Wed Jul 29 2015 - 06:39:00 CDT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.2.0 : Wed May 11 2016 - 05:54:23 CDT